Eden

“So, what were you and Loni talking about so intensely?”

My shoulders creep toward my earlobes. Could he hear us? Shit, what if he did? What all did I even say?

“Nothing really.”

“Yeah?” He sounds almost amused.

“Just stupid stuff. Prom and spring break—girl stuff.”

“I see.”

We turn the corner to head down the hall toward our classroom door. As we pass by a utility closet, he suddenly grabs my arm, opens the door, and yanks me inside.

I let out a squeak of surprise as he locks us inside and pulls the light string, illuminating his bronze features.

“What the hell are you do—”

He cuts me off, cupping my face between his big hands, and slants his full lips over mine. I moan. Clutch the front of his shirt to instinctively pull him closer. Melt into him without any hesitation. He backs me up against the shelves behind me, and I swear he’s about to fuck me right here and now. I’m not so sure I’d stop him. In fact, the thought shoots thrills through my veins, and I tense to jump up and wrap my legs around him. Before I can move, he abruptly pulls back.

“What—” I breathe, but he presses the pad of his thumb to the center of my lips, stroking my flesh with slow side-to-side motions.

“I like seeing you jealous every now and then. Even if it is over some fantasy bitch with big tits.”

I gasp and he slips his hand beneath my plaid skirt to give my ass a loud slap before stepping back and gri

Sonofabitch.

I feel a headache begin to throb between my eyes as I make my way back out into the hall. Saint’s waiting for me, that superior smile still twitching his lips. Tilting my chin up, I march right past him into the room. His laughter follows me inside.

Taking my seat, I place my chin in my hands and let out a small sigh. I was already so confused and horny before the closet, and now I’m only more so of each. Stealing a peek toward Saint, who’s taken his seat as well, I catch him studying my profile. I discreetly flash my middle finger at him, like a middle schooler discovering the power of flipping off the boy who pulls her hair for the first time, but what can I say? He brings out the worst in me.

My headache’s getting worse. I shouldn’t even be worrying about him so much. I have much more important things on my plate that should be taking up my focus.

Like my upcoming meeting with Nora, for example.

I’d known it was coming but finding that note from her in my room over the weekend was still jarring. I’d gone for my first swim since Jon Eric’s death, deciding it was time I finally faced my fears and reclaimed the pool as my own. When I’d returned to my dorm, a note had been waiting for me, taped to the frame of my vanity mirror. I knew it was from Nora before I even opened the damn thing, but it still shook me to read her words. It wasn’t a long letter, but I was quickly learning that Nora really wasn’t one for u

Just thinking about sitting across from her without slamming her face into her salad plate spikes my blood pressure, but I don’t have much of a choice. It’s the only way I can check on Je

So, really, Saint shouldn’t be my top priority.

I should think of graduating.

Freeing Je

The fact that Nora is convinced that Saint’s dad is a mass murderer and that she’s using me to get money so she can go after him.

And yet, I can’t get my mind off him.

Stockholm syndrome at its finest, that little voice of reason trills in the back of my skull.

I glance over at him again, and he’s still give me that ridiculously enticing smile that makes my knees wobble. He’s so arrogant, and that’s one of the things about him that I find most attractive. His confidence and total lack of fucks given.

Ah, man. This place has really messed me up.

I hate to admit, but Loni might’ve been right earlier. Someone’s caught feelings, but it’s not Saint.

It’s me.

That night, I lie in bed and stare up at my ceiling, going over my most recent interactions with Saint to try and figure out what might have spooked him from our rage-fueled hookups. He didn’t come again tonight, and the disappointment is crushing. Masturbating helped, and I’ve done it a ton the last week, but it only takes the edge off. It’s never as satisfying as being with him.

It’s not just the physical release I’m missing, though. I miss curling up against his hard body and falling asleep with his scent invading my senses. The pillow he usually sleeps on has been a poor substitute, and his smell is already fading from it. I feel so pathetic, yet so frustrated at the same time.

“God, you’re the worst, Angelle,” I growl softly, punching my pillow as my brain drifts back to the last time he was here.

He’d kissed me. Told me that I looked like garbage. And before that—

Shit.

I sit straight up in my bed as my attempt to get him to bare his feelings replays in my head.

Damn, did that freak him out? Is that why he’s staying clear of me at night?

I lie back down with a heavy thunk and a groan. I’m such a fool. At the time, I thought if I could get him to say it, then maybe I’d have a little bit of power in our dynamic. I didn’t think he’d do a full 180.

My eyebrows draw together as I consider his reaction to my probing. It seems a little extreme to cut off the sex completely. Could it be he’s pulling back in that area because I was … right?

Now, Loni’s confident words from earlier blast through my head.

“I’ve never seen him get so crazy over a girl before.”

Saint’s a twisted soul with a mean streak that makes the whole school wary of him. He’s done terrible things to me during my time at Angelview and has shown little to no compassion for everything he’s put me through.

But then there’s everything else. What he did with Jon Eric. His confrontation with the Thornhaven boys and how he’d shown up to warn me about the attack at Ravenwood.

That has to be something.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut because I’m certain that has to be the reason for his distance. Nothing else makes as much sense.

And at least I won’t feel so shitty for the feelings he’s ripped from me.

I shake my head, immediately dispelling the thought. Nope. Not going there. Not now. I’m tired and confused, and that is not the state of mind I wish to be in when I consider my emotions for the person responsible for my social leprosy at this school.

I can sort out my feelings for him some other time.

Rolling over to my side, I lie to myself that they’re not actually feelings at all, but dick withdrawals, pull the covers up to my chin and curl into a ball, willing myself to go to sleep so I stop having these stupid thoughts.

The next day, I decide to throw all my attention into school. I’ve been distracted long enough, and I’m not about to let my academic record suffer for some guy. Plus, I had climbed out of bed this morning to find my first dose of truly good news in a long time—a letter of acceptance from Georgia Tech. Saint doesn’t join us for breakfast that morning, so he misses my celebratory coffee toast with Loni and Henry, but that’s a relief and not a disappointment.