I’m happily slapping all these posters around my dad’s playground when some girl comes storming at me out of nowhere.
And with some girl, I mean a certain purple-haired violent little Valkyrie on a mission.
Before I can even so much as blink, she’s right up in my face.
SLAP!
The sting of her hand burns on the skin of my cheek.
Everyone in the hallway stops and stares. Some even snigger, but she seems dead-fucking serious.
Very sexy.
“Where the fuck did you get the nerve?” she growls at me.
I rub my cheek. Damn, she’s got some power shots for a small girl. “Hello to you too.”
She steals the poster I put on the bulletin board and holds it up in front of me. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t smack your ass into the fucking hospital right now.”
Is that a challenge?
A devilish smirk forms on my face. “Nice pickup line. Ten out of ten, really gets me going.” I wink.
She rips up the poster into tiny pieces and throws it at me like confetti. “Is this your idea of helping out?” she growls. “Stealing my sister’s fucking diary and putting her private stuff all over the school?”
My God, she really is going for the full frontal attack here. I’m impressed. And weirdly aroused as well.
I raise a brow. “Calm down. People are staring at you.”
A handful of people have gathered around us, but her eyes focus solely on me.
“Do I look like I give a fuck?” she yells back, her tits practically bursting out of the laced black off-the-shoulders top she’s wearing.
Oh yes … so very fucking sexy.
“You’d better take every one of these posters down before I—”
“You’ll what?” I interrupt, and I grab her arm. “Hurt me?”
I’d love to see her try, though.
I wonder how much pain she could give me.
Fuck me. The thought already has me riled up.
But now is not the time for pleasure.
I pull her away from the crowd to a secluded corner, where I shove her against the wall. And I fish my lighter from my pocket and hold it right up in her face. “Simmer down, little slut.”
“Or what? You’ve already embarrassed me beyond repair,” she growls back. “That’s my sister’s face and my face out there being slandered.”
The fire burns her cheek. “It’s not just you,” I growl back. Didn’t she see the other posters? “We used lots of pictures from the diary.”
“We?” she parrots.
She turns her head and looks around until she finally spots Alistair casually handing out the posters to passersby. She hadn’t even seen him in her blinded rage.
And when their eyes connect … oh boy, it’s like fireworks going off.
Amazing.
“Motherf—”
I grab her chin and force her to look at me. “This is necessary.”
“Necessary? You call pasting my sister and her face all over campus ‘necessary’?”
“Yes. Trust me.”
I know what it looks like. But I’m not at liberty to tell her exactly why, or she may ruin our whole idea.
“Trust you? Why? Give me one good fucking reason.”
Her round lips curl up the same way they did when she tried to confront me in that auditorium where she pulled the fire alarm. Like they’re about to bite into me, yet at the same time, they look so fucking …
Delicious.
And I wonder if I could.
If Felix would kill me if I did.
But fuck it.
I slam my lips onto hers.
Her lips taste of lemongrass tequila and rainbow Skittles, sour, sweet, bitter, fresh, all wrapped into one tasty package that I can’t get enough of as I claim her mouth.
God, her lips feel so good against mine.
I’ve kissed many girls, but never one I’ve wanted this much.
And one who despises me this badly.
No wonder Felix hates her so much.
Suddenly, my lips sting, and I pull back only for her to bite down, hard.
Blood oozes on my lip, and I lick it up. “Bad girl.”
“You’re a fucking bully, and you know it,” she snipes. “You had no right.”
“What? To kiss you?” I muse.
Her cheeks flush briefly, but she quickly snaps back to her brazen self. “You really have a death wish, don’t you?”
I raise a brow. “No. Did you forget about our deal?”
Her nostrils flare. “Yeah, well, a deal only works if both parties hold up their fucking end.”
I tilt my head. “What do you think we’re doing, smart-ass?”
“Kissing me after putting those horrible posters all over the school?” she quips.
“Horrible? I beg to differ. They’re poetic if you ask me.” I grin. “Poetic justice.”
“That’s my fucking name and picture along with the word whore. In what fucking world is that poetic?”
“In the same world where you begged us to help you out,” I muse.
“You call this helping?” She’s like a volcano about to erupt, and I’m here for it.
“I’m doing what I’m supposed to do,” I retort. “That’s all.”
“Who told you to do this? To print out my sister’s diary and paste it all over the school? Huh? Was it Felix?” she rebukes. “For what reason?” When I don’t answer, she sneers, “Figured.”
She kicks me in the nuts. Again.
And fuck me, this one hurts worse than the last one.
God, this girl packs a punch, all right.
“You deserve that,” she hisses.
“True, I do,” I reply, my tone fluctuating.
She runs off.
Fuck.
Lost her again.
Groaning, I grab my package as a wave of nausea overcomes me. But when I look up, Alistair is right there, staring at me. “What the fuck happened?”
“What do you think happened?” I snarl back. “She knows. Okay? And now she’s gonna go straight to Felix.”
He shrugs. “Not my problem. His idea.” And he continues putting the posters all over the walls like it’s nobody’s business. “He knew this was a possible consequence.”
“But everyone fucking saw,” I say.
“They already knew we were bastards anyway,” he says, winking. “Now let’s finish up.”
Penelope
I bang on the frat house doors. “Open up!”
I keep going until finally someone does. “What do you want? Jesus.”
Some burly dude with bad frizzled hair blocks my way. I don’t know who the fuck it is, but I don’t even care. “Where is Felix?”
“Not here.”
“Fuck that.” I try to push past the dude, but he easily shoves me away.
“Whoa, don’t even fucking try.”
“Let me in,” I growl. “I need to fucking talk to him.”
“Who? Felix?” He snorts. “Tough luck, I already told you he wasn’t here. He’s at a party down the street.”
“What makes you think I believe your fucking lies?” I spit back, putting my hands against my side. “All of you motherfuckers are the same.”
He laughs at me in a condescending way. “Oh yeah, what’s that, then?”
I lean into his face. “Liars. Bunch of fucked-up assholes.”
“Go on.” He grins. “Give me your worst.”
“Fuck you and that fucking bird’s nest on your head.”
He snorts. “That all you got, little rat?”
My eyes widen. “You know …” I grasp his collar. “Where is he?”
He grips my hands and forcefully shoves me away until I fall down onto the pavement. I groan with pain but try not to let it get to me. But as I get up, the dude is clearly making fun of me.
“Fuck you. I’ll fucking find him, and when I do, you’d better pray for his fucking soul,” I say, and I spit in his direction.
“Good luck with that,” he retorts, slamming the door shut.
Fuck that.
I charge at the door and slam it with my fists but give up after a few times. Of course, every passerby on the street is looking at me like I’m a lunatic, but I don’t care.
If Felix isn’t here, I’ll go fucking find him at the party instead.
I storm down the street to where that dude was looking until I find the frat house blasting noise across the yard. Everything’s covered in cans and drink cups with beer spillage and chips lying all over. Seems like they’ve been partying all morning, and it doesn’t look like they intend to stop either.
So much for studying.
I head straight for the building with a bunch of those posters tucked away in my pocket. The music destroys my ears the second I step inside. It’s fucking hot and sweaty in here, with lots of people dancing and talking. It’s as if the entire campus is here.
I steal a cup from someone’s hand and dip into the crowd before they can even say hey. I bring it to my nose, but the mere scent of rum makes me cringe. It’s a good cover, though, so I keep my cup close as I make my way through the bustling party, looking for a familiar face.
I don’t fucking care how long it takes to find him. He’s gonna pay for what he did.
Most of the noise drifts up from the basement to my right, so I walk down the steps into a damp, dark area, where nothing but a few disco LEDs light the faces of the people dancing. A remix of Camilla Cabello’s “Shameless” starts playing. The bass is low, thrumming, just as my heartbeat as I slide into the crowd, watching out for every corner of the room.
But he’s nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, a pair of hands land on my ass, and I turn around, only to be swept up by someone I don’t know, grinding away at me.
I push him. “Ew, get off me.”
“C’mon, let’s dance,” the guy says, pressing himself and his bulge up against me. “That’s what you came here for, right?”
I step on his foot, and he releases me, but when I attempt to get away, he grabs my arm. “Where are you going? I wasn’t done yet.”
Out of the shadows, a dark, sinister figure appears, his eyes finding mine first before a hand shoots out from the crowd to grip the guy’s wrist. In his other hand, a knife, the tip edging into the guy’s waist.
Felix.
I gasp in shock at the bestial rage in his eyes.
“You heard her. Let. Her. Go.”
