Oh, fuck no. We’re not thinking of her like that, Cole. No way in hell.It’s bad enough that I can’t keep those thoughtsfrom circling in my mind when I’m alone, but to have them when she’s right in front of me? Not a good idea.
“And that’s your business how?” she grunts, and a stray piece of hair falls across her face. Without thinking, my arm reaches out to tuck it behind her ear. I halt my movement and stare at my arm hovering between us, confused about why the fuck I’d even do that, but my attention quickly shifts as she steps back away from me, making me drop my arm and bringing her features more into view when the moonlight from the trees hits her just right.
Not only is her hair a mess—even more so than usual, if that’s even possible—but it seems to have something matted in it. Holy shit, is that…
“Is that blood?” I murmur and take a step towards her. My movements cause her to back up until we’re in the exact same potion that she and Logan were just in, with me crowding her against the tree.
“Is it blood, little menace?” I whisper, though there’s a slight edge to my voice, and it takes me a moment to work out why.
I’m pissed.
Pissed that she has someone else’s blood on her, when it was only a couple of nights ago that she was playing withmyblood.
She should only get to play with my blood.
Holy shit, I’m losing it. What the fuck is this girl doing to me?
I can’t stand her, and any sane person would want to be far,faraway from the girl who broke into their home, tied them up, and sliced into their cock with a knife.
I don’t like her. Really, I don’t. So why do I want to do it again?
“You really are a fucking psychopath, aren’t you?”
She chuckles, grinning up at me as though I’ve just paid her the best compliment she’s ever received.
I guess that answers that.
I stare at her, the smile on her face doing something fucking weird to my insides, and I realize it’s the first time I’ve ever seen her smile.
She’s beautiful when she smiles, and I hate it. I want to wipe it the fuck off her face, drag her down to her knees and make her cry for me.
“Leave,” I bark, my tone ice cold as I look down on her, but she just smirks. Whether she can read what I’m thinking, or she thinks I’m scared of her, I don’t know. All I know is I need her to get the hell away from me and stay away.
For now, at least.
“As you wish, pretty boy,” she purrs, and just as quickly as I can blink, she’s darting through the forest away from me, leaving me to stand and stare after her, wondering what the hell it is about her that has me so fucked up.
I just needed her out of my sight so I could gather my bearings. I’ll get back to torturing her tomorrow, but I need to spend tonight getting my shit together.
Lana James will be the death of me. The only thing up for debate is whether or not she’s the one holding the knife.
FOURTEEN
LANA
Considering we’re in college, this place has a seriously bad case of high school mentality. Ever since the other students started to pick up on Cole’s little…fascinationwith me, things have escalated.
It’s gone from people whispering about me, wondering who I am, to them outright hating on me just because their precious pretty boy Cole Aston has something against me. I woke up this morning determined to forget all about him and last night in the forest, wanting nothing more to do with him. And not just because he drives me to the brink of insanity every time I see him, but because he’s going to get killed if he keeps going the way he is, so I figured the best way to keep that from happening would be to forget his existence.
The last damn thing I need is him dying. And not because I necessarily give a fuck about him, but because the death of someone like him would garner attention, and that’s the very last thing I need.
Except, when I was walking to my first class this morning, I noticed notes taped to the sides of buildings, lampposts,lockers, you name it. When I got a closer look, it turned out that those notes were actually printed cutouts of me on that damn website before I’d had it taken down. I was planning on confronting him about it, since I figured he would have stopped with this petty shit by now, but then I overheard a group of girls. Apparently, it was some guys in freshman year who had put them up, trying to get an ‘in’ with the popular guys on campus since it’s clear that they don’t like me.
And it didn’t just stop there. Nope, I’ve had things thrown at me, people say shit to me, and a few of them even tried tripping me up as I was walking. If I were anywhere else, I’d have slammed those assholes against the wall and dug my blade into their side, but I’m attempting to keep a low profile, and I don’t think that’s the way to do it.
Though, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m doing well at staying in the shadows in this godforsaken place. Luckily, I shouldn’t be here for much longer. It was never the plan to stay here for long, this was just the first step. This was just the place I was supposed to come to for a little while if I ever needed somewhere to keep me protected. And while I have been safe here, I know it’s only a matter of time before trouble follows me. And while I might not give much of a fuck about the students that go here, I don’t want their deaths on my hands.
I know now that my whereabouts is out and that people can find me, but this place just so happens to be one of the most secure places in the country. Well, one of the mostlegallysecure places, and it’s my last option until I can find a way to end this once and for all.
