I’m still too far down the confining hall from the ladies’ locker room to ignore him and duck into its safety. On their way to the locker room, the group of girls slows their pace. Edge waits for them to pass, then uses his broad body to inch me closer to the wall. With my back against the bricks, he leans in and props his hands against the wall behind me, caging me in.
I tilt my head up. Playing the sassy girl card, I say, “Oh wait! You’re not one of those burly sexist assholes who have their one feeling hurt if alittle girlbeats them, are you?”
“Hardly.”
“Well, it’s like I said this morning, don’t take it personally.” I duck under his arm. “If you play nice, maybe I’ll let you win next time.”
A hint of a smile plays on his full lips before he quickly shuts it down. “I want a rematch.”
“Yeah, well, I want a lot of things, too, but a rematch isn’t one of them.”
“Are you afraid you won’t beat me a second time?”
I throw up my hands and walk backward. “Nah, that’s not it. I don’t want to have anything to do with helping you stroke that already too-big ego of yours.”
His friends snicker behind him.
Catching me off guard, he asks, “What does that dragon stand for?” He nods at my forearm.
“It’s personal. And I don’t think a day will come when we’ll ever be that close.”
“Are you saying we won’t be friends?” His deep voice displays a hint of teasing. I didn’t think he was capable, but there it is.
“That’s precisely what I’m saying. You made that perfectly clear this morning.” I wink. “Maybe in the next life.”
I turn away from him, keeping my eyes downcast to avoid getting lured back into his visual trap again. Walking the short distance to the locker room, I’m surprised and happy when the big man doesn’t follow me. Without showering, I change back into my uniform and stuff my gym clothes into my bag to take them home to wash.
“Nice job out there.” The girl who told me about the coach running gym class like a boot camp brushes out her ginger hair and offers me a hesitant smile. I realize now that she’s the same girl I asked how to get here before Brielle showed up. Her face falls a fraction. “Listen, I’m sorry about earlier. Brielle can make things difficult.”
I nod. “I get it.” And I did. “No worries.”
“I’m Marissa, by the way.”
“I’m Kinsley.”
She closes her locker. “The only ones who have ever come close to Edge’s time are the rest of the Venom. So, I must say that it’s bad that a girl could take him down—even with all those skills… and rock-hard muscles.” Her smile goes dreamy as she describes my archenemy.
“Yeah,” I say, grabbing my backpack to head out.
Josh is waiting for me outside the locker room.
I raise an eyebrow. “This isn’t creepy.”
He shrugs. “Maybe a little. Anyway, like I was suggesting earlier, about you hanging out. I wanted to invite you to a party that’s happening this Saturday. It’s at Tristan’s beach house. It’ll go all day, so you can get there whenever you want.”
“Who’s Tristan?” Knowing how these kinds of parties work, having been to a ton of them, I don’t care who Tristan is. Theseparties are an excuse to hook up and get drunk. Which really isn’t my scene.
“All you need to know is he’s a guy who throws awesome parties.” He forces a laugh.
I shrug one shoulder. “Sure,” I say, having no intention of going.
Josh’s face lights up. “Yeah, all right. Cool. Bring your bathing suit… and yeah, we’ll chill out, drink, party, and you can get to know everybody.”
“Sounds fun,” I lie.
“All right, see you later.” He smiles like he just won the giant teddy bear at the fair and walks away, holding the biggest prize.
Turning the corner, I come face to face with Venom. I swear to fuck I must have a giant snake magnet on my ass.
