“I amnottouching you with that hand,” he snaps. “It’s deformed and disgusting.”
I shake my head. “It’s beautiful, River.” I twine my hand with his, my thumb and pinky locking in all his fingers. My hot pink nails stand out against his tan skin, and I get dizzy with arousal.
For all his protests, I can see that he’s still hard.
He leans back down, claiming my lips with more of those savage kisses, biting and licking them. Then he’s moving off of me, his hands going back to my waist and tugging at my pants. “Off,” he orders.
I kiss him, then raise my hips so he can pull my jeans off.
My phone buzzes.
River and I both freeze, before I grab my phone with a groan.
The display name showsWannabe Hot Stuff, which is what I’d immediately renamed Blaze’s contact to.
“Hot stuff?” River repeats.
I grin up at him. “Blaze. Y’know, like fire? It’s hot. I changed Asch to BB—short for Blaze’s Bitch.” I sit up and tap over to my contacts,ignoring how the phone keeps buzzing with a call. “What’s your number? You can be ‘Cry Me A.’”
“Funny. You’re absolutely hysterical. I could always putyouas ‘Crazy Bitch.’” he snaps.
The blood freezes inside me, and all of my good humor drains away. “You reallywantto lose another finger?” I hiss at him.
He stares at me, his own expression cold. “I’m not a crybaby you can walk all over, Pandora.”
“And I’m not somebody you can dismiss as acrazy bitch,” I add, my tone deadly. My phone keeps buzzing, and I jab the answer button in irritation. “What the fuck do you want, Blaze?”
“That isn’t polite,” Asch’s voice answers. “We went to lunch, and we decided we wanted dessert. Meet us at the frat house in twenty.”
I stare at the phone. Then I start laughing. “Oh my god. Guess you get to beWannabe Hot Stuff.”
“What?” Asch asks. “Never mind. Just be there.”
He ends the call, and I smile at River. “I fucked it up. Asch is Hot Stuff, Blaze is BB. Maybe I should start calling him babygirl or something.” I lick my lips. “They want me over at the frat. Why don’t you come along and apply to be a pledge? You can protect me from those big bad frat boys, too.”
“The day you need protection from frat boys is the day hell freezes over,” he says, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, he gets up. “Let’s go, then.”
I pull my pants back up, making sure my charm is secure in my pocket, then let River help me off the bed.
“You still haven’t given me your number, River,” I say.
“You haven’t said you won’t name me something insulting,” he replies. But he gets his phone out of his back pocket, and after he taps a few times, my phone buzzes with a text.
Here.
I save him underCry Me A.
Who knows, maybe he can upgrade himself to something better.
If he manages not to kill me first.
8
ASCH
“She’s not going to show,” I say to Blaze. He’s lounging on my bed, which is one of the few open spots in the room.
I still don’t know why he called her. He said it was for my sake, but Blaze doesn’t do things he doesn’t want to do.
