Unknown: I’m going to fuck up your world and everyone and everything in it. I’ll leave you so broken that you’ll crawl on your hands and bleeding knees, begging for scraps, begging for my cum. Begging for me to hurt you.
Unknown: By the time I’m done with you, nothing will be left for anyone else to salvage.
I nearly drop the phone when Mia pops up like a jack-in-the-box and fawns over me in front of her friends. We’re late for class, judging by the almost empty hallway.
Waving her friends goodbye, she steers me toward the bathrooms. I don’t stop her. I don’t object.
No, when she’s on her knees in the claustrophobia-inducing stall, I record a short video of my veiny hand in her blonde hair, twisting the strands, as her head bobs.
Me: Don’t tease me like that. Just look how worked up your cat-and-mouse game makes me. Maybe you want me to chase you instead?
Before he can respond, I send another message.
Me: You’re playing with fire.
“Okay,let’s see what we’ve got.” Ronnie rubs his hands together, eyes alight with excitement as Tiago puts the pizzas down on the table.
Seated beside Ronnie on the couch, Allie looks up from her phone and says, “I ordered a Margarita, a Neptune, and enough fries to feed an army.”
“How did you manage to escape your ball and chain anyway?” Luke asks her as he drags the footrest over and plops down.
Seated in the only armchair in the room, I chuckle when Allie preens.
It’s not like my stepbrother gives a shit about her. Not really. But she sure loves it when my friends pretend he does.
Why is he even with her when she cheats on him on the regular?
On the other hand, it’s easy to figure out why Allie set her eyes on him; he’s popular and has that bad-boy vibe that makes girls drop their panties.
Let’s just say, she’s not the first girl in our town to think she can change him, and she won’t be the last.
Why am I even thinking about this?
When Ronnie reaches for the pizza, Tiago slaps his hand and says, “¡Quita de ahí!”
Ronnie pretends to be hurt. “Dude, not fair. I wasn’t born in Spain like you.”
They banter back and forth, and Allie joins in, too, while Mia grabs us each a slice of pizza.
She sits back down on my lap, tucks her legs up beneath her, and watches me inhale my food. I’m never one to say no to something to eat.
“I don’t know where you put it all,” she points out, taking such a small bite that I’m sure even a mouse would be unimpressed.
Tiago looks over. Somehow, he got Ronnie in a chokehold, their food forgotten. “It’s all the football he did in high school. When are the tryouts?”
Oh, that.
As if I don’t have enough on my plate, I have to try out for a spot on the football team. Guess who’s their QB?
Cole.
Of-fucking-course.
Before I can muster a response, the door flies open, and Cole and Samson enter the living room.
When you speak of the devil.
My mood instantly sours.
