Chapter 10
SCARLETT
The last thing I want to do is tutor my arrogant, cocky, tyrant of a stepbrother, but there is no fucking way I’m going to be labeled as a quitter my first year at Shadow Valley. Plus, I’m not willing to give him any more power than he already has by standing him up at the library out of fear.
I’m much too proud for that.
Unless, of course, it has anything to do with Yale. I’ll gladly run and hide from that shitstorm.
Cross doesn’t frighten me.
He irritates me, but I’m not afraid of him.
Hence why I showed up to our tutoring session forty-five minutes early. That way, this time, he can’t use the excuse that his tutor is late and dip early. If he wants to stay on the lacrosse team, then he’s going to sit his ass down and be humbled.
The door to the library opens, and my stomach dips with nerves.
Okay, fine.
He’s a little intimidating. His jaw should be listed beneath the word dangerous in the dictionary. Pair that with his toned arms, one of them covered in intricate tattoos, and I’m shifting in my seat uncomfortably.
Our gazes meet from across the quiet library, and it takes half a second for him to roll his eyes.
I force myself to smile at him, but I’m positive he knows me well enough now to realize it’s as fake as the girl’s boobs who just stepped in his direct path to me.
His steps falter, and he tugs his backpack higher onto his shoulder.
With one eyebrow raised, he peers at her from his tall height, his lips flat with boredom.
His attention shifts to me, and I don’t even attempt to look away.
He’s caught me staring, and he uses it like ammunition.
One hand wraps around the back of her head, his fingers tangled in her long blonde hair, while his other stays on the strap of his backpack. His mouth descends like he’s some kind of barbarian, and he kisses her with passion and so much sex appeal that my own legs clench.
Ugh, gross.
I tear my eyes away.
Was it gross, though? Because suddenly I’m stripping out of my sweater because the back of my neck prickles with heat.
I preoccupy myself with organizing my notes and my very detailed, organized plan for tutoring so I don’t look at him again. His presence is hard to ignore, though. I sense him before he’s even taken a seat at the table.
“Hello, stepsister dearest.” His smooth voice is like nails on a chalkboard. “Were you planning on saving my little show for your spank bank?”
That’s all it takes. Less than a minute with my stepbrother, and I'm already beyond irritated.
I flick my eyes to him. “You and your girlfriend are the furthest thing from what’s in my spank bank, stepbrother dearest.”
He snorts. “Girlfriend? Yeah, right.”
“Pig,” I mutter under my breath.
I tense when his knee brushes against mine beneath the table.
“What was that?” he whispers.
He’s so close I can smell his spicy, rich cologne.
Again, refusing to let him intimidate me, I square my shoulders and raise my head. Our mouths are way too close, especially given that we’re stepsiblings.
“I called you a pig,” I repeat, locking gazes with him.
His eye twitches, but suddenly, he backs away to lean in his seat with even more arrogance than I thought possible. “Takes one to know one.”
I jerk backward. “Excuse me?” My jaw slacks with shock. “Takes one to know one? Are you saying that because of the stupid stunt you pulled at the party? You and I both know that you set me up.”
Am I still pissed off about that? Absolutely.
But I’ll be damned if I let my own personal bully know how riled up he got me.
“Did I, though?”
Cross lifts his hip and digs into the pocket of his jeans to pull out his phone. His movements are slow, his fingers swiping lazily across the screen until a smug smile appears on his face. Alarm bells go off in my head.
He holds his phone steady and slides it across the table until it’s right in front of me. He nudges his chin to it, and I follow his silent instruction and stare at the screen.
I don’t have to zoom in to know what it is.
Shame pulls the blood from my face. A cold sweat breaks out along my forehead, and my stomach drops to the floor. “Where–” I clear my throat and hastily shove the phone away. “Where did you get that?”
There’s no use in deleting the photo. He’s smart enough to have back-up copies.
Cross leaves his phone untouched to stare at me. “Is that why you left Yale? Because you needed a new pool of dicks to choose from?”
It’s as if he’s slapped me. His words cut deep, the burn of humiliation stinging my skin. He has no idea what he’s talking about, but I make no move to correct him.
Cross’s arms rest against the table as he leans closer to me, a dirty smirk etched onto his face. “What would Daddy think if he knew his daughter was a slut?”
“A prescription for Plan B makes me a slut?” I manage to keep my voice steady, but I’m trembling on the inside.
Cross shrugs. “It doesn’t look good, step-sis. Given you came onto me at the party, and then this? I think your father will be able to connect the dots.”
I narrow my eyes. “I didn’t come onto you at the party, and you fucking know it.”
“Shh–”
Cross and I both turn to look at the girl sitting at the front desk.
She puts her finger up to her lips and sends us a scathing look.
We turn back toward one another, and the longer we lock gazes, the more sinister his smile becomes.
My stomach turns, and it takes everything in me not to shift in my seat.
“You’re shaking,” he says.
Shit.
One eyebrow crooks. “That’s very telling…”
“I’m shaking because I’m so angry!”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, you’re not. You’re shaking because you’re afraid I’m going to show this to your father.”
Of course I am!
But not for the reason he thinks.
I am the furthest thing from a slut. I’ve willingly had sex with two people, and the other…
well, that’s why I’m at Shadow Valley, arguing with my stepbrother about what he found.
My dad has no idea why I chose not to go back to Yale, and if he finds out I was date-raped at a frat party, things will go from bad to worse.
“What do you want?” I quietly snap. “Are you still trying to get back at me, even after you embarrassed me at the party in front of everyone?"
Cross taps his long fingers on the table before swiping his phone into the palm of his hand and putting it into his pocket. “You’re done tutoring me.”
I scoff. “No skin off my back if you don’t show up.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, that’s not what I mean, baby sis.”
My eye twitches with the pet name.
His lip rises. “You’re done tutoring me because you’re going to do the work for me.”
I shoot up out of my seat, and my chair crashes to the floor.
Cross leans back and folds his arms over his chest, a knowing smile on his face.
It’s obvious he likes to provoke me, but I’m too angry to play it cool.
“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m doing your homework. I am not your servant.”
“You will be if you want me to keep your dirty little secret,” he says.
My mouth closes abruptly, and I stare at him from above.
I wish I could call him on his bluff, but I know he isn’t joking.
Cross grabs the leg of my chair and puts it in its upright position before pointing to it. “Sit.”
I do as he says. His sneer catches my eye. He digs into his bag for a piece of paper that he shoves toward me.
“This is due Thursday,” he says lazily. “It better be an A.”
Instead of leveling him with an insult like I want to do, I slap my hand on the paper and slide it over to my side of the table. He stands with his backpack over his shoulder and towers over me.
“That’s my good girl.” He winks and then taps me on the head.
I almost bite him, but by the time I recover, he’s already walking out of the library.