20. Jace
For some reason, I thought everything was going to change after that stupidly impulsive and absolutely incredible night four days ago. Partly because of her. But mostly because of me.
These past six years, I have fucked a lot of people as a way to appease the restlessness in my soul. And I always get bored. Sometimes, I get bored before I even get to their bedroom. Sometimes, I get bored halfway through. But I always, always, get bored afterwards. Because none of them ever mattered. Nothing in my life ever mattered.
So I was terrified that I would start feeling like that about Kayla now as well. I’m supposed to spend the entire rest of the semester guarding her, so how would I survive that if that damn restlessness and boredom returned?
But it didn’t.
Not even for one moment.
Kayla might be infuriating and frustrating and a downright little demon, but she is never boring.
Quite the opposite.
She’s fascinating.
Her fierce spirit. Her stubbornness. Her energy.
It’s as if it feeds my soul. As if she feeds my soul.
And these past four days, she has leveled up in her attempts to drive me crazy.
Which is the other thing that surprised me after our glorious night together.
Kayla is acting as if she hates me even more now. As if she’s even more angry and petty and wants to get rid of me even more. Which makes absolutely no sense. Because I’m fucking excellent in bed. And I know that she enjoyed herself as much as I did. I could read it clear as day in her eyes. Feeling her naked body against mine as I drew pleasure from her soul blew my fucking mind. And I know that the experience blew her mind too. It was written all over her face. So the fact that she is trying even harder now to ditch me took me a little by surprise. But it doesn’t bother me too much.
She’s probably just angry that I was right. That she couldn’t handle me. That she couldn’t handle it when I told her to get down on her knees and crawl. While I, just as I said, could handle her perfectly.
Strolling along the sidewalk, I check my phone to make sure that the little dot on the map is still heading in my direction. It is. I pick up the pace slightly so that I will reach the corner of the alleyway before the little red dot reaches that spot.
The sky visible between the tall buildings is painted with streaks of deep red and purple. Soon, the sun will dip entirely beyond the horizon. But I will have acquired my target well before then.
I jog the final distance as I notice the little dot picking up speed as well. However, I’m far faster so I reach my destination first.
Drawing myself up by the wall right next to the mouth of the alley, I wait.
Two seconds later, the sound of rapid footsteps comes from inside the alley. I remain where I am, listening as they draw closer.
After locking my phone screen, I slip it back into my pocket.
The footsteps reach the mouth of the alley.
Darting forward, I grab my target, spin her around, and slam her up against the wall inside the alley.
Kayla lets out a huff as her back connects with the red bricks.
Then shock pulses across her gorgeous face as she stares up at me with wide eyes. I keep one hand around her throat, pinning her to the wall, while the other traps her right wrist against the wall next to her head as well.
“You,” she splutters, staring at me with such a stunned expression that I almost laugh.
I smirk down at her. “Hello, little demon.”
She yanks adorably against my grip on her wrist. Which naturally makes no difference whatsoever. When that doesn’t work, she wraps her left hand around my wrist and tries to force my arm away. I tighten my fingers around her throat in response. She snaps her gaze back to my face and shoots me a glare, but stops trying to push my arm away.
Letting her free hand drop back down by her side, she stares up at me with eyes full of annoyance and frustration. “How do you always do this? How do you always know whenever I sneak out?”
“Seeing as you always try to sneak out, it’s not really the secret you think it is.”
She stomps her foot in anger and throws out her free hand in exasperation. “Then how do you always find me?”
Easy. I put a GPS tracker in her watch.
After the first hellish week she put me through, I realized that she always wears the same wristwatch. And she doesn’t just wear it sometimes. She always wears it. So one night, I planted a GPS tracker in it while she slept.
So now, whenever she manages to sneak away, I just follow the little red dot on my phone. And abracadabra, there she is. Just like magic.
I’m not about to tell her that, though. So I just smirk down at her and lift my shoulders in a nonchalant shrug.
“I’m just that good.”
She scoffs. “Always so arrogant.”
“It’s not really arrogance when you can back it up.”
Grinding her teeth, she yanks against my grip on her wrist. “Just let me go.”
“I will. Once you apologize for sneaking off and making my job harder.”
“I don’t give a shit if I make your job harder.”
“Then I suppose I don’t give a shit if you spend the night pinned to the wall in this alley.”
A growl rips from her throat, and she once again tries to use her free hand to bend my fingers off her wrist. I tighten my hand around her throat until I’m almost cutting off her air completely.
My eyes are hard and full of authority as I stare her down. “You give me shit, and I’ll give you shit.”
She glares back at me with eyes like hellfire for another few seconds. Then she angrily yanks her free hand back down. I let her breathe properly again.
“Now, apologize,” I demand.
I know that she hates this. Which is why I love doing it. I love riling her up and watching her get all flustered.
“Fuck you,” she snaps.
Shaking my head, I tut as if I’m disappointed. Though in reality, I love it when she fights me like this. There truly never is a dull moment with this little demon around.
“Really?” I say, making a show of looking surprised. “You had no problems following orders last Sunday. Some of them, at least.” I let a teasing smirk slide home on my lips as I give her a knowing look. “Should I tell you to take off your clothes again? You responded very well to that command.”
Red flushes her cheeks. A low snarl rips from her lungs as she struggles hard against the wall. But she’s no match for my strength, so she’s not going anywhere unless I allow it.
“You fucking arrogant bastard—” she growls, but I cut her off.
“If this is you trying to apologize, you’re off to a terrible start.” I shrug. “Just saying.”
Another frustrated noise tears from her chest, and she stomps her foot on the ground again. “Just get off me!”
“I will. When you apologize.”
“Fine!” The word rips from her throat as she glares up at me with furious eyes. “I’m sorry.”
I grin down at her. “See? Was that so hard?”
“Just let me go.”
Since she did indeed apologize, I do release my grip on her. Though I would’ve preferred a more sincere apology. Perhaps a bit of groveling. But we’ll work our way up to that.
Her blue eyes flash as she gives my chest a shove that does absolutely nothing to push me back.
“I hate you,” she growls as she slips out from between my body and the wall.
Angry footsteps echo between the brick walls as she starts stomping away. I chuckle and follow her.
“No, you don’t,” I reply with a grin.
And then I make sure to walk as close to her as physically possible all the way back to her apartment.