Chapter 9
June
“Get a fucking move on.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
“Look, Little Miss Fucking Princess, can you move your damn ass before Austin sees you here?”
I shook my head. “What is going on?”
“Given that you don’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation, I’ll say it slowly. You need to go before Austin sees you.”
“You could say please every once in a while!”
“Go fuck yourself, White.” He burst out laughing, as if I’d just asked him to do something ridiculous.
“Okay, I’m leaving. I just gotta change.”
We went back inside where there were more people than I expected. James followed me without letting me out of his sight.
“I have my bike,” I clarified when we got to the second floor. But he didn’t appear interested in what I had to say.
“Move it.”
“Does Will know Austin’s here?”
“Shut your fucking mouth and get dressed,” he snarled, pointing at my clothes on Will’s bed.
I turned around abruptly.
“Do you always have to talk to me like that?” I saw him let out a sigh, rolling his eyes. “I’ll tell Will I just kicked Austin’s ass out. I don’t want him to worry.”
James’s presence destabilized me. We were alone in Will’s room, and I didn’t like that one bit. I didn’t trust him, but most of all I didn’t trust myself.
“I’m turning around, you can get undressed. I’m not looking.”
“Come on. Get out. Now!” I pointed my finger at the door curtly.
“Hey! Who do you think you are?” James whispered, then left the room.
I took off the bikini top, grabbed the balled-up T-shirt that I’d hidden my bra in, ready to put it on lightning quick, but it wasn’t there anymore.
“For Christ’s sake, where is it?”
With the T-shirt pressed against my chest, I looked around the whole room for it with no luck.
“Smaller than I expected.”
I peeked into the hallway, and saw James holding up my bra with his index finger.
“Is that what they tell you every time you pull your pants down?” I asked. I jumped to try to grab it, but he was faster.
“Does it look like you’re in a position to take shots at someone, Snow White?” He laughed, looking at me from head to toe.
“Maybe you didn’t understand, I’m not afraid of you.”
“I’ll throw this in the backyard if you don’t cut it out,” he said, moving, toward the window.
“Give it to me.”
“Get it yourself.”
James lifted his hand up, making it impossible for me to grab it.
“God, you have the brain of a child! I hate you, James!” I exclaimed, exhausted.
Then he dropped it at his feet like I’d done with the gelato just before.
Before I could bend down, James grabbed my shoulders, trapping me against the wall.
I covered myself with the T-shirt the best I could, but the impact had thrown me off so much that I didn’t know how to react.
“Look, let’s make something clear,” he snarled, an inch away from my cheek. “If I wanted to fuck you, I would have by now. So don’t provoke me.”
He loomed over me, forcing me to shrink against the cold wall behind me.
“Of course. Because who needs consent in your imaginary caveman world, Hunter?”
“Consent? You’re the one who wants me. I’ll never fuck you, White,” he said unenthusiastically.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” I whispered.
My gaze glided to the ground then looked back up at his face, and James seemed to guess what I was referring to.
“You too,” he countered quickly.
“We shouldn’t have,” I murmured.
James took a slight breath. “I was just drunk.”
“Me too,” I retorted.
Sensing my resentment, he couldn’t help but provoke me. “But you liked it.”
“No I didn’t. I faked it,” I lied through my teeth. I knew it, he knew it, everyone knew it.
I felt my ears itch.
“Faked it? You faked all that—”
“You don’t have to believe it, but it’s true.” I talked over him to hide my embarrassment.
“There’s only one thing that’s true.” His warm, enveloping voice reached my ear like a prohibited caress capable of startling me. “You got off thinking about me.”
I bowed my head and shook it. I didn’t have the guts to look him in the eye anymore.
“You’re the one who did.”
Tight as a drum, I tried not to let him see how nervous he was making me, but James didn’t seem to care, like he couldn’t give a damn about the fact that we were too close for comfort.
“Of course I liked it. But then again, you girls are angels, and we guys are dogs, right,” he said sarcastically, waiting for my reaction, then narrowed his eyes and looked from my eyes to my lips so slowly it was almost painful. I couldn’t take it anymore.
His scent stung my nostrils so intensely that I felt it slide down in my throat every time that I swallowed. I had to get out of this situation or I wouldn’t be able to answer for myself anymore. I pushed him to get him off me. He didn’t put up any resistance.
“Don’t start with this equality thing again. We’re talking about something else,” I retorted, annoyed, picking my bra up from the ground.
“Then, now that I think about it, I told you that you could call me when you needed something, and as usual, you took that literally,” he teased.
“Maybe you have gaps in your memory, but you’re the one who called me.”
“You beat me because you were quicker.” He giggled like a child. And that was exactly what James Hunter was, a stupid little child. I turned around and put my bra on, barely lifting my T-shirt. Once I felt adequately covered, I lifted the straps up and clasped it.
“You could’ve just not answered if it bothered you that much.”
“Enough, let’s not talk about it anymore,” I shouted putting on the T-shirt.
“Does it really bother you that much to bother me? Was that the first time you touched yourself?”
Tired of his jabs, I didn’t answer him. I rummaged through my backpack for a jacket.
“Was it the first time?” he demanded.
“Quit being an asshole,” I said.
“Hey, that’s my hoodie!” James pointed at the gray hoodie that I was about to put on.
“I had it in my backpack to give it back to you.”
“And why are you putting it on now?”
I moved the hair inside my collar out of the way then glared at him.
“Because I’m biking home, and I’m gonna get cold.”
“Great explanation. It’s mine! Where are you going?”
I put my backpack over my shoulder as I headed toward the door.
“I’m going home, you told me to, didn’t you?”
“You better not go home.”
I stopped myself when his voice suddenly became serious.
“Why?”
“It’s not safe. Come to my place.”
The words sent a chill down my spine.
But instead of listening to him, I burst out laughing, as if my body needed to blow off all the steam building up.
“You do that with everyone, don’t you?”
“Do you think I’m trying to get in bed with you? Are you serious?” He curled his upper lip. “You really are a dumbass. There’s a thug who could follow you home, and all you can think about is fucking me?”
I opened my eyes wide and pushed him.
“How dare you!”
I tried to walk out the door, but James reached an arm toward the doorjamb, blocking me.
“Fuck, June! I’m serious. You don’t know what he’s capable of.” I saw him glance at the window. “Trust me, it’s better if I drive you home,” he insisted, with a sharp jaw and stern voice.
“Why do you have to pretend you care about me? I don’t get it, Hunter.”
He shrugged it off. “I already told you, I’m doing it for Will.”
“Yeah, and last night you did it Will, too, right? Let me through.” I gulped with difficulty as he drew near my ear.
“Last night was different. I was really turned on, I was bored, and you’re the only one I’ve never done it with.”
“Yeah, you were so turned on that when I left you still had the blue paint on your lips. You didn’t make out with anyone.”
I lifted my chin and met his intense gaze. His eyes glinted. James loved a challenge, people standing up to him, and putting someone in their place. But more than that he loved to provoke people no matter the price.
“Maybe someone kissed me somewhere else.”
“Eww.”
I got so irritated that I couldn’t look at him in the eye anymore.
“What the fuck about me has gotten into your head?” He looked at me darkly.
“Nothing. Let me go or I swear I’ll castrate you!”
“I already told you, you aren’t special, White.”
“Are you done talking to yourself?” James raised an eyebrow. I felt gross. I wanted to go home. Right now.
I bolted out of the room, went downstairs, and just as I was about to reach the entrance, I heard a chuckle. Jackson was drinking a beer on the couch, but he didn’t miss an opportunity to look scornfully at me. “Of course,” he mumbled irritably, staring at me and the hoodie.
“What the hell do you want?” I confronted him in a rage. He shook his head and turned to talk with his friends.
“June, I was looking for you! Austin’s here. I don’t know who invited him, but it might be better for me to take you home. I don’t want him to see you here.”
William chased after me into his yard.
“I have my bike.”
“Okay, but you’re sure that—”
“I said I have my bike. I don’t need you guys,” I exclaimed, exhausted and very rude.
“Is something wrong? You seem . . .”
“No, everything’s okay. Sorry, Will. I’ll see you at school.”
>> <<
I put the bike in the garage, then ran up the steps and put my hand in my jeans pocket, looking for my keys. A sudden gust of wind made me turn around abruptly.
I noticed a big black SUV parked in front of my house that I hadn’t noticed before.
How odd. I carefully observed my surroundings and confirmed that the street in front was deserted, and all the neighbors were asleep.
Nobody’s here, I reassured myself.
But I couldn’t shake that weird feeling. I took a deep breath before rushing to the front door. My fingers trembled slightly as I put the key in the lock, but they fell onto the ground with a metallic jingle that startled me.
Before I realized what was happening, a big hand covered my mouth and stopped me from yelling.
“Shh. We’re gonna play a game now: You don’t scream, and I won’t drag you into my car.”