9. Kinsley #3
I place my head on the desk. The cool wood gives me no reprieve from the sadist sitting only inches from me. “Something like that,” I mutter.
“Ah, you are capable of telling the truth.”
I ignore his sarcastic insight and make a mental note to remind myself to erect my walls higher so the fucker can’t read my every thought and emotion.
“Are you going to give the campus another eyeful of your striptease today?”
Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks getting comfortable was a big deal.
It’s not like I exposed any of my lady bits.
I raise my head to look at him. Although the question seems genuine, the corner of his mouth curves up slightly.
The wicked smile hiding behind those perfect lips catches my attention.
I would blame his ego for noticing, but I’ve been on Edge’s radar since I stole his parking spot.
He doesn’t miss the way my grazing eyes fall to his mouth.
To prove it and to goad me further, he skims the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip.
I tighten my thighs in a desperate effort to ward off the sensations building again.
Fuck me into next week. But if I’m being honest with myself, they never entirely went away.
He doesn't say anything if he notices the slight movement under the table.
“Did you hear me, little Ninja? Are you going to strip for me today?”
Those words wrench me out of the depths of the dangerous lair I’ve fallen into.
I slide my gaze up to meet his lust-filled eyes, which isn’t much of a reprieve from his mouth.
I clear my throat. “Trust me, if I were to put on a striptease, you’d know.
” To say I’m surprised when he doesn’t reply is an understatement.
He’s the opposite of Gunner. I turn my attention back to my book.
“What can I say? I like to be comfortable.”
He nods, gets up, and politely pushes in his chair. Closer than necessary, he leans down and whispers, “I wouldn’t get too comfortable. You won’t be here that long.”
Then, without another glance my way, he strolls down the center of the library. As if waiting for the king himself, a stumbling guy opens the door from the other side. Edge strolls right on through as though the world is just waiting to bow at his feet.
Obviously, it was a warning of some kind, but I hope he’s right. I won’t be here that long. There’s a good chance that even if I didn’t walk in on them fucking like rabbits, he would have made it a point to seek me out.
It isn’t as hard to concentrate as I thought after he leaves.
Figuring him out is the tricky part. He’s hot, cold, then nonchalant, and then quickly transforms again into being an asshole.
I might as well take my chances rolling a twelve-sided die to see which side of Edge will appear next.
If my luck in the past two days is anything to go on, I’m not sure I have a chance in hell of catching a break.
Tapping the end of my pen against my lips, I wonder if I missed a crucial one-on-one moment to ask him about the underground fights and what he’d be willing to tell me, if anything.
Too late now. I take a deep breath as I return to my essay, which is due tomorrow.
I’ve neglected to start it, so I’m thankful I have this free time.
I have a feeling this free hour will be a lifesaver, which means I'll have more time to spend on other extracurricular activities, like planning my next move.
Then again, I hope Edge doesn’t usually spend his free time in the library.
My stomach growls, reminding me it’s time for lunch. As I exit the library, Brielle conveniently happens to run into me. I’m able to catch the few books in my hands before they fall to the ground.
“Hey, creeper, did you like what you saw earlier?” She makes a dramatic gesture of wiping the extra gloss from the side of her mouth, even though it’s perfectly applied and she knows it.
My immediate thoughts stomp right toward the images he planted in my head only a little while ago. Quickly snapping back to the present, I say, “If you’re talking about Edge using you to get off, then I have to go with a no on that one. I’ve seen better performances on Animal Planet.”
Her face is a blast of fury as I bump her shoulder to make my way to the courtyard to meet Bryce and Eden. From behind me, Brielle goes on about how I’m such trash or some other empty and redundant insult.
Once settled against the big oak trunk, I can finally relax a bit. I close my eyes and try to clear my head using the breathing techniques I learned from training. It’s more of a challenge than usual with all the shit Edge pumped into my head.
“What’s up, bestie?” Bryce plops down beside me.
My eyes pop open. Relax session is officially over. I hold my hand over my eyes to block out the sun. “Not much, Bunny. You?”
I take a protein bar and a sandwich out of my backpack, tear the seam down the center of the bar, and take a bite.
Bryce removes a brown paper bag from his backpack and pours the contents onto the ground. It’s the complete opposite of the sushi he ate yesterday. “Let’s see what Mother has packed her favorite son today.”
I glance at the green packaged granola bar, a sleeve of orange crackers smeared with yellow cheese, a squished sandwich, and a browning banana. “Are you sure you’re the favorite child?”
“I’m her only child. So, yes, I am her favorite.”
“Uh-huh.” I pick up his squished sandwich. “What happened to sushi rolls and wasabi?”
“That was courtesy of our housekeeper, Josie.” He points to the bagged lunch.
“This is courtesy of my stepmom, Clara. I don’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her I’d much rather have sushi rolls instead of a flattened PB and J.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good PB and J, but it doesn’t take the place of sushi. ”
“I hear ya.” I take another bite of my unsquished sandwich. “Where’s Eden?”
“She had to do some work for the debate club, chess tournament, or some other club she runs. So, it’s just you and me today.” He bounces his eyebrows.
I toss the corner of my crust at him. “Shut up and eat your squished PB and J.”
He laughs. “Did you know she’s the chancellor’s daughter?”
“Eden?”
“Yeah. That’s the reason she attends Monarch University, because of his position.”
Interesting. I contemplate my next question, then decide there’s no right or wrong way to ask, so I blurt it out. “What’s up with Venom? I mean, why are they so popular? What do they have that nobody else does?”
Bryce peels his gooey sandwich out of the folded plastic bag.
The jelly seeped through the bread, staining it purple.
“Those guys are like gods around here. They’ve been friends forever.
Like, since grade school. Well, at least Edge and Kade, the guy with piercings and tattoos.
And by the way, he’s wicked smart—like genius worthy. ”
He’s in my psychology class, not a brainiac class, but wicked smart, huh? “What about Edge?” I push, dying for more information.
Bryce swallows his bite of sandwich, then picks up his juice box and takes a swig.
He has the perfect lunch for a six-year-old.
“Edge is Ledger Hunt. His dad is some big-time business mogul with his hands in anything that can make him money.” He pauses to make a face and glances over his shoulder to see if anyone is listening.
Then he continues when he decides the coast is clear.
“I’ve only met Edge’s old man once at school in the office.
Mr. Hunt and the chancellor are really close. ”
I’m soaking up every detail. Who knew Bryce was so in the know?
He points an orange cracker in my direction.
“But the weird thing is, Eden says she’s never seen them together outside of school, but they’re supposedly best friends.
It doesn’t make sense, right?” He doesn’t expect an answer, which is good because I don’t know what to say except to agree with him.
Searching for a napkin and not finding one, he starts to use his scarf before I hand him one.
He wipes the crumbs from his fingers. Shaking his head, he says, “Something doesn’t jive, but it’s not for me to pry into. ”
Not caring what the chancellor or Edge’s dad do in their free time, I swallow a bite of the tasteless turkey sandwich and try to curve the conversation back to the guy who has been a pain in the ass since the second I stepped foot on campus. “What else do you know about Edge?”
Bryce throws out a mocking right punch. “He’s really into MMA stuff.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. Keep him talking . “Really? How into it? Does he compete?” Damn, that sounded a little too enthusiastic.
He holds up his hands. “Whoa, girl. You just kicked it up a gear.”
I shrug, trying to shift down my excitement. “Sorry. It’s just something I’m interested in.”
“Anyway,” he says, “I think so. I’ve only heard bits of conversation about it, though. It’s all a foreign language to me. I don’t know shit about that stuff.”
Wanting more answers on the subject but not wanting to make it more obvious than I already have, I switch my questioning to a different topic. “So, he and Brielle are like a couple?”
Bryce almost chokes on the granola bar. He waves his hand in the air, his finger oscillating back and forth.
I slap him on the back. “You all right?”
He nods, inhaling a deep breath. I hand him his juice box. He slurps it until its emptiness echoes off its thin cardboard walls. “I’m okay. Thanks for saving me.”
“No problem.” I laugh and hand him the rest of my water bottle. He takes it and chugs the remaining half down. “Better?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” He clears his throat. “So, going back to your question about Brielle and Edge, that’s a tricky one. They’re like a couple out of convenience, but I’d say that Brielle wants him exclusively. And I’d bet every nickel of my daddy’s money that Edge doesn’t feel the same way.”