15. Mallory
MALLORY
Before Paisley could talk me out of it or I realized how spectacularly bad this could go, I slid into my seat beside Maddox in biology.
He looked rougher than usual. Shadows clung under his eyes. I shouldn’t care whether he had trouble sleeping or not, especially after what I learned about Raven Night, but if I wanted an invite, I needed to play nice. I needed him to mark me.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, dropping my book onto the table for us to share.
His eyes cut to me. “Just tired,” he replied. “I didn’t get much sleep. And Coach has us practicing harder. It’s wearing on me.”
Among other things.
I saw more than exhaustion in his eyes when he looked at me. There were secrets there, the kind that sat heavy on your chest, followed you into sleep, and waited when you woke. As someone who carried her own collection of secrets, I recognized the look.
Mr. Gifford passed out our first quiz results, and Maddox swore under his breath, a hiss between his teeth as he glared at his paper.
I stole a glance and saw the angry red F bleeding across the top of his quiz.
He saw mine a second later, the bold A scrawled across it in thick marker, and snorted. “Figures.”
Mr. Gifford cleared his throat, rapping his knuckles against his desk for attention. “Anyone who failed can make up some of the points with an extra writing assignment on the chapter due Monday.”
A wave of groans rolled through the room, including from the body beside me.
Maddox dragged a hand through his dark hair.
“Fuck this,” he muttered, balling up the quiz with one hand and crumpling it into a wad.
He shot it toward the trash can across the room in a perfect arc.
It landed clean, disappearing into the bin without touching the sides.
“You might have a future in basketball,” I joked.
He huffed out a laugh. “My father would love that.”
“Maybe I can help you.” I saw an opportunity. I had to take it.
He turned to look at me slowly, one brow lifting. “How exactly?”
“I’m pretty good at writing papers,” I said, my fingers drumming once against the desk before I stilled them. “I could get you those extra points you need to make up for the quiz.”
His light-green eyes narrowed, studying my face like he was searching for the catch. “Why would you do that?”
Because I want something from you. Because this is a terrible idea and I’m doing it anyway.
I shrugged. “I can’t have my lab partner failing. It would look bad on me.”
“What do you want?” he asked flatly, spoken like someone who understood nothing in this world was free.
“An invitation to the party Friday night.”
“No,” he snapped, no hesitation.
“Fine. No A,” I said nonchalantly, like it was no sweat off my back. I couldn’t let him know how much I wanted to go to this party.
“How did you even hear about Raven Night?”
“Paisley.”
“Paisley needs to learn to keep her trap shut.”
“Did something happen between you two?” I asked, watching him closely.
He snorted, shaking his head once. “No. I’m not interested in Paisley like that. I’ve known her too long.”
He misunderstood my question entirely, but I didn’t correct him. I was too busy buzzing at the idea of him not thinking of her in a girlfriend way.
“You don’t want to go to Raven Night, Hales. Trust me.”
I wanted to. God, I really did. But wanting something and trusting someone weren’t the same thing, and I’d learned that lesson early and hard. “That’s the thing,” I said, tapping my pen against my bottom lip. “I kind of do. It’s all anyone’s talking about. And I’ve never been to a party before.”
He looked at me like I’d admitted to something fundamentally wrong with my existence. “How is that possible?”
“I moved a lot,” I said, the half-truth sliding out.
“Some years I was homeschooled. Different towns, different schools, never long enough to get invited anywhere. I just…never got the chance. It would be…stupid of me not to go now. It’s like a teenage rite of passage, right? The thing everyone does?”
“I’m not babysitting you. I can’t be held responsible for what happens to you.”
“I can take care of myself.” I held his gaze, my lips twisting. “Or have you forgotten?”
“The answer’s still no.”
“Fine,” I said sweetly, letting a smile curve my lips, promising trouble. “I’ll just ask your brother. I’m sure Mason would be more than happy to give me the mark. He seems…friendly.”
His gaze flicked to my mouth. “You like to play dirty, Hales.” He sighed. “Fine. But remember, you asked for it. I’ll give you the mark.” He leaned in slightly, and I caught the scent of him, cedar with hints of smoke. “Just make sure I get that A.”
I smiled, victory tasting sweet on my tongue. “Deal.”
Friday came faster than I expected. I was at my locker, half in my head, half in my schedule, when someone stepped into my space and took my hand before I could even turn around. Warm fingers clasped around my wrist, familiar in a way that made my pulse stutter beneath his grip.
Maddox.
I knew before I saw him, my skin prickling with awareness. It was a reaction I wasn’t yet sure I liked, but my body seemed to have a mind of its own.
He pressed something cool and damp against the inside of my wrist. His thumb swept across the tender skin above where he held the stamp in place before lifting his hand away. The black raven stared back at me, stark against my skin, still wet and gleaming.
I blinked, turning fully toward him, and my thoughts went sideways, scattering like leaves in the wind. God, why does he have to be so fucking hot?
“You got what you wanted, Hales,” he said roughly, lifting his gaze from my hand, but he didn’t release me.
Did I, though?
His unsettling light-green eyes tracked over my face, lingering on my mouth before moving back up.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” His fingers unraveled from my wrist. “The invite can be removed as quickly as it’s given if you don’t have what I need,” he said when I just stood staring at him, but I couldn’t help it.
He enthralled me in a way that made me forget myself completely.
Finding my sanity, I rolled my eyes, mostly to keep my face from giving me away and showing him how his proximity did unhelpful things to my breathing. “It’s in my locker. Give me a sec.”
I turned the dial with unsteady fingers, fumbling the combination once before getting it right.
My cheeks grew warm, feeling his gaze on me.
Finally, the metal door swung open, and something slid out from the top shelf, tumbling through the air before hitting the floor near my feet.
I stepped back, glancing down to see a velvety black rose.
It had a note tied around the stem with a thin string.
My stomach pitched.
Maddox bent and picked up the rose before I could. “Another love note,” he said, straightening to his full height. The rose looked wrong in his hand, too delicate and romantic against his callused fingers. Tension coiled in his forearm as his lips arched into a frown. “This guy’s persistent.”
“Or sweet,” I offered, trying to grab the rose from his hand, but he was quick, pulling back out of my reach.
His fingers worked at the string, untying the note.
His eyes moved quickly over the slip of paper, each line sharpening his expression as he read it out loud.
“You don’t notice when I move closer, but I do.
Every day, the space between us gets smaller.
—Mine.” The lines around Maddox’s mouth hardened, as did the green in his gaze.
“Hardly fucking sweet. Wow. This guy is a piece of work.”
“Do you know who is leaving me these messages?” I asked, leaning back against the wall of lockers.
He shook his head once, letting out a frustrated sigh. “No. And it’s pissing me off.”
“Why?” The question slipped out before I thought better of it.
“Because there’s nothing that happens in this school that I don’t know about.” His fingers crumpled the note into his fist. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” I challenged, arching a brow, unable to help myself even though every instinct said to leave it alone.
He stepped closer, bracing one arm above my head against the locker and caging me in with his body. The heat radiating off him warmed my already flushed cheeks. His other hand still held the rose, dangling it between us. “Nothing, Hales.”
My heart was doing absolutely unhelpful things, cartwheeling in my chest and sending blood rushing through my veins. “I can’t tell if I’m supposed to take that as a warning or as…a promise.”
“Depends.” His gaze roamed across my eyes, down my nose, and to my lips, where they lingered. “On whether we’re friends or not.”
Friends?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be his friend. My mind was too twisted up when it came to Maddox to think rationally.
I reached for the rose, needing to break whatever this moment was becoming before I did something crazy like lean in and kiss him.
It crossed my mind, and once it had, I couldn’t let it go, the wondering.
Just what would it feel like to kiss Maddox Corvo?
What would he taste like? What kind of kisser would he be?
Not that I had much experience to compare him to, but it didn’t take a genius to know when it came to locking lips with Maddox, I was out of my depth.
And that should scare me.
My fingers wrapped around the stem, intending to take the flower from him, but a thorn bit into my thumb sharply, puncturing my skin. “Shit,” I hissed, jerking my finger back. A tiny bead of blood welled up on my fingertip, bright red against my skin.
Maddox caught my hand, his fingers wrapping around my wrist, and he lifted my finger into his mouth, sucking the tiny bead of blood away.
Holy shit.
Did he just put my finger in his mouth?
His lips were soft and hot against my skin, his touch gentle in a way that contradicted everything else about him. My stomach twisted and pulled. His eyes flicked up to mine while his mouth was still on my finger and heated. He was fully aware of what he was doing to me.