The Psycho (The Soldiers of Anarchy 1)

I’m laughing because you have no idea who you’re playing with, but I’ll enjoy showing you.

I kept the wicked grin on my face and stared her down.

“I don’t think you understood me,” I stated with conviction, slowly folding my arms over my chest. I couldn’t stop myself from huffing out a laugh when I noticed her split-second glance at the muscles in my arms before she looked away, blushing like she wasn’t affected. This night had taken an interesting and unexpected turn, and I was here for it. I loved playing games, and she was the ultimate pawn. “It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.” I spoke calmly, even though my heart was racing and the tension inside me was reaching fever pitch. If I didn’t get this girl alone soon to teach her a lesson, I was going to explode. “I want you to come–”

“I heard what you said and the answer’s still no.” She leant forward, putting her face so close to mine that I could taste the sweet cherry promise of her kiss. I had to stop myself from closing that last inch, wrapping my hand around the back of her neck and yanking her forward to take what I wanted. Not to mention, it made me as hard as hell to be on the receiving end of a move that was usually done by me. She was all up in my face, and it turned me the fuck on, having her mimic me like this, standing with her eyes glaring into mine. It made me realise that no one else was going to touch this girl. Not now. Not until I’d taken what I wanted.

She was mine.

“Do lines like that work on girls in Brinton? Because they don’t with me, so jog on. Cunt.”

Her response was straight from the Adam Noble line of comebacks. I wanted to respond that I didn’t know or fucking care if they worked on girls in Brinton, I’d never tried them, and I never would. Hell, I’d avoided most of the girls in our town for the sheer fact that they didn’t spark an ounce of interest in me. But her? She made all sorts of emotions fire off inside of me, and the fact that she was trying to push me away, made it all the more interesting. Nobody had ever done what she was doing. She was making me feel. Granted, I felt pissed off as well as turned on right now, but it was a feeling all the same.

I hadn’t realised I was in a daze until a snigger from across the room yanked me out of it. And so, I stepped back, trying to break the spell this girl had put me under and claw back some semblance of control. The last thing I’d ever want was to look like a pussy in front of anyone. I was nobody’s fool.

Zak Atwood, one of the Sandland clowns, made a feeble attempt to look hard, puffing his chest out and telling me to, “Do one,” because according to him, she wasn’t interested.

He may as well have poked me with a sharp stick while he was at it to see how I’d react, because right at that moment, my fury couldn’t burn any stronger. Who the fuck did he think he was getting into my business and laying down the law?

“Who asked you, Atwood?” I snapped, stalking across the two-metre distance like my life depended on it, totally focused on throat punching the fucker for even daring to breathe around me, let alone question me. “Are you growing some fucking balls there, huh?” I sneered at him, begging him to stand up to me so I’d have a legitimate reason to vent some of my anger.

I took deep breaths, envisioning pummelling his face into the concrete floor, but also mentally talking myself down and back into a calmer state of mind. He was playing a dangerous game, toying with a beast that had no off switch. My brain didn’t work like theirs and he needed to remember that.

As if sensing the change in atmosphere, Ryan Hardy piped up again. “Just fuck off out of here.”

I took a second to think about it, trying to decide if it was worth pushing it further with her, to see if she’d break. But she wasn’t a pushover, and I knew this wasn’t going to be the last time I saw her. This was only the beginning. I’d just found myself a new plaything, a focus away from all the soldier shit we had going on and something to kill the noise that pierced through my skull every damn day. She was going to be my new distraction. Everyone needed something, right? Something to dull the ache. She’d be it for me. I was going to enjoy thinking up new ways to torment her. Tease her. Break her down until she realised that she had no choice. She was going to do what I wanted.

“You got what you came for, now fuck off,” Hardy snapped, and I narrowed my eyes at him then glanced over at Olivia, who stood tall and proud with her chin up and her head held high.

“What I want just did a one-eighty. But she’ll keep,” I replied, and Olivia laughed. She fucking laughed at me. Jesus, this was going to be the most fun I’d had in ages. I grinned over at her as I gave my parting shot. “I’ll be seeing you around… Olivia.”

“Oh, fuck off,” she spat back, but it was laced with something that made me ripple with excitement and laugh as I walked out of that room. It was laced with challenge.

Her game of consequences was just about to begin.

Tick tock, Olivia. Your time is up.