Obey Fate (Fated Duet 2)

ed with his thighs, grazing past him, and I let my hand drift over him too.

“Aria,” he growled, only loud enough for me to hear. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Am I?” I asked innocently.

“You have three seconds to get to your seat. Otherwise, I won’t be held accountable for what happens to you.”

“Promises, promises,” I sang, skirting away from him and to my seat.

I knew exactly what I was doing to him. I enjoyed watching him lose his cool, and I wondered if the thrill of being caught was the reason I was so obsessed, but as I watched him pace at the front of the class, discussing the current subject, I knew it wasn’t.

I’d been in love with Cade before I even knew what love was, and everything that had happened over the last six months only made it so much stronger. It was unbreakable, impenetrable. He was all I could think about since we’d reconnected after the track meet. His hands were imprinted on my soul.

He told us to turn to a certain page in our books, but I couldn’t move an inch to do what he’d said. I was enthralled, obsessed with watching the way he moved, and the curve of his lips as he quickly glanced at me told me he liked it. The weekend couldn’t come soon enough, and as soon as the bell rang for end of class, and all the students filed out, I walked up to his desk.

“Great lesson,” I remarked.

“Yeah?” He pushed his laptop into his bag and stared down at me. “What was it about?”

“Erm…” I blinked, not even able to remember any of what he’d said in the lesson. “I can’t…remember.”

“Too busy staring at a certain—”

“Mr. Easton, may I have a word with you?” We both turned to see Miss Simmons standing in the doorway, her narrowed eyes watching us. “You may leave, Aria. The adults need to talk.”

Cade stepped in front of me, his gaze meeting mine as he inclined his head, signaling to follow him. “We have nothing to discuss, Miss Simmons,” he said, his voice brooking no room for argument. “Excuse you.”

She didn’t move from the doorway as her stare slid to me. “You shouldn’t be alone in a classroom with her. Imagine what people could think.”

Cade leaned forward, his voice dropping dangerously low. “Imagine what people would think if they knew what Jasmine was doing. I somehow think that would be bigger news than a teacher talking to a student.”

“A student he’s fucked,” Miss Simmons gritted out.

“Tell me, Willow.” Cade dipped his head to the side, and I moved over so his body was fully shadowing mine. “Are you jealous because I didn’t fuck you? Is that your problem? Or is it because you don’t like the thought of me having the upper hand.”

“You don’t have the upper hand, Cade.” I gripped the back of Cade’s shirt. “You never will.”

“Yeah?” His hand reached around and collided with my arm where he squeezed. “We’ll see about that when I hand the evidence into my dad then, huh?”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I will if you don’t get out of my goddamn face. I warned you what would happen if you didn’t leave either of us alone. This is your final warning. One more time, and it’s over.” He paused, and I wasn’t sure what he did, but then he demanded, “Now move.”

I peeked around his body, blinking as she huffed and stomped away. Her heels clicked along the floor as she marched to her own beat.

“Jeez, Cade.” I let out a breath and swiped some hair off my face. “You’re scary.”

He stepped out of the classroom, and I followed after him. “Only when it comes to protecting the people I care about.” He kept his body inches away from mine as we walked down the hallway and around the lingering students. “Which is you, in case you were wondering.”

His gaze slid to mine and I smiled up at him. “I think I got that impression loud and clear.”

“Good.” He halted outside the school office. “I gotta head in here. Remember to tell your mom you’ll be gone all weekend.”

“I know.” I bit down on my bottom lip. “I’m gonna ask Hope to cover for me.”

I’d told Cade last night that Hope knew some of our history, and even though he wasn’t happy about it, he knew I couldn’t go back on what I’d told her. Besides, her knowing would come in useful, like this weekend.

“Okay.” He glanced around the hallway and whispered, “Imagine me kissing you goodbye right now.”