I kept my head turned, refusing to give him access to my mouth. My eyes landed on his forearm as he kept me caged against the wall. I could feel the bulge between his legs pressing against my hips, and I bristled with anger and displeasure instead of being turned on.
I didn’t know why, but I expected something better from him. When he asked to spend one afternoon with me, looking adamant… for a brief moment, I almost believed he was serious about changing my mind.
The muscles in his forearm, where he had rolled up his sleeves, tightened, and I struck out, without thinking much about it. I bared my teeth and clamped down on his arm, biting.
Maddox let out a hiss of surprise, and I lifted my gaze to his. He had pulled away, only slightly to stare down at me. I grabbed his outstretched arm and bit down harder when he didn’t make a move to pull away. He froze for a second but then stayed still. I continued to put pressure, where my teeth were clamped down on his flesh.
He didn’t even flinch. No, he did the opposite.
Slowly, his lips quirked up into a tiny smile. His eyes glimmered with amusement, and he cocked his head to the side, waiting… and the bastard appeared not to be bothered by my action.
With an angry huff, I released his arm and pushed away from him. Mr-Pain-In-My-Ass looked down at the bite mark and then grinned a slow, lazy grin. "I always knew you liked it rough... but I would have never guessed you were into biting."
Holding back a frustrated growl, I pushed him hard enough to have him stumble back a step. I shoved my middle finger into his stupid, smirking face before stomping away.
His amused chuckles followed me even as I left him behind in the storage room.
Don’t kill him. That’s murder. Do. Not. Kill. Him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lila
Later that day, Riley and I were lying in my bed, going through her Advanced Calculus homework. Riley had planned to major in business and after go to law school, that was her parents’ expectations, which wouldn’t be difficult for her since she loved Law and Politics.
Her weakness, though, was math. Absolutely everything that had to do with math. It was sucky for her since if she had to major in business, she had to pass her calculus courses with flying colors.
Enter me: Her best friend, her tutor and a genius in math. Lucky her.
“I don’t understand shit,” she whined, flopping on her back. Riley closed her eyes and threw an arm over her face, hiding from me.
I gave her a gentle nudge with my toes. “Let’s try the question one more time.”
“That’s the third time. I’m a hopeless case. There’s no way I’m getting into Harvard if I flunk Calculus.”
She was exaggerating. Riley was in no way flunking Calculus. She was currently in the mid-eighties, since she had been busting her ass night and day to practice all her equations and solving extra math problems. Riley Jenson was dedicated to a fault.
“Practice makes perfect, right?” I cajoled, gently. “One more time, babe.”
She lowered her arm a bit and peeked at me. “Then we can watch Riverdale?”
“One episode,” I reluctantly agreed.
“Binge watch the whole season?” Riley gave me the puppy eyes, the ones she had mastered, which almost won me over.
I pinched her shin. “Now you’re pushing it, Missy.”
She hissed, pulling her feet away, and her bottom lip jutted out in a pout.
“Let’s go back to the question.”
Riley nodded and sat up, focusing back on her notebook. I explained the steps to her again, she nodded along and gave it one more try.
Twenty minutes later, she let out a shout of victory. “I did it!”
Yes, she did. Just like I knew she would.
The happiness on her face was infectious, and I found myself laughing with her as she did half a twerk on my bed.
We spent the next two hours working on our homework. Once we were done and had put all our stuff away, I went down to get us snacks while Riley loaded Riverdale on Netflix. She wanted to binge watch while I was settling for only two episodes. It was going to be a battle for sure.
Halfway through the first episode, Riley started to get edgier. She was sneaking glances at me, and I noticed the way she was practically poking a hole through her blouse.
I knew Riley long enough to know this was a sign of nervousness and it had nothing to do with Riverdale. I waited for her to speak instead of pushing for information. If something was wrong, she’d tell me on her own without me having to force it out of her. It was a silent understanding between us. Riley has never pushed me about my past. I told her bits and pieces, and she accepted them without demanding more. I did the same with her. She only gave me what she wanted; we established this understanding early in our friendship.