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She went to her locker, and after she’d put her books in it and shut the door she turned and looked for Landon. He’d left early in the morning to work out before school, which was what he did every day.

His determination was impressive and also admirable, but ever since they’d become … whatever they were, her need to see him had increased.

They hadn’t told their parents for obvious reasons, but she knew they’d need to sooner rather than later. Hiding what they felt for each other wasn’t something she wanted to do.

Lyric didn’t want to have to sneak around, but waiting until they finished their senior year, which was quickly approaching, might be better anyway.

Landon had sent her a text well before she’d gotten up in the morning, and she still smiled at the thought of it.

Landon: I swear I can still smell you on me, Lyric. Leaving you, even if only for a few hours, seems like a special kind of torture made just for me.

The bell rang for her next class, and she made her way down the hall, but remembered she’d left the notebook she’d need in her locker.

She rushed over to it, and had to try three times to get the right combination to her locker before the damn thing opened.

The hallway was deserted as everyone went into their classes, and once she had the book and the locker was shut, she turned. Her focus was on the book and her backpack, but they both fell to the ground as she slammed into someone.

Looking up, she thought for a second it might be Landon, but she felt her eyes widen as she looked into Devon’s beat to hell face. He had a split lip, a black and blue swollen eye, and a nasty bruise covering one side of his face.

His rage-filled expression as he stared at her made it clear he remembered exactly what had happened.

Lyric took a step back, and she came in contact with the lockers. Looking around, she saw the hallway was deserted.

“You bitch,” Devon growled out. He took a step forward, and she held her hand out.

“Don’t come closer,” she managed to say. The fear she felt was so real her hands shook.

“You see what your fucking brother did to me, to my face?”

“He’s not my brother.”

God, why did you say that? Correcting him is the least of your problems.

Devon grinned, but made a pained expression for an instant, probably because the cut on his lip stretched. “I don’t give a fuck what he is to you. He did this to me, because of you, and now I’m going to do something to you, Lyric.”

“He did that to you because of what you were about to do to me, asshole.” He placed a hand on the locker by her head. “I’m going to do something to you that makes you hurt as much as I do right now, that’ll make you remember me for the rest of your life.” His breath smelled stale, and his dark eyes seemed colder. “I might have let you feel good at the party after I’d gotten off, but now,” he shook his head, “now I’m just going to make you hurt, to bleed. I’m going to make you my bitch, Lyric, my fucking slut.”

He moved back an inch, his focus on her eyes. She felt her fear rise, but she also felt her anger heighten as well. Taking a deep breath in, she brought her hand up and slapped him right across the face.

The shock on his face was there for a second, but then it morphed into fury. His cheek turned a vibrant red, her handprint showing up.

She opened her mouth to scream out, but before a sound left her Devon was pulled away and thrown against the other side of the lockers.

Landon stood between her and Devon, his hands at his fists by his side, his chest rising and falling.

He looked over his shoulder at her for a second, and she saw rage cover his features.

“You okay?”

She licked her lips and nodded. Looking at Devon, she saw him right himself, his lip curling in anger.

God, this isn’t going to end well.

Chapter

Sixteen

Landon knew as soon as he went to school Monday morning that shit was going to happen. There were hushed murmurs when he walked by, people seeming even more apprehensive about him, more afraid.

Or maybe they just knew what was coming before he had? But honestly, none of this shit mattered. They’d be graduating soon, he knew he wanted Lyric as his, and everything else was just background noise.

And then as he’d walked into the hallway, running late for his class, feeling pissy because he hadn’t yet seen Lyric, he stopped at the scene before him. That was when instinct, rage, and the beast that came out when he boxed, rose to the front.