Page 80 of If You Dare

He nips along my jawline until his long, sharp face is directly in front of me again. He smashes his mouth against mine, pulling my hair back and moving his lips over mine like he’s feasting on me.

I shove at his chest, but he pretends he doesn’t notice me fighting him off.

From the hallway behind us, a low voice calls, “Chloe here yet?”

Trey jerks away from me, my lips tingling like they’ve just been smacked with a hammer. He pulls his arm from behind me and scoots a solid six inches away, leaning casually back against the arm of the couch.

Wes stops in the middle of the room, wet, inky hair dripping onto his blue shirt. The sight of him makes me want to jump from the couch and run to him. Let him envelop me in his arms and keep me safe.

“Everything all right out here?” Wes asks, a note of strain in his voice.

“Just dandy.” Trey pats my knee with a smile before standing, leaving me immobile and dazed, my heart still thumping.

* * *

Wes

I swearTrey pulls his arm from around Violet when I stride in the room. The same rage boils in my gut from the night I walked in on my ex cheating on me.

I warned Violet the second I kissed her, she would be mine. I made it clear how this would work. What claiming her meant.

But she wouldn’t fuck around with other guys behind my back. She’s not like Britt. She’s sweet, careful, bashful. Britt’s the kind of girl who has the confidence to go after guys. The arrogance to think she can get any guy she wants and not suffer the consequences of fucking around behind their backs. Violet isn’t like that.

Trey nearly waltzes past me until he mutters, “She’s got soft lips, man. And I don’t mean the ones on her face.”

Something in me snaps. Trey’s bedroom door clicks shut behind him, and I grab Violet’s hand, tugging her to my own room, cluttered and reeking of old gym shoes, but I don’t care. “Did something happen between you and Trey? Be honest.”

Her eyes widen, and I expect her to lie through her teeth. Offer up some excuse like Britt did.I was drunk, Wes. I was high. I wasn’t thinking straight.Magically becoming totally sober the second someone called her out on her bullshit.

My hands ball into fists and I want to slam them against the wall, but I know that’ll send Violet running for the door, and I need to get the truth out of her first.

She nods. “He...kissed me.”

I shut my eyes, forcing a slow breath through my nose that doesn’t do shit for calming me down. “Did you want him to?”

Violet shakes her head quickly. “No. I told him to stop.”

Now I definitely want to fucking end him. But a sick part of me is relieved that she didn’t want him. Didn’t let him kiss her willingly.

She’s into me, not Trey. She wouldn’t betray me like that. She’s not Britt. They’re two different girls. I couldn’t trust Britt as far as I could throw her.

But I can trust Violet.

Chapter27

After

Violet

“Great work, Violet.”Professor Tate sets my short story on my desk, an A circled at the top. “I would’ve appreciated more of a warning about the explicit nature of your story.” My face warms. “But it was very well-written and moving. You’re bearing your soul in your writing again.” She taps the page. “Keep it up.”

I’m on cloud nine when I leave class. Maxwell catches up to me. “So I heard Professor Tate call your story explicit.”

I grimace, even though my professor and classmates knowing I’ve written graphic sex scenes doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. “Honestly, I thought I dialed it back.”

Maxwell laughs. “Sounds like a must-read. We’ll have to swap work sometime. I know you were the best writer in our class last year. I’m sure my stories could benefit from your critique.”

“Oh.” If that party freshman year had never happened, I’d assume he’s just looking to swap work with a fellow writer and nothing more. But I haven’t forgotten the way he almost kissed me or the way his face lit up when I complimented him. He hasn’t flirted with me since, though, so hopefully we’ve both moved on. “Yeah. Sure.”

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