Page 70 of Knight

“Well, you got your wish,” he says, still walking towards me. If I’m stubborn, he’s twice that. “If you leave, this date is over, Medusa.”

“This date was over the minute you decided it wasn’t just a date.” I’m taking steps back while he’s taking steps forward.

“I’m not deciding that. You are. You want to talk about trust? How can I trust you if you’re ready to run away every single time there’s a bump. You’re like goddamn Usain Bolt!”

“Bullshit, Damien!” There’s a blur in my eye, tears in a duct but I’m not turning away.

“Coward.”

“That’s you! That’s all you!”

“It’s not all me.” His chest hits mine, my back hitting the door. “You’re as bad as I am. The difference between you and I is that you won’t admit it. If you leave this room right after what you said, that’s just as bad, Jo.”

A huff of air leaves my nose, a tingle in my throat. I wish my voice sounded more threatening when I say, “Don’t use me in your schemes, ever again.” Using my shoulder to push around for the door, I unlock it and head into the hall.

“Jo—”

Click.

The door closes behind me and I can’t breathe. Taking a long inhale, I try to slow my heart rate, my face scrunching while I hold back tears. As much as I want to stay here with him, I’m too upset to do that. How dare he call me the coward when his schemes are what led us here.

Ignoring the feeling in my chest, I bang on Isaac’s door.

“Isaac?” I call through the wood. “I didn’t know!” He doesn’t want to see me right now but I’m not burning with the devil. I’m not like him. “He said you wouldn’t have to worry. And I … fucking believed him.” Shit, I’m so stupid.

Isaac cracks the door, jazz music billowing out and I let him know the rest while I have his attention. “He said we were on a date.” I meet his eyes and they’re as blurry as mine, his phone in his hand.

The door cracks wider and he takes a look at my outfit. He has his boxers on, a white dress shirt hanging open revealing the abs of an athlete. “And now you’re not?”

“No, and we never were.”

His lips flatten into a line before he asks, “You leaving?”

“I don’t think I can be around him right now.” Or ever.

“Good. That’s best for both of us.” That’s all he says before he closes the door in my face.

* * *

You’ve always been mine.

Clearing my mind was on the top of the list when I left the hotel.

But that didn’t happen.

I thought about him all night. All morning. This isn’t new, it’s been like this since I met him. Damien King is all-consuming. He’s like a strong venom and I’m at the mercy of his poison.

I’ve been tough on the surface, ignoring his calls, not even looking at his texts but I wish my mind would follow. He’s all I think about, keeping me awake all night. Every night. It doesn’t help me fall asleep when I bring myself to orgasm thinking of his hands on my body. Doesn’t help get him out of my head. Neither do the marks on my skin, a reminder of what he’s capable of.

Complete cathartic carnage.

“Are you going to talk to him if you see him?” Willow asks as we make our way towards the school steps. I’m trying to get inside before the Supreme Squad makes an appearance. I know it’s only a matter of time before I see Damien, so I’m taking as much time as I can get.

I’m happy I don’t have to answer right away because as usual, Willow’s friends are at the door when we get into the foyer. They’re quick to usher her to the Freshman Building. As she walks away, she rolls up her kilt a little too high. I know the guys at this school and after what happened at Damien’s party, I’m not about to let her do that.

Following behind her, I’m about to call her name but before I do …

“Medusa,” Damien calls to me from god knows where, but I don’t look to see where he is. I’m not ready to talk about this, so I gun it down the hall in the opposite direction. If he wants to use our “date” time for some grandiose scheme he doesn’t get to demand mine. “Don’t walk away from me,” he growls. But I do just that, even though his voice makes me feel like my insides might implode.

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