Page 58 of SNOB

“I’m so sorry—” My hands come in front of me, tempering the ferocious beast.

“Do you know the shit I’ve had to go through for you?” His hands turn to fists by his side, his chiselled face red and sweaty. Those iron eyes threaten to do what I did to him. Ruin me. “Do you know how much rehab, therapy, and stress I’ve had to go through to repair my life because of you? You selfish fucking bitch.” He slams his fist against a nearby locker, the wooden door popping open as hockey gear tumbles out. “From the moment I locked eyes with the darkness in yours, I knew I was fucking goner.”

“Mac, listen.” I try calming him again.

“My father has me on strings!” He bangs his fist against the locker, making me jump. “Event after fucking event. I haven’t slept in weeks. And now, it’s all for fucking nothing.” His nostrils flare. “Scouts won’t want me after that. Coach won’t either. Why the fuck did you have to come here? Why the fuck did I keep you alive?”

His words cut through me. “Yeah, well, same,” I spit back. “You ruined my life too. I wouldn't need Greta to get me a scholarship if it wasn’t for you. You ruined a man’s career. His future.” Heat runs through me as I get closer and closer, the last few years spinning in my head. “Our future.”

“Back the fuck up, Everett,” he warns, a growl coming with it.

“That wasn’t just a thrift shop you stole from us, McKinsley.” I emphasize the name popping around The Valley, changing it into something we can’t recognize. “It was my family’s home. Our community’s home.”

“Stay the fuck back,” he warns again.

“My parents built that from the ground up and you stole it from us.”

“You stole my life.” His deep, low words roll through me, the tip of my shoes touching his socks. I can smell the sweat off him mixing with that deadly, peppery scent.

“So we’re even.” My words stay firm as I try to hide the tremble in my voice. With us this close, the memories of Riviera’s class circle my brain.

He moves his head close to mine as if he's drilling his words into my skull. “I wish you didn’t exist.”

I hate that I lean in more. I hate that I want him to take the hurt away in a I know will ruin us both. “I wish you were dead.”

“Yeah? Is that why you took that paintbrush in your tight little cunt like you wished it was my cock?” The anger in his voice intensifies his words, my thighs clenching when those thoughts get way too hard to ignore.

“Stop.” My teeth clenched, I try to ignore the flutters bursting through me.

He leans closer, the smell of tobacco coming off his breath. “Is that why you let me make you cum…” He counts on his fingers. “Three times like a desperate whore?”

“Mac…”

He hovers his lips over mine. “You don’t wish I was dead. You wish you weren’t so turned on by a monster.”

“And you wish you didn’t fuck Valley Vermin.”

Our eyes lock, the world coming to a standstill around us. “Fuck you, Everett.” Those are the last words I hear before his lips crash into mine.

SEVENTEEN

EMBER

The room falls apart around us, the taste of mint and tobacco on my tongue. A sigh escapes me as I fall against his chest, his hand coming around my back like he’s falling too.

Blame me for wanting to fix this. Blame me for craving his touch. But I can’t stop it. He doesn’t either, a wave of warmth washing over me when as his body sinks further into mine.

His tongue parts my lips, moving over mine like we’ve done this a thousand times. One hand pulls my beanie off my head and my curls fall around us like a curtain.

“I hate you,” I spit through heavy breaths.

“I hate you too,” he growls, but that only makes him devour me more.

Spinning me around, my back hits the wooden locker door, his hands coming to each side of my head. He likes when I’m trapped.

You like it too.

“Is that why you’re hard as fuck?” I don’t know what takes over me when I let my teeth sink into his bottom lip. Can I blame it on the beer? The groan he makes is addictive, so I do it again.

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