Page 90 of SNOB

TWENTY-SIX

MAC

Psychotic.

Maniacal.

Unhinged.

From the day I met Ember Everett, I knew we shared a certain kind of darkness. A certain kind of madness. One I only thought exists in myself.

My phone buzzes in the pocket of my slacks as I sit on the fountain ledge in the SBU quad. Her angry bloodstone eyes stick in my head as I light up a cigarette.

Tough luck, Everett, I’m angry too.

Not only did my father get in the way of my contract with Cara, but he also got in the way of Ember’s art. Serves her right for interfering, for not letting me handle business.

You played me.

Truth is, we both played with fire and we’re both burning.

“Father.” It takes a few calls for me to answer the phone.

“Solstice Summit,” he says. Straight to business. “Ten in the morning. Be there.” The call ends, and that stir in my stomach returns. Father’s request means practice and therapy is out of the question and he knows it.

It’s all her fault.

Ember couldn’t hold back. She had to escalate things. She had to do things her way.

Just like you.

Now I’ve lost sight of her. No one has seen her in a couple of days. I couldn't even find her in The Valley. How the hell am I supposed to put her in her place? How the hell am I supposed to fix this?

Glancing at my phone only makes the heat inside me roar.

Me: Pick up the phone Everett

Me: Don’t be stupid

Me: You’re stubbornness will end you

Bang!

My shoulders rise, my gaze drifting to the noise. Both doors to the main building swing open as a hoard of students run out. My brows lower as a scream follows from inside. Students push each other to get to the exit and they don’t stop when they reach the quad. They keep running for the parking lot.

“What the fuck?” I mutter, flicking my cigarette to the ground.

That’s when she appears.

Ember stands at the top of the steps, her eyes scanning the quad before they stop on me.

She wears nothing but a large hoodie, her height making it stop just above that perfect ass. The large hood covers her head, her tangled red curls cascading out. She looks messier than the last time I saw her. And those eyes? Those eyes look far gone.

Ember smirks, right before my eyes fall to the thing that has the building cleared out. Her smirk widens when she knows I see her, and that gun.

She moves towards me, the doors shutting behind her. As she gets closer, the dark circles under her eyes become clearer, her skin paler than I’ve ever seen it. A couple feet away and I want to wrap my hand around her throat, but we’ve been here before and I know better. I want to claim her in that way that makes her gasp. I want to take her breath away.

She’s still mine.

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