Page 28 of For Crosby

“Because he’s a prick.”

She rolled her eyes. “Where’s he live?”

“Beats the hell outta me. I’m not the one visiting him for a romp in the sack.”

Her eyes widened.

Watching the irritation play out across her face tightened my balls.

“We were going to study, asshole.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Didn’t mean to suggest you were that type of girl.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Of course you did. You do it every time we’re within a fifty-foot radius.”

“Someone’s been hanging on my every word.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she kicked me in the balls. I definitely deserved it. “It’s hard to miss your words when you’re insulting me and calling me a slut at every turn.”

“The word slut never came out of my mouth.”

She growled low in her throat, and turned to walk away.

I reached out and grabbed her arm.

She spun back around, anger brimming in her eyes before she glared at my hand wrapped around her wrist. “Let go of me.”

“I...” I dropped her wrist, realizing how desperate I looked. What the fuck did I care if I hurt her? Hurting people I could do. I could control.

“You what? Wanted to add assault to your growing list of infractions against me?”

“Infractions?” I scoffed. “What are you studying to be a lawyer or something?”

“Maybe.”

I could definitely see that. The fire in her eyes. The determination in her steps. The seriousness in her tone.

“Finlay told me about the jock strap incident. Why are you still letting those assholes get away with treating you the way they are?”

I could feel every muscle in my body tense up. Why the hell did she care? “It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters,” she said.

“You know what I can’t understand?” I crossed my arms, irritated by her inquisition. “You call them assholes, but you’re here to meet one of them.”

Her jaw ticked. “You know what I can’t understand? I can’t understand why you’re so hot and cold all the time. Why you came to campus in the middle of the semester. And why you’re letting people do horrible things to you and you won’t rat them out.”

“That it?”

“I’m sure I could think of more if you gave me another minute.”

I dug my hands into the pockets of my basketball shorts. What did she want to hear? The truth? Well, the truth sucked. And regardless of what I told her, it changed nothing. She was there to see captain asshole. “Well, I don’t want to hold you up. I can totally see why you’d want to hang out with the prick now.”

Her entire face reddened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I looked her up and down, the same way she had me on the night we met. The thought of her and Jeremy left a rancid taste in my mouth and the only thing I wanted to do was push her away. “Attitude and desperation. Total puck bunny material.”

Her eyes flared before she spun away from me.

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