Page 83 of Brutal Game

He wasn’t mine.

24

Jack

Ishould’ve been on top of the world.

We’d won. We’d not only won, we’d won again against Tabb, and I’d gotten three assists and a goal. And Coach told me there were recruiters from the Bruins and the Rangers watching the game. I should’ve been riding high, but Aviva’s words were still stuck in my head.

No amount of justice is worth the hell you’re putting me through. I never want to see you again.

I grudgingly respected her for standing up to me, but her absence from my life made me desperate; in a short period of time, she’d become as essential to me as breathing.

So I’d brought Marnie to The Stacks with the specific purpose of making Aviva jealous. Of getting a reaction out of her. Of making her think I didn’t care. It had worked in class before October break; Aviva had tried to hide her expression, but she hated that I’d changed partners on her.

I’d done it partly to play hard to get so she’d realize shewanted me, and partly to punish her for distancing herself from me. I should’ve felt bad for using Marnie, but then I should’ve felt a lot of things.

It had taken more threats against Dylan Johnathan to get him to agree to make her work alone, and I’d had to have words with him after about inviting Aviva to visit him during office hours. It helped that Marcus now owned the controlling shares of Johnathan Pharmaceuticals. Dylan wasn’t getting by on a professor’s salary alone. It also helped that Dylan had a history of inappropriate behavior with his female students. Seeing him with Aviva—seeing how uncomfortable he’d made her—had made me lose my mind, and he wasn’t getting near her again. If I had my way, he wouldn’t beteachingfor much longer. Either way, the professor was in my pocket, and he didn’t like it.

I parked a few blocks away from Aviva’s apartment, just in case someone saw me, pulling my black hoodie over my head as I walked to her apartment. I’d cased the place earlier in the week: the lock on the gate to the complex was broken. I would’ve fixed it, but it served my purposes too well.

Seeing Aviva’s reaction when I got to The Stacks and pulled Marnie into my lap had been especially satisfying. Even though I could’ve done without having her bubblegum scent all over me, it was worth it for Aviva’s expression alone. What I hadn’t planned for was Dave being a fucking idiot and going to talk to Aviva, or Aviva being pissed off enough that she’d flirt with him. Was she really trying to get back at me that way?

That wouldn’t do.

I’d quickly used her phone to share her location with mine. I’d never stalked someone before, but Iwastheyounger brother of a hacker; one short conversation with Micah, and I knew exactly what I was doing.

It wasn’t enough. What if Aviva left her phone behind? What if she got a new phone? Or what if someone hurt her, and I couldn’t find her? Even though I still wanted to punish her, the need to protect her almost overwhelmed me, and all three questions plagued me.

So I’d called in a favor, this time with Marcus, and now I was fully equipped for the next step in my mission: never let Aviva get away from me.

I stopped ruminating so I could make my breaking-and-entering plan. There was a huge oak tree right outside of Aviva’s window. Even a guy as heavy as me could shimmy up it pretty easily as I continued to reflect on the night.

Shimmy up it I did, until I got to the thick branch right outside her window, and swung up.

Aviva left her windows open at night, even as it was getting colder. She was the type to need fresh air, which was fine with me. It was especially convenient tonight, as I pushed the window up higher and then eased the screen open. It was a tight squeeze, and I felt like some idiot parkour enthusiast as I dropped my backpack on the floor of her bedroom before somersaulting inside.

“The things I do for you, princess,” I murmured as I stood and dusted myself off.

Aviva was curled up in the same position she’d slept in my bedroom. Her hair was covering her face again, and one leg was thrown on top of the covers. She slept in black cotton panties and an oversized t-shirt that bared her shoulder and part of her back to me.

Soft, almost innocent, although I knew better. Inside the soft sleeping woman was a spine made of steel. And I wanted her. I wanted the steel spine as much as I wanted thevulnerable sweetness she showed me at rare moments, like whenever I held her, or she’d fallen asleep in my arms. I had to stop myself from slipping into bed with her and holding her throughout the night.

Unzipping the backpack, I pulled out the equipment—a large syringe, and a tiny microchip in a plastic ziplock bag.

“This is going to hurt, baby,” I murmured, leaning over and dropping a kiss on her hair. God, that apples and honey scent. I was addicted. Growing up, it had meant something else: a new year, a new chance for my family to not be a shitshow and my father not to be an abusive asshole. Every year, it became more clear that my dream would never come true. I’d come to hate the smell.

Until a few weeks ago, when this girl walked into my life. She’d brought me back to life in so many ways. Now, I was obsessed with the scent. I wanted to bathe in it, to drown in it. To drown inher.

All in good time. First, I had work to do.

Taking a page out of my brother’s book, I injected Aviva with an anesthetic. It was supposed to last for about an hour, give or take. Long enough to insert the tracker without her knowing.

I snorted. I’d told myself when this began that the little thief was nothing more than a temporary extracurricular as I kept an eye on her and kept her from trying to ruin our lives. A way to get my dick wet regularly before I graduated and headed off to the NHL. But that was complete and utter bullshit. I could’ve gotten my dick wet easily without her. Instead, I had zero interest in any other woman. And I had a feeling I’d never be interested in another woman, ever again.

Aviva was it for me. This obsession—this need topossess and keep her, and keep every other single fucking man away from her—wasn’t going anywhere.

Which included always knowing where she was.

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