Page 54 of His To Claim

“Yeah, and Ace had his arms wrapped around your little girlfriend, Drake,” Ruby adds. I turn and scowl at her. The little bitch smirks like she has no fucking clue what I’m pissed about. She’s never wanted me with Drake and this is just her way of proving to him I’m not worth the effort.

“What the fuck, he touched you again?” Drake shouts, standing up and causing heads to turn our way. I join him, placing my hand on his shoulder.

“Sit the fuck down, Dragon Man,” I say, and he does, clearly still pouting like a five-year-old who just got told he needed to share. “He just caught me before I fell. Like Stella said, I crashed into him and almost fell backward.”

“And then they said nothing. They just walked away. Like does that mean they’re backing off?” Stella asks genuinely interested in this conversation.

“I don’t give a fuck what it means, Silver. They ignored us, that’s been the whole point we’ve been trying to make. Seems they’ve finally gotten it.” I look back to Ruby and she eyes me suspiciously, but before she can say anything else, I grab my coffee and croissant and stand up.

“Walk me to class, Dragon?” I ask, and Drake quickly stands to follow. “See you guys at lunch,” I say before we walk off toward Westerly Hall.

We are walking not even for an entire minute when Drake once again questions me about what happened this morning with Ace.

“What’s up with you and that fucker Servite, Scar?”

“Not this again, Drake, I already told you what happened,” I say. I’m getting irritated by his daily interrogations.

“Yeah, but Ruby said…”

“Ruby, really. You mean your sister who still pretty much hates me, told you she saw something more? The same sister who’s fucking your best friend and hates that we’re together?”

He frowns, clearly upset. “I can see it too, Scar. When he’s around, he can’t keep his eyes off you,” he says as we walk into Westerly Hall. I stop at the front of my class and he turns to face me placing his hands on my shoulders. “Off what’s mine, he can’t keep putting his hands on you. I won’t allow him to.”

I shrug out of his hold, pushing away from him, and I can’t help but let out a small chuckle. “You have some nerve, Drake. We may be together, but you need to understand that I’m not yours. I will never fully belong to someone. I won’t allow that. I’ve seen what giving yourself completely to someone did for my mother. When Chaz got locked up, she lost it, lost herself. She didn’t know how to function without him. I can’t let that ever happen to me. My mind, my body, my soul will always be my own.”

He growls, clearly pissed off as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Scar, that’s not…”

“Look, I think we moved into this too quickly,” I say, and hisdemeanor turns cold. I shouldn’t have strayed from my initial belief. Drake and I are best friends, twin souls lost in this cruel. But somehow, we’re lost together. I knew a romantic relationship between us would tarnish that, but I let my pride get in the way. I let my feelings toward Ace lead me into making the biggest mistake. And I might lose my best friend over it.

“Scarlett, don’t. Don’t make excuses on why this won’t work. You just need to talk to me, help me understand. Ever since we got here, you just seem like a different person. Always on edge and hiding things.”

“And you’ve been nothing but jealous. You were always possessive, Drake. I get it. You need to be in control, and I totally understand that, but I won’t be controlled. You’ve known since the moment you met me, I’m not one to open up and tell the world my shit. There are some things that you don’t need to know. It’s my life and I choose what I share and with whom I share it with. Don’t come at me like I owe you everything. Because I can never give myself over completely. I thought you understood that.”

“Yeah, I thought I did too.” He runs his fingers through his hair once again and I can see the frustration in his eyes. He’s hurting and I’ve caused that. Just when he’s about to turn to leave, the devil himself shows up to dig the knife I’ve stuck in him even deeper.

“Hmmm, trouble in paradise?” Ace asks, and fuck if only I could freeze time and stop what I know is coming next.

I turn and see that look in Drake’s eyes. The wrath, the darkness like a shadow clouding his green eyes, turning them dark, almost black, and without a doubt, Drake turns and slams his fist right into the perfect jaw of the very deserving Ace. Ace runs his thumb across his busted bottom lip, cleaning off the blood and sticking it in his mouth to lick it off, a wicked grin now on his face.

“I’ll take that as a yes. I assume you heard about Saturday night.”

Fuck. A look of shock and anger muddled together appears on Drake’s face as he turns from Ace to me. And just as he’s about toswing at Ace once more, Professor Macallan rushes out of the lecture room. He looks from Ace’s bloody lip down to Drake’s bloodied knuckles.

“Mr. Drake, escort yourself to the Headmaster’s office immediately before I have security come down and do it for you.”

A small smirk appears on Drake’s face, and he chuckles slightly. He turns to walk away as I turn to face Professor Macallan.

“But he didn’t,” I say as he interrupts me.

“Miss Steele, I suggest you make your way to your seat before I send you to accompany Mr. Drake.”

“But Ace…”

“Now, Miss Steele!” he shouts, and I walk inside with Ace on my tail.

“Looks like you need to tame your dragon boy, Red. It can be dangerous for him to be so wild.”

“Fuck off, Ace,” I say, and I hear him laugh as I walk away.

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