Page 128 of Vile Boys

“Good. You’re starting to understand the art of distraction.”

She tries to hit me again, but I grab her fist and twist her wrist so she’s forced to spin around, and I easily subdue her. “Don’t get cocky now. I can bend you to my will with little to no effort.”

She huffs and puffs, her body snugly fitting into mine as I hold her down.

But she stomps on my feet and shoves her elbow into my midriff, making me buckle in pain. She breaks free when I try to take a breath.

“Well … you got me there,” I say, huffing as she steps away with a giant smirk.

To be honest, I kind of let her have that win.

But she doesn’t need to know that.

“You’re a swift learner.”

Her face begins to radiate, and it makes my heart throb.

That’s the face I’m looking for.

The spirit of persistence is what she’ll need to cultivate.

“You want me to win using dirty tricks,” she says, rain slowly beginning to pitter-patter down from the sky. “I want to learn how to fight fair.”

“Darling …” I sigh out loud. “The fight was never fair to begin with.”

I grab my umbrella and open it. “Ready to head back?”

She frowns. “Already? We’ve only just started.”

I point at the sky.

“It’s just a little rain,” she says. “I’m not made of sugar.”

“You sure about that, darling?” I taunt.

She narrows her eyes. “You say the fight isn’t fair, but you won’t even make it fair.”

I’m intrigued. “How so?”

She grabs a new stick off the ground and holds it in front of her. “You said they have weapons, and I need to prepare for that. You have nothing. I have this stick. That isn’t a fair fight.”

A dark smile slowly forms on my face. “Nothing?” I close my umbrella again and point it at her. “I beg to differ.”

Her face contorts as a smug grin appears. “An umbrella?” She snorts, droplets of rain rolling down her cheeks, making me lick my lips at the thought of lapping them up.

She emboldens her stance and grips the stick tightly. “Like you said … it was never fair to begin with.” Her lip quirks up into a lopsided smile as if she thinks she’s already won this fight. “So bring it on.”

Too bad for her I still have a trick up my sleeve.

I tilt my head and pull the handle of my umbrella outward, opening the secret compartment. And as I slowly take out my katana, her smile dissipates swiftly, her eyes glinting in the harsh glimmer of my blade. The complete and utter shock on her face as her pupils dilate and her jaw drops was worth every second of this encounter.

“Now, darling … are you truly ready to fight me?”

ARES

I cut through my apple and stick it onto my knife, shoving it into my mouth while staring at the two guys sitting at the table in front of me. We finally have time to talk in private in the comfort of our own house, and they refuse. They’ve been avoiding my gaze all day long while in class, and I don’t like it one bit.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Why aren’t you talking to me?”

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