Page 24 of Stay Toxic

In fact, I was so intrigued by what he said that I didn’t wonder why he’d said it until he was in my space. And I mean,reallyin my space.

He was so close that I could feel his body heat. His breath was going from his mouth into mine.

I could smell his cologne.

And fuck, did it smell good.

Expensive.

Unobtrusive.

Deliriously sexy.

“Um, what?” I asked, my brain no longer functioning at all.

I wasn’t even sure where I was.

Had he told me to do a jump, I’d have reacted and asked him how high.

“Why does that guy look so familiar?” he asked me, voice deep and soft all at once.

Again with him asking me questions that I couldn’t make my brain comprehend.

“Um.” I hesitated. “Probably because you’re a band follower.”

I watched those beautifully thick lashes sweep down in a slow blink, brushing his high cheekbones.

When his eyes opened again, I realized that his eyes weren’t really dark. They were, but they weren’t.

At first glance, I thought they were brown. Dark brown.

But with him this close, I realized they weren’t brown at all. But a really dark blue. Navy blue. Like the color of his jeans.

They were gorgeous.

And he had a gold ring around both eyes that made that dark blue pop.

“I have no clue what a band follower is supposed to mean or why that would make me recognize him more likely,” he said.

“Band. The West Dallas Marching Band,” I explained. “They were live on social media when they tried to pull a prank on the principal. The principal, my ex, got caught fucking my best friend, the band director.”

“Got it,” he said. “I actually remember hearing about it now. They were on the news?”

“They were on trial, too,” I confirmed. “It just wrapped up last month. They were able to get their jobs back thanks to some loophole. Which now has me sandwiched between the both of them.”

“Harsh,” he murmured quietly. “Would you like me to kill them for you?”

I snickered. “Sure. Make it happen. I’ll owe you.”

He didn’t laugh, though.

When I refocused on him instead of the striation of his irises, I realized that he looked rather serious.

Which made me a bit nervous…

He blinked, though, and the look was gone. Replaced by something else.

Something I couldn’t read but I knew to be dangerous. “I have to go now.”

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