Page 8 of Frenemies

Taking out some bystander wouldn’t have crossed my mind a few months back. But I wasn’t the same man I was a couple of months ago. That man couldn’t protect the people he cared about. Unfortunately for the whore, this one could.

I tucked my dick back in my jeans and sighed down at her. “Sorry, Sweetheart. Can’t have any witnesses.”

Bang.

“Hey, Naomi.”

I rolled my eyes as Mark flashed me a smile. Guess I should’ve seen this coming. Every day this week, I’d caught him staring at me from his corner of the lecture hall. That’s exactly where he should’ve stayed, in his own shadowed corner of self-doubt.

“I was wondering if you–”

My hand snapped up, cutting him off.

“I’m going to stop you right there.” I stood up and began sweeping my books in my bag. “My answer is no.”

Mark’s brows knit. “But you don’t know what I was going to ask.”

“It doesn’t matter. The answer is still no.”

“But…”

I sighed and spun around to face him. “No.”

“But I was…”

“No,” I said and slipped down the steps past him.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough for him to drop it. I’d barely made it out the door before he skipped up behind me.

“Can’t we just…”

“No.”

“I’ll be the perfect…”

“No.”

After that, I finally heard him huff in disappointment. God, some guys just didn’t give up. If I was interested in dating–which I wasn’t–then it sure as hell wouldn’t be a guy like him. That down-home country smile might do it for some girls, but not me.

I preferred a man that took what he wanted. Not some timid little boy that spent a week building up his courage to talk to a girl.

Mark let out a grunt and crossed his arms. “Are you always…”

“Yes,” I stated while stepping out into the afternoon sun.

That’s when my mood further soured. Bailey stood down the path, leaning against a tree. It wasn’t the oversized shirt hanging off her shoulders or the way her eyes lit up when she saw me that caused my lip to curl. It was the goddamn pigtails in her chocolate hair. Every step closer I took, I wanted to slap some sense into her.

“Naomi, Dennis asked me out,” she squealed and jumped forward to clutch onto my arm. “Can you believe it?”

Actually, no, I couldn’t. Didn’t I warn that prick about going near my girls? Apparently, he needed another lesson.

“You are not going out with Dennis.”

Bailey tipped her head and followed me down the path. “Why not? He’s cute.”

How naive was she? It was a good thing she had me—otherwise, the world would eat her alive.

“Because he is an asshole that preys on the innocent.” I slid my gaze her way and tugged on one of her pigtails. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop wearing your hair like this?”

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