Page 36 of Theirs to Ruin

“Don’t fucking call her that,” Kage spat before tossing his friend on the ground.

I spun on him. “Stop pretending you care one way or the other.”

He stared at me a moment, then slowly grinned. “You’re right, Alex. She’s a lot feistier when she’s sparring with someone with a dick than she is with my sister. Why is that, Camille? And hey, you never did answer the question… You really think I have an STD?”

“What does it matter.” I looked at him and his friends with disdain. “I’m sure most everyone at this school already has one.”

“But not you?”

I gritted my teeth, waiting for him to make some taunt about me being frigid or a prude or a virgin or someone only into self-pleasure – he’d listened to me getting off in the shower, after all. But he didn’t say any of those things. Instead, he just said, “I think you’ve got the wrong impression about me. Why don’t we talk so we can clear things up.”

“You don’t get it. I don’t wantanythingto do with you.”

Slowly he smiled. “That sounded like a challenge, didn’t it, boys?”

Alex and Samir started laughing while Silas just looked bored.

“It wasn’t a challenge,” I said.

“Hmm, I guess it’s subject to interpretation then. I think you want me to kiss you. I think you’re pissed as hell that I didn’t do it the night I brought you home.”

At the way everyone was looking at me, I wanted the ground to swallow me. I pulled back my shoulders. “Just so we’re crystal clear, Kage, I’d rather fuck a cactus than have your lips anywhere near mine.”

The corner of Kage’s mouth quirked upwards. Instead of the anger I had expected, he looked pleased. He took a deliberate step closer, and I held my breath, feeling the pull of his charisma, the charged air of challenge surrounding him.

“Prepare to eat your words, Camille. While I prepare to eat something much sweeter.”

Chapter 14

Kage

As Camille stormed off, a smile formed on my lips. I was fucking thrilled to see her fighting back instead of crying like she had yesterday. The more she defied me, the more I wanted her. I wasn’t used to girls talking back to me; I was used to them falling into line and doing whatever I asked of them. That night at The Roost, I had gotten my first taste of Camille’s smart mouth, and damn if bringing that out in her again didn’t have me hard as a fucking rock. She was like a breath of fresh air. She had no idea the effect she had on me. How much I wanted her. But I also had to think of the bigger picture.

I was about to become the head of the fucking mafia. That meant while I could play with Camille, give her pleasure and a little bit of fun—God knew the girl needed it—it could never be more.

I turned to Alex, who’d risen to his feet and was looking at me like I’d gone insane.

“Camille?” he said.

“You have something to say about that?”

“You could have warned us.”

I shrugged. “Consider yourself warned.”

Alex scowled. “Whatever.”

“Hey, Kage,” Silas said, capturing my attention. “You going to the lake party?”

Maybe Camille would be there. If so, it might be another chance to challenge Ms. Cactus Fucker. “I’m in.”

We headed to the campus coffee shop. I tried to zone back into my friends’ conversation, but my thoughts were scattered. The dull hum of their chatter became background noise to my obsessive thoughts about Camille.

It should've been easy, leaving her alone after the way she stormed off with Dante post-Ava showdown. But I’d needed her to know the truth about the roofie situation, that I hadn't been the one to tell Ava. Camille had responded in that surprisingly combative manner I was quickly learning was a part of herself that she hid well. Something about me brought it out in her, and I knew what it was: she wanted me but she was fighting it.

Seeing her with Dante earlier had reignited the same possessiveness I’d felt when I saw her flirting with Billy at The Roost. It wasn’t like me, those white-hot flares of jealousy. They had taken me off-guard, forcing me to confront just how deeply I felt about her.

The chatter of the café gradually faded as I allowed my thoughts to consume me. I’d implied she might be a virgin and she hadn’t denied it. Plus, something about her reaction before she stormed off in a huff made me believe she really was untouched.

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