Page 81 of Theirs to Ruin

“I can do it,” I said, face flaming. “And what do you know about dubious consent?”

As soon as he opened his mouth, I said, “Never mind! Forget I asked that.”

“Why? If that turns you on, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He hesitated. “You into dub con?”

My face flamed. “No,” I said, but I was lying. I’d never admit it, but sometimes a good dub con scene turned me on.

Kage looked at me like he knew I was lying. “If you are, tell me, Camille. It’s not my preference—I want you begging and hungry for me—but that doesn’t mean I won’t give you everything you need, including that.”

God, kill me now.

“You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you? We’ve kissed once.”

“Not for long.”

When I was too flustered to respond, he smirked. “We’ll revisit this topic later.”

Oh yay, I thought.

He picked up one of my boots and tossed it in the basket. “You have a lot of Uggs.”

“They’re not Uggs, they’re knockoffs,” I said. “I don’t need name brands to keep my feet warm.”

He held up a worn-out sneaker. “Does this keep your foot warm? Because this looks like it’s barely holding together.”

I snatched the shoe out of his hand and stared at it. “My mom got me these when I was fifteen. I thought they were the coolest thing ever.”

It was a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star High Top, once white with vibrant floral embroidery along the sides. Over the years the white had yellowed and the embroidery had faded and become tattered. I’d tried finding another pair but it had been a special edition and any sign of it had vanished off the face of the Earth.

I put the shoe in the basket, then finished picking up the rest. Kage insisted in helping, and every time our hands came close to touching, an electric charge hung in the air, leaving me feeling more on edge than before.

Finally, I shoved the basket in the trunk and we headed back to my room. We lugged boxes until there were only two left. Kage picked up the bigger of the two, then froze when I suddenly said, “So whydidyou go to the dean about what was happening to me? I told you I could handle it.”

Slowly, he put the box down and crossed his arms over his chest. “You were handling it until the second that blade carved into your skin. Now, I’m handling it.”

I shivered at the implication I heard in those words.

He might as well have said, “Now, I’m handlingyou.”

It made me think about how bossy he’d been at The Roost. And about the tracker Dante had on my phone.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t deny I felt a thrill knowing that the two guys acting so…cave-manish…were doing it to protect me.

Yes, I was all kinds of fucked up.

“We’re all kids of criminals,” I said anyway. “Power struggles happen by the minute, and I’m strong. I didn’t need you to intervene.”

“I know you’re strong but I’m stronger. What happened to you in Defense Studies class isn’t going to happen again.”

“You think living with you and another guy?—”

“His name is Mateo Serrello.”

Yeah, I knew, but I didn’t tell him that. “Fine. You think living with you and thisMateois really going to stop people from messing with me?”

“Once they finally get you’re under my protection, yes. Because I’ll make it clearer what the consequences of messing with you are, just like I did to the guy who roofied you at The Roost.”

His words gave me pause. There was a look in his eyes…

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