Page 16 of Broken Princess

“You did. When you shared pictures of me with the school.”

“Last warning, Jordanna. Keep clear of me, our parties, and anywhere else we’ll be on campus.”

“Or what?”

“You don’t want to find out.”

“Oooh. A vague threat. I’m so scared.” Each word is doused in sarcasm and lit on fire with rage.

I squeeze her face, making her lips pucker before biting them.Hard. Then tug them with my teeth. When I unclasp my hold, my own lips tip up into a satisfied smirk. I love the sight of her lips reddening and swelling in front of my eyes. She blinks rapidly, trying to keep her tears at bay.

I ignore the tears and tamp down the urge to gather her in my arms and tell her things will be okay. It’d be a lie. They’re far from okay. Isolating her isn’t just about me being a dick. Why can’t she see that I’m also trying to protect her? Her pulse is hammering in her neck. Is that fear or something else? Either way, I’m mesmerized by its repeating beat. I want to bury my face there, kissing and sucking, leaving my mark. To show them all that she’smine.

Jordanna

He’s staring down at me, with his hand braced on the wall over my head. His irises are dark, his face void of emotion, even though he just bit my lips like he was chomping into a taco shell. I could duck under his arm and try to run again, but I know he’d catch me before I made it to safety. Which is what I’d be running towards, because being in a classroom alone with Logan is danger in walking, talking, smirking form.

“You shouldn’t have come back to school, Jordy.”

“Jordanna!” I hiss, reminding him of my name. He’s lost the right to call me anything else.

“Don’t you get it? Bella’s gonna come for you again. Harder than before, and there won’t be anything I can do to stop her.”

“Right, because you tried so hard the last time. Oh, wait, you didn’t. You were the ring leader betting on my virtue. So if this is a race to see who can intimidate me first, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Your girlfriend has already started.”

“She what?” He asks, narrowing his eyes. “What did she do?”

Like I’d ever fall for that question. He knows what she did. He sanctioned it. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know. She did whatever you sat in bed plotting for her to do. I don’t know how I let myself get fooled before. All of you are just a bunch of rich, entitled assholes, who get off on toying with other people's lives.”

He tilts my chin up. “WhatIgot off on wasgetting youoff.”

I lick my lips. They’re throbbing from him biting them. His index finger trails down my neck. That finger used to do things. Reach places. Make me feel things. I block out that thought.Used tois the point. He’ll never touch me like that again. I smack his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

He glides his knuckles across his lips. “I can’t undo what I did, so maybe this time you’ll take my advice and stay out of Bella’s way.”

“I’m sorry. Did I do something to give you the impression that Iwantedyour advice?”

“Dammit Jordy, I’m trying to help you.”

“The last time you helped me, I lost my boyfriend, my scholarship, and my internship. I’m sure you’ll understand why I say fuck you and you can shove your help right up your stuck up ass.”

His hand slams against the wall, close enough to my ear to make me jump. “Your beloved boyfriend was banging the RA in his dorm. Don’t stand there and pretend like he was such a prize.”

Okay. Sothat’sthe version of events he’s still going with. I may not have gotten back with Robbie, but our friendship is moving in the right direction, and he’s still a better man than Logan will ever be.

“You think I don’t know you set that up?” I snicker when he loses a smidge of arrogance. “That’s right, I know all about the money you paid Simone to seduce him, and I’m glad I started taking his calls again.”

The vein in his jaw ticks, the only sign that he’s reacting to what I’ve said. “You saw him when you went home?”

“Of course I did.”

He steps closer, forcing me to flatten my spine against the wall. The foundation and weight of it against my back is the only thing keeping me upright.

He growls, “I swear to god if you fucking slept with him...”

I let a smirk of my own grace my lips. “You’ll what? Ask me if I let him video tape it?” I turn away. The smell of him, the heat from his body, and having his beautiful face this close to mine, angers and sickens me.

He grips my jaw again, jerking my face up, forcing me to look at him. “I told you what would happen if you ever let another man touch you.”

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