Page 17 of Burn With Me

I frown. She does have a point. The rumorsdon’tmake any sense. I haven’t been here long enough or done anything extravagant enough to elicit this kind of response in people. That is unless someone is starting them on purpose.

As soon as that thought crosses my mind, the door to the classroom opens, and the face I’ve been trying to avoid as much as possible for the last week enters. It’s like lightning strikes my brain. He tips his head up, an arrogant smirk on his lips as he turns—looking away from the girl he’s walking with—and his gaze meets mine. And I know.

That. Motherfucker.

As if he senses my thoughts, his smirk grows. Isaac brushes off the girl talking to him and heads down the first row of desks. He takes a seat directly behind me and I stiffen when I feel his hot breath brush against the back of my neck. I should’ve worn my hair down.

“Hello, Aurora.”

The penalty for punching a classmate probably isn’t as severe here as it would be at other universities—but only because most of the students here have been far wealthier as infants than any of the faculty or staff at Hazelwood ever have been or ever will be in their entire lives. That doesn’t make my desire to wipe that cunning smirk I know he’s still wearing off of his face.

Even if I manage to hold my physical temper back, I can’t help the words that come out of my mouth. “Fuck off, Isaac.”

His chuckle is dark and something about it makes shivers skirt down my spine. “What’s wrong,Sis?” he asks. “I’m just checking in and seeing if you’ve been enjoying your time at Hazelwood. Have you spoken to your mother lately?”

“Rori?” I can feel Selene’s confusion as she glances from me to the man behind us. I ignore her in favor of focusing the whole of my attention onhim.

His words solidify my suspicions. Isaac Icari is the source of these outrageous rumors. My only question is …why?

Slowly, I turn in my seat until I’m facing him. Eyes like icicles meet mine. It’s not fucking fair. His beauty is almost blinding and yet underneath it all, I know there lies a man of sinister intention.

“What do you want, Isaac?” I demand.

“What makes you think I want something, Sunshine?”

I blanch at the nickname but force myself to slap on a sickly sweet smile. “The fact that you’re here talking to me,” I reply with exaggerated amiability. I want to be clear to him that I don’t trust him or his father. “But if I’m wrong, then I suppose the only way to ensure that I don’t mistake your kindness for something else is to never talk to me again.”

He laughs, even slapping a hand to his chest and sitting back as if he’s been mortally wounded. “You hurt me, Sunshine,” he says. “I was hoping we could become closer.”

“I’d rather have sex with a diseased, boil-infected frog,” I reply with that same smile. “Make no mistake, Isaac Icari, I want nothing to do with you or your father.I. Don’t. Trust. You.”

He arches a brow, and I can tell by the way his laughter drifts off and he sits forward, keeping his eyes locked with mine, that my actions have done the exact opposite of what I’d wished for. I’ve interested him. He’s not even sparing Selene a glance—which is a shock enough. I’m not ugly, but Selene is a budding actress who’s also landed more than one modeling contract in her search for fame alongside her parents. She’s gorgeous. And he’s acting like the only two people who exist in this room are him and me. That, too, is a red flag. In fact, everything about him is one giant red flag.

“What makes you think I care if you trust me, Aurora?” Isaac asks. I hate the way he says my name. He doesn’t shorten it like I prefer, but says the whole thing as if every syllable is important and nothing can be overlooked. Even if that’s what I want—to be overlooked, to be ignored by him, to be invisible to his eyes. Isaac Icari is clearly a man who sets his mind to things quickly and, once they’re in his sights, permanently.

“I can’t possibly say what,” I reply, “but I think we both know that the marriage between our parents won’t last. My mother is on her fourth marriage in the last two decades. I can’t imagine your father is a man who cares for his wife being so free with her feelings.”

He tsks. “So cruel,” he comments, “and to your own mother, no less.” Something tells me, though, that he cares even less for his father. I may dislike my mother in some—okay,many—instances, but I still love her. I’m just honest about who she is as a person, and Emilia Summers is rarely a person who I actually like.

As I stare back into Isaac’s cold gaze, though, I know that it’s not dislike for his father I’m seeing, but actual hatred. Pure and true.

The only thing that disrupts the moment is the classroom door opening and our psychology professor’s booming voice as he enters, already halfway into a sentence and chattering on about today’s lesson. Ten minutes late, no less.

I turn away from Isaac and spend the rest of the class with the knowledge that his focus is squarely on me, burning into the back of my head. If there was any doubt before that he was the person behind these crazy rumors, the fact that he approached me today shreds through them.

Fine, I think. If he wants to play games, I can play along. After all, I’m not one to back down from a challenge. Never have been and never will be—as Isaac Icari will soon learn.

8

ISAAC

I’m in trouble. Or rather, I’ve looked trouble square in the face and I challenged her. A few rumors are nothing but splashing rocks against the surface of her pool.

I take the library stairs two at a time until I meet the third floor study rooms and just like last time, I find Shep at the very end with the door slightly open. I push inside, closing the door behind me and locking it.

“Update,” I grit out.

“The cameras are live,” he replies without looking up from his computer. I move around the table and slide into the seat next to him. He turns the screen towards me. “We went with just two cameras,” he says, pointing at each one as he explains. “One at the front of her door to see who’s coming and going. One inside that encompasses the room.”

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