Page 22 of Bloody Valentine

“I gotta get ready for the auction. It’s weird going to church. I haven’t been since I was forced to as a kid.”

Teagan laughed, and it sounded musical. “Yeah, well, you may not want to say that out loud. This is a religious school, after all, dork.”

“Right.” I snorted. “I mean, I love Sky Daddy. He and I are on absolutely loving terms.”

Teagan rolled her eyes, smiling, and continued cleaning the kitchen.

I took a sobering shower and tried again to scrub that fucking lipstick off my body. The black smudges were still there. Though not seen, I felt the oily texture on my skin. It was like a brand—‘Divine.’

“What’s the story about Professor Valentine?” I said through the open door of the bathroom.

I had a towel wrapped around me and was using the mirror to put on my makeup.

Teagan was in the living room, but she could hear me easily. Our individual areas were super close to each other. Our other dorm mates were out, so it was just us.

“Besides the fact he’s deliciously hot and broody?” she said.

That was obvious. “Yep. Besides that.”

Teagan looked thoughtful in the reflection of the fogged-up mirror.

“I don’t know. He has a younger brother. He’s hot, too. An asshole jock type, not at all like Maddox.”

A brother…

The image of the two shadows swarmed my mind again, and I coughed, choking on my own tongue.

“You okay?”

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “Yeah…I think so.”

I finished getting dressed, making sure my uniform looked extra for tonight. My button-up was definitely not standard for the school. The white top was all but sheer, a corset that showed my lace black bra under it, and I pulled my skirt up a little higher than my thighs today, using a belt to keep it there. I walked out to the living area, and Teagan wolf-whistled.

“You maneater, you.”

I waggled my eyebrows at her, letting out a corny growl. “Yeah, baby. Now let’s go before I chicken out on my hoe-fit and run away.”

Teagan laughed, grabbing her purse and gesturing to the door. “What do you plan on doing to Professor Valentine? Lock him naked in the foretold tunnels under the school and make him do dirty things to you?”

I blushed at the imagery, and she laughed harder.

“I want to strip him naked, all right,” I said, seething from my memories. “But I don’t want him touching me. I want him to freeze his dick off in the cold while students laugh at him, then I want to walk away and take pictures of his sorry ass to print out and replace all that creepy torture art he has in his office.”

My friend became silent for a minute, and I realized that I’d fucked up. “His office? You’ve been there?”

I cleared my throat. “I mean, You’ve seen his socials. Where do you think he keeps all those naked women portraits?”

“I assumed a kinky sex dungeon where his inspo for those poses were created, but I suppose his office makes sense too.”

I shivered. The artwork he was known for was fucked up. Naked women contorted in painful angles, some strung up by their ankles on a tree, others laying on the ground, bleeding from their eyes and mouth. It all scared me.

“He is such a creep. He needs to be taught a lesson he will never forget. The asshole spouts about fate all the time. Well, I intend to make sure he is hated.”

Teagan smiled and shook her head. “The man isn’t winning any kindness awards, sure, but he is too powerful for anyone to hate him, Vivvy. All the people of St. Valentine bow to that man on his good looks alone. When you add in the piles of money and the delicious leering glares, you have the trifecta of a toxic walking red flag. In other words, a complete god.”

I growled. She was right. If I stripped that man naked, people would stare all right, but not in hatred.

“Sorry, girl. You have to admit, though, even you are affected by his dangerous bad-boy charm.”

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