Page 102 of Filthy Elites

“Lyss!” I practically dive across the room as I reach out to snatch the damn thing from her grasp as she flips the page.

With a grin, she rolls—easily avoiding me as she flips the page again. “What’s up, Hales?” she asks innocently.

“Give me back the fucking notebook!” I growl.

She chuckles and snaps it shut before waving it in my face. “Oh this?” I reach for it only to have her yank it out of my grasp at the last second.

“Yes. That!”

“What are you scared of?” she asks, setting it on the edge of my desk that works as her nightstand. “That I’ll see the real way you feel about your boss?”

My shoulders tighten up and I reach for the notebook, grabbing it and shoving it into the top drawer before slamming it shut. “It’s not like that.”Lie. Lie. Another fucking lie.

And just because Alyssa is who she is, she snorts and shakes her head. “Yeah, right. You’re in deep if you drew him like that. I might just be fucking around with these art classes because they’re electives for me, but you take them seriously.”

“I was just practicing with my charcoals.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s not a good idea,” she says.

As if I don’t already know that. I know Mitchell Vikson isn’t a good idea. He’s not good for me and I hate him. I hate his stupid face. I hate his arrogant attitude. I hate the way he commands attention from everyone—including me. We’re like oil and water. We just don’t mix. And still, yet, there’s this craving inside of me. A want. A need that I can’t deny.

Turning away from her, I crawl onto my own twin mattress and flop down, burying my head into the pillow. Tomorrow is Friday and I’ll be back at work. Tomorrow I’ll have to see him again. I don’t want to.

Liar. Liar. Pants on fucking fire.

I groan, lifting my pillow up and smothering it over my face. Across the room, Alyssa chuckles. “Why don’t you just fuck him and get it out of your system?”

“Because I’m not you,” I say accusingly. I can’t just spread my legs for someone I’ve spent the past couple of years hating with every fiber of my being. I’m not untouchable like she is. I don’t walk around with armor thicker than the Great Wall of China to keep me from being hurt. My flesh is all I’ve got and it’s so fucking weak. Weak to bad boys like Mitchell Vikson who could do more than break my heart—they could get me killed.

I’m not so stupid that I didn’t realize the questions he was asking me aren’t pertaining to what’s happening at the club and on campus lately. Everyone knows about it. No one says anything, though. About the new drug that’s been circulating.

Though Viks hadn’t said so much in words, it was clear in his mannerisms what he wanted from me—he wants me to keep my nose out of it. It’s probably the least asshole thing he’s ever done for me, but that still doesn’t make me any less irritated that he called me out, practically dragged me away on a forced date, and then made me answer a million and one questions—all while never giving me the respect of treating me like an adult with a brain.

My fingers clench on the outside of my pillow as I contemplate that. His number sits in my phone now—did he really think I wouldn’t notice that?I could help him. I’m at the club more than him. If I see that guy again…

What?I ask myself.What am I going to do?

I’m not a cop. Not a trained fighter. But I could tell him. I could alert him. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. The next time I see that man, I’ll call Viks. It’ll be resolved and then … he’ll never have another reason to bother me again.

“Wow.” I lift the pillow up and look over at my friend and roommate as she whistles through her teeth.

“What?” I grump.

“I can see the steam coming up through that damn pillow of yours,” she says.

I shake my head. “What do you know?”

She scoots to the edge of her mattress and turns her legs so they’re hanging over the side. “I know you’re stuck,” she says almost gently. I refuse to look at her, but that doesn’t seem to deter her at all. “Don’t think too hard about it, Hales,” she suggests. “If you’re attracted to him and he’s attracted to you, it won’t do you any good to fight it. Just give in. What’s the worst that could happen?”

So much.So fucking much.

SEVEN

Haley

My foot taps repeatedly,a nervous tick that I thought I got rid of long ago. Veronica shoots me a look out of the corner of her eye as I nearly drop yet another glass—the fourth one tonight—but thankfully, I slam it down just in time, only managing to slosh a few drops over the rim. I breathe out a sigh of relief and finally give in, admitting that the cause of my nervousness is none other than Viks.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking of him all week. Not since that strange non-date lunch he’d forced me on. My phone buzzes in my pocket. I don’t want to pull it out because I know who it is—the subject of my recent obsession. My phone buzzes again and with a growl, I rip it from the back pocket of my black shorts and flick the screen on, grunting in renewed irritation when I realize my assumption was correct.

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