Page 568 of Filthy Elites

I frown at Chase. “Tomorrow?”

He’s all casual indifference. “Sure. I’ll drive you.”

I really don’t get this guy. “Why?”

“Because we live in the same place, you don’t have a car, it’s getting dark and cold, and we go to the same school.”

“We’ve lived in the same place and gone to the same school since September, asshole,” I remind him. “Why offer now?”

Chase sighs. “Do you have to make things difficult?”

My glare’s even, unrelenting.

“I didn’t like you in September. In fact, I hated your guts, as you may have noticed.”

“No,” I drawl, making the word last a good fifteen seconds. “You think? And you still hate my guts, Chase.”

“What if I don’t?”

I snort. “Except you do.”

“Don’t you think I might be better versed in my feelings than you are?” A smile tugs at his lip.

If he thinks I’m going to believe that crap for one moment, he’s mistaken. “You convinced the whole school I was a tramp, then proceeded to call me names every single day, set your little girlfriend on my ass, forced me to blow you, and fucked me to humiliate me. That’s only the last week.”

“I fucked you because I wanted you. And you wanted me.”

“You fucked me downstairs, where my mother could have walked in on us, because you hate me.”

His jaw ticks, and he sighs. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t cut it, I know. I was a dick. I had my reasons—I thought I did, anyway. It doesn’t matter. I just want to apologize and move on. Come on, Erica. You want me. I want you. We can make this thing between us simple. Can’t we?”

I blink, and do it again. Then I opt to bite my lower lip, because pinching myself would be too obvious. I’m definitely awake.

What the hell.

I open the passenger door. “Whatever game this is? I’m not playing.”

I rush into the school, not bothering to drop my stuff in my locker, as it’s too close to his. I’d rather cart around my heavy-ass bag all day than deal with him another moment.

ChapterTwenty-Two

I’ve begun stickingto the front in calculus so I don’t have to deal with Chase, but I’ve only taken my book out when he walks in and heads straight for the seat closest to mine, though it’s presently occupied.

“You wouldn’t mind letting me sit next to my girl, would you?” he asks Stella Lawrence.

The bespectacled girl’s entire face and neck turn a flattering shade of scarlet. She stutters, “I—I—, yes, I—”

She gathers her things and flees, leaving a self-satisfied asshole in her place.

“Your girl?” I make a face.

“I could have said the woman I’m fucking, but I figured you’d prefer the former.”

I roll my eyes but purposely don’t look at him. “Have fucked. Once. Past tense. Never again.”

“Must you lie to yourself, baby doll?”

I hate that he called me that right here, in school. I hate that it makes me think about the other night. Feel his rough touch against me. Thankfully, the teacher walks in and starts the lecture. It’s a good thing I’m ahead in calculus, because I have no fucking clue about what she strives to teach us over the next hour. I’m pretending to stare ahead, but all my awareness is focused on the boy next to me.

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