Page 87 of Scrimmage

But I couldn’t keep my hands off of her after seeing her arm in arm with Cole. He kept acting like a smug prick with Ava under his arm and eyes on Ashland, and I wanted to draw a line in the fucking sand. There is no room for him here. Touching her drove him insane. ‘Are you okay?’ That’s what he asked her, as if Ashland has ever needed someone to stand up for her. Driving Ava away meant that nice little Cole had to go, too. I wasn’t going to let her piss Ashland off and send her into a fit where she would storm away.

When Ashland asked if I had a condom, I could tell she wanted me to say no. It was a half-hearted attempt to pretend she’s not my personal slut, and I corrected that immediately. Alexi left a pack somewhere in my place, but I’m not using them with her so I threw those fuckers out. Coming inside of her is another animal entirely. I get why people end up with six kids because I can’t fucking stop.

I’m getting obsessive, and I know it. I lasted two hours checking my phone every five minutes during practice. I checked the art studios. The Roost. The quad. There are three libraries and that one was the last shot before I went to her fucking house. That’s what crazy people do. Once I found her, I was fucking pacified. Even when she talked shit she didn’t really stop me. She’s too fucking curious for her own good. Too driven by the promise of sex withme.

Alexi knows I’ve lost it. He won’t say it, but he’s thinking it. He wants to ask, but I’ve never been like this before. I dated a few girls in high school, but I didn’t really concern myself with them. They didn’t like that and moved on pretty quickly. I hardly noticed they were gone. I had way more chill than I do right now.

I know she ruined her orgasm the other night, and I haven’t figured out how I’m going to handle it yet. I know she’s not having sex with anyone else. There’s no way she can last much longer without it, and I’m not waiting to see. I know she has class with Alexi on Thursdays and until I have her full schedule, I’m going to take advantage of it. When they stride out, practically arm in arm, I’m fucking standing there.

“Oh, hey, Ko,” she says as if I didn’t rail her on my kitchen counter and ruin it all. Like this is the most casual interaction. But,damn, if it doesn’t make my dick hard when she says Ko.

Alexi bats his eyes. “Awe, here to walk me home?”

“It’s fine, Lex. See the way he’s brooding? He’s probably here to kidnap me again.”

Lex. She called Alexi, Lex. I don’t fucking like it. I get Ko. He doesn’t get Lex. I remind myself to calm the fuck down. They’re just friends. I’m in control. I am. I really am. I’m just angry about the way she left me standing there like an idiot. That’s all.

“Alright, fine. I’m meeting Penny at The Roost. Are you two coming?” Alexi asks.

She takes one look at me. “No. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

Alexi looks between us, hesitating for a second. He actually looks like he might grab Ashland and run. It pisses me off, but he probably should. He should probably call our mom and send me straight to therapy, but it won’t help. Not when Ashland exists. Once he’s gone she rolls her eyes and drops the nice facade.

“What do you want? I have to go to work.”

“At the tattoo place?”

“Yeah. Prince is prepping for a whole thing, and we didn’t finish yesterday.”

So that’s why I haven’t heard from her. She’s been spending her time with Prince the tattoo god. I want to meet him.

“I’ll take you.” I grab her bag and stalk off.

The shop isn’t far. It doesn’t make sense to drive, but I do anyways. Ashland doesn’t fight me about getting into the car this time, and she turns on a song that isn’t meant to drive me crazy. I kind of wish she would. Instead, she seems fucking tired and a little reserved. I park and she starts to get out, which is unnerving.

“Don’t do that,” I growl, grabbing her on the sidewalk.

“Do what?”

“Get out of the fucking car until I get the door.”

“And they say chivalry is dead,” she snorts before shoving past me. I follow behind her, and she stops mid step. “You can go.”

“I want to see the place.”

She narrows her eyes and tips her chin. “Fine.”

When we reach the lobby, a woman with jet black hair and a heart shaped face dressed head to toe in black and purple, is standing behind a counter. The sound of buzzing is background noise.

“Hey, girl,” the woman greets her without looking up.

Ashland goes up to the glass counter and sits on it, leaving me to stand there. “Hey. Is Prince in, yet?”

“Bright and early. You know how he gets when it’s convention time.” The woman glances up with purple eyes and catches me standing there. “Sorry, uh, can I help you?”

“This is Chance. Chance this is Angel.”

“Nice to meet you, Chance,” Angel smiles sweetly, then looks at Ashland with morbid curiosity.

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