Page 26 of Savage Truth

A fierce possessiveness rose in me at the sound of her breathy, hoarse voice, and I wanted to take her all over again. But that wasn’t how tonight was going to go. “That was damn good sex.” I hardened myself against her wide eyes. “And that’s all it was.” She stiffened, but I was already rolling to my feet. I gathered my clothes and left without a backward glance.

I had to leave her room before I climbed back into bed and pulled her into my arms. I wanted too badly to hold her all night and feel her writhe against me all over again. And even though we’d agreed to call a truce at night, we still waged war during the day. Tomorrow, it was my turn to strike.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

COLE

Hate beat obsession in my book. That was what I convinced myself about Riley. It helped me not think about her constantly—especially after what we’d done last night. I needed a distraction to keep it that way. I scanned the crowd in the hallway at school. Piper paused, her hand on her locker. Her eyes promised whatever I wanted. Too bad it wasn’t her.

“Cole.” She sidled next to me. “How was your weekend?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “I was thinking you could come over after practice. Or… I could go to your house?”

“No.” I moved on. If I even thought to use her, there would be issues—and I had no doubt she would pick up on the even chillier reception I was giving Riley. Piper was too smart for her own good sometimes. For the past several months, I’d been trying to shake her, and I wasn’t about to undo the work I’d done.

“Hey, Cole.” Eliana stopped a foot in front of me, her gaze skidding from Piper, who was slightly trailing behind and back, to meet mine.

I took in her shiny blond hair and generous curves. She would do. I went up to her and threw my arm around her shoulder, pulling her to my side. She changed directions willingly.

Awareness tingled over my skin. Not from Eliana. For her, I felt nothing.

Riley was ahead, shoving her bag into her locker and taking out her physics book. Eliana was chattering in my ear, but I wasn’t catching any of it. From the corner of my eye, Riley turned slightly, her long silky brown hair rippling over her back, stopping just short of her narrow waist. Faded jeans clung to her toned legs and hugged her ass. The shirt she wore stopped at the waistline of her jeans, giving me peaks of her toned abs when she moved. I clenched my teeth as I passed beyond where I could see her in my peripheral vision. No way would I let her catch me looking.

Anger continued to heat my blood as I bent and pressed my lips to Eliana’s long enough that Riley saw. Then I was done with her. My hands fell away, and I walked into class without a backward glance. Eliana spoke, but I didn’t care enough to listen.

Riley got the message. There was no way she missed that kiss, the one I couldn’t even remember participating in a second ago. And for the next hour, she would receive the rest of my little wake-up call.

I took my seat across the aisle from hers. Tension crackled between us. It would only get worse. Mr. Gerritsen droned on about some experiment we were going to do. Riley stared straight ahead. Not once did she look at me, but I’d caught the heated flash in her eyes when she entered the classroom and took her seat. Even though she wanted me to think the kiss between Eliana and me hadn’t affected her, it had.

It wasn’t until the teacher called out lab partners that my attention zeroed in on what he was saying. I must have heard wrong. “Excuse me, Mr. Gerritsen.” A hush settled over the room.

Our teacher’s small brown eyes fixated on me. “As I was saying, Cole. You’ll partner with Riley—”

“No.” It was another opportunity. I leaned back in my chair, crossed my arms over my chest, and kicked my legs out under the desk. “I won’t work with her. I would be worried for the integrity of the project.”

“I hardly think that’ll be an issue. Riley’s grad—”

“She’s a grifter, and it’s possible that she’ll move on to the next town once she and her mother finish suckering some poor sap here.”

Part of me cringed because I’d just hung Dad out to dry. But fuck him. He’d brought them into our lives.

Riley’s palm slapped onto the top of the workstation as she turned to face me, her eyes promising retribution. “Listen up, Surface Dweller. I’m smarter than that. You and your delusional father can’t hold a candle to my mom.” She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. “And at least I’ve got one.”

“Sto—”

“Another thing to lay at your mom’s feet.” I didn’t let the teacher have a say. I needed to do this. I turned to her, enraged that she had brought my mom into the argument. “Or were you planning on spreading your legs for me so I’ll do all the work? Like mother, like daughter?”

“Enough!” Mr. Gerritsen yelled. “Go to the principal’s office. Both of you.” He shot his arm toward the door. “Now.”

I yanked my backpack off the floor and swung it over my shoulder. Someone cried out. I didn’t look to see who I might have hit. Riley stormed out ahead of me, her book in hand. Her lilac-and-honey scent hit me as I fell in line behind her, ignoring the shocked faces and raised phones around us. When she smirked over her shoulder, I stepped closer, catching the door she flung back in my face. “Nice try, but not good enough.”

We kept pace on opposite sides of the hallway. I didn’t trust myself to get too close to her. Even angry, I wanted her.

The office was busy. We sat for a few minutes in the uncomfortable wooden chairs that lined the wall to the secretary’s left before being called in separately. I went in first and got a slap on the hand. Principal Morris was an avid supporter of our team. All I had to do was steer the conversation that way after promising the incident with Riley was a one-time thing.

When I left, he called her in. The bell rang. I didn’t need a pass and headed to my next class. My mind spun from our fight. Classes went by in a blur until lunch, where I dropped onto the seat next to Phoenix and across from my brother and Shane.

“So, physics class…” Damon grinned, and I stopped scanning the lunchroom for Riley.

“The whole school’s talking,” Shane said.

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