Page 7 of Of Flesh & Bone

“I'm saying that I don’t believe you actually care what I think about you and although I haven’t figured out your motives for stopping me to rehash this, I don’t think it has anything to do with you wanting me to view you in a positive light.”

“Damn, are you always this mean?”

I reel back at that proverbial punch to the gut becauseThere.It.Is.

Am I actually mean?Am I the bitch they say I am?People mill about the stacks and murmur to themselves, but I'm too in my own head to care.

I hear the whispers everywhere else, apart from at home with Vaughn and Eli.People typically think I'm a snob or a bitch or just unapproachable.Did they ever even try to approach me?I don’t remember a single time that anyone ever really made an effort to know me and since I'm the new girl everywhere, aren’t they supposed to at least try to make me feel welcome?

He seems to notice my discomfort because, for a split second, something softens in those abyss eyes of his before he quickly schools his features back into the cocky smirk he was wearing before.

“I have to go,” I say as I attempt to brush past him, but he cuts me off.I go in the other direction, and he cuts me off again.I stare at him incredulously.

“I’m hungry,” he says like this is something I should care about.I look around, wondering if I'm being Punk’d.Where's Ashton Kutcher?

He continues to look at me as though he asked a question and is waiting for me to respond.Giving in first, I say, “You should probably go get something to eat then.”

“Good idea.Let’s go.”

Both eyebrows shoot to my hairline.“Who go?”

“Was that a full sentence?”

“Uh are you asking me to lunch?”

“Sure.Let’s go.”

This guy is way outside of his damn mind if he thinks I'm going anywhere with him.Not only is he a drink stealing stranger, but he is the boyfriend of my arch enemy.No thanks.

“I don’t think your girlfriend would like that very much, so I’ll have to pass.”

“My girlfriend?”

I tilt my chin to the sky, close my eyes, and take in a deep, calming breath.

“Yes.Your girlfriend, Ada.Although, I think you called her something else.”I know very well exactly what he called her, but I'm not about to let him know that.He smiles at me like he just stumbled onto the lost treasure of Atlantis.

“Are you jealous, Wildcat?”

“Jealous?...Wildcat?”

What the actual hell?

“What would I be jealous of and who the HELL is Wildcat?”

“Of the girlfriend you think I have, and YOU are Wildcat, Wildcat.”

Why do I keep finding myself without words with this guy?I’m not jealous and in the world of nicknames, why Wildcat?

“First off, I heard you call her ‘your girl’.Second, I’m not jealous of anyone, ever.Third, why Wildcat?”

He's still wearing that stupid grin like he loves everything I'm saying and that it proves his point or something.If I didn’t have such a strong self-preservation instinct, I would use this book to smack that smile right off his handsome face.

“She’s not my girlfriend and isn’t it obvious why, Wildcat?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if it was obvious.”

He sighs heavily as though he's trying to gather the patience necessary to continue this conversation.

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