Page 135 of Wicked Ends
“What have you done?” I charged toward him.
I’d only just gotten within touching distance when he grabbed me. His hands cradled my face, and he stepped flush against me, making sure there was no air between us. He kissed me hard, like he’d been a drowning man and I was the air he needed to live. Right there in the school hallway, he kissed me like his life depended on it.
An endless amount of time later, he pulled back and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Fuck, I thought you were never going to come home,” he said.
Home. My heart tremored at the thought.
“What did you do in there? I came back to make things right for you. I already spoke to Coach Williams. He wants you at practice tomorrow, and if you go, all is forgiven.”
“That might be a bit tricky seeing as Eastwood has suspended me from the team,” Marcus said, his arms still holding me close.
Tears sprang up behind my eyes. “Why did you do that? I was going to take care of it all. You didn’t have to worry about anything.”
“It would have been a lie, and I’m over that shit. No more lies, no more secrets. It was my fucking fault, my stupid vindictive shit, and I’ll pay for it.”
“Even if it costs you your dreams?” I asked, my voice hollow and despairing.
Marcus gave his signature shrug. “Someone brilliant once told me that it was doing the right thing when it was hard that matters. I’m trying to live up to her standard.”
He stroked my hair back from my forehead.
“To be worthy,” he added.
“Worthy?” I could have cried; his words were so ridiculous. “You—you saved me. You changed my life. Knowing you saved my life, don’t you see? I owe you everything, for the rest of my life,” I blurted out.
Marcus considered my words, his dark-eyed gaze darting across my features, drinking me in.
“Fuck. Don’t say shit like that to a man like me, birthday girl; don’t you know how dangerous it is?” he finally said and brought me close again, this time into a hard hug.
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
“It’s your version of the truth, and yet, I’ll still use it to trap you. Trick you into being mine, force you into staying with me. I’ll marry you, and fuck you until you’re carrying our kid, and buy a house with both our names on it. I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re mine, so you can never leave me. Be careful with owing a man like me. I’ll take all of you in return and never give you back.”
I pulled away as a student appeared at the top of the hall. Soon, the corridor would fill with students.
I swallowed the hard knot of worry in my throat. “So, what now?”
“You come to work tomorrow, like usual,” Marcus didn’t skip a beat answering.
“And you? You just what, mope around The Clutch and let your brother drag you into that life?”
“Hey,” he protested, his customary smirk making its way to his face. “I don’t mope. I brood. It’s much sexier.”
“Marcus,” I sighed.
“Ari,” he sighed back.
“You need to go to practice tomorrow. Even if you can’t play, you can train. I’m sure Coach Williams will appreciate the gesture.He’ll understand that you intend to get good with the team again, I know he will, and if he doesn’t, I’ll speak to him?—”
“What will you give me for going to practice?” Marcus interrupted.
“What?”
“I asked what will you give me. I need an incentive to go and get my ass handed to me in practice, and then not even get to play after. What is it worth to you?”
His future? Everything.
