Page 30 of Afterglow
I grind my teeth, face devoid of any emotion. Glancing over to Knight, he sits next to me with a flirty smileplaguing his face. Fucking hell. I narrow my eyes, anger beaming off me.
That stupid mouth.
“Your pantie-dropping smile won’t work on me, so wipe it off your face.”
“Princess, if you want me to take your panties off, all you have to do is ask.”
Can I strangle him?
I fake a gag. “You,” I circle my hand around his body. “Will never get the pleasure of doing that.”
Theodore’s mouth curves into a devious smirk, his blue eyes have an incandescent glow. “Are you free tonight, Princess?”
He moves closer and his body heat is scintillating. I desperately want to step back, but I refuse to give Theodore a sign he affects me.
I scoff at his insinuation. “This isn’t an excuse for you to flirt with me.” No more than you already do. “We pick our topic and meet for the minimum amount of time so I don’t either kill you or go insane.”
I point my finger at his toned chest. Knight shortens the space between us again, his breath dancing across my neck as my back straightens.
“You’re quite a stubborn little thing, aren’t you? My plan sounds much better and incredibly fun.”
I swallow, ignoring my flushed skin and lustful thoughts. My palms find his chest, pushing him back.
“Not happening,”
Theodore’s eyes linger on my wrist. His fingers slip around my left wrist. They are cool against my skin,causing my stomach to drop. Shit. Has he seen the bruise from my hairband?
“What is this?”
I can barely look into his eyes. They are sharp and consumed by anger. Words are on the tip of my tongue but my brain is unable to form sentences. Theodore removes the hairband from my wrist, inspecting the red and purple bruise.
“Are you hurting yourself?”
The tremble in his voice shatters my heart into tiny pieces. It’s like I’m stuck in time, not able to move, breathe or plead my case. All I can see is Theodore’s soft, fearful eyes. They’re my fucking undoing.
“It’s not—” I tilt my head back, my gaze on the ceiling. “I use it to help me pay attention. When I start overthinking it can be hard to stop,”
Theodore shakes his head. “You shouldn’t be using pain to stop your brain,”
I close my eyes. I know he is right but I’m not ready to admit that. “I’m fine,”
“No,” Theodore snaps. “Promise me you won't do this anymore. I don’t like seeing you hurt, Princess.”
The layer of ice around my heart thaws at his words. Why does he have to have this effect on me? Part of me longs for someone to be by my side through the ups and downs but my bruised heart doesn't want to be broken again.
I swallow and clear my throat. “I’ll try,”
Knight releases my hand, returning it to my side.
Both of us sit back down, silence settling between us. Everyone else is moving around the lecture theatre to talk to their partners. What are the fucking chances of this happening to me? It should be zero but apparently not.
“If you won’t let me take you out, when are you free to meet?”
I open the calendar app on my phone and scroll across every day of the week. “Tuesday and Thursday are the only weekdays I’m free,”
Theodore’s eyebrows crease, his mouth twitching to either side as he stares at his phone. “Tuesday I have training but I can do Thursday,”
We are going to need more than one session a week to finish it on time. I check my other days. I suppose I could move shifts at the cafe. I turn to Theo to offer a solution, but he speaks before me.
