Page 19 of Beautiful Nightmare
“Suit yourself.” Maddox shoots me a smirk and a wink. “I’m up for shots tonight if you need to cut loose.”
“I might need an entire bottle for myself.” Depends on how today goes, I guess.
He shakes his head. “What’d you say to her, man? The look on her face—”
I reach out and shove him with one hand. “You’re pushing it, motherfucker.”
“Yeah, I know.” He laughs loudly as he recovers.
I shake my head, remembering how things had gone last night. How I wanted to hurt her and pull her closer at the same time. It’d been one hundred percent fucked. “I simply reminded her that I know she’s a liar. And I may have called her out for some of her”—I cock my brow at him—“behavior in high school.”
To his credit, Maddox waits until we pass by a group of giggling girls before he says in a low tone, “You mean about how she was happy to fuck around with everyone except—”
“Stop.” I slice my hand through the air. “I’m not talking about this anymore. I meant it. You’re going to get me all pissed off so I can’t concentrate in class.”
Maddox snorts but shifts gears. “Right. Got it. This is one of your bio classes?”
“Yep.” I wet my lower lip before pulling it between my teeth to chew on it. “I’m actually looking forward to this semester. I’ve got a couple of classes for my major.”
“Ah. Science-y shit, then.” At my nod, he continues. “Cool. Meet up for lunch later?” He raises his dark brows before he glances toward the building he’s heading for.
“Yeah, maybe. Text me. I have to look at my schedule again. I’m off my fucking game this morning.”
With that, he claps his hand on my shoulder. “You’ll feel better about everything once you’ve got classes and parties and other shit taking your attention away from Lux the Destroyer of Logical Thought.”
I press my lips together at the nickname, and nod. “I sure as hell hope so.” Raising my hand with a wave as we part ways, I head toward the science building, while he walks to the one that houses the business classes.
Inside, I check my schedule for today on my phone, noting that I probably do have time to grab food with Maddox around noon. Thinking to text him once I get settled in my class, I look up my room number and take off down the hall to one of the smaller lecture rooms that holds forty students max. I don’t want to be late, so I hustle in and take one of the few seats remaining in the back corner of the room.
I’ve just gotten my laptop out when a startled gasp from the front of the room near the door catches my attention. And without looking up, I know.
Against all odds, Lux stands in the doorway, blocking the entry of all the students who have come to a stop behind her. She’s spotted me, like I’m giving off some sort of signal that has immediately attracted her attention. Her hesitation is laughable. What is she going to do, turn around and leave because I’m here? Change classes? And how the hell is she in Bio 302, anyway?
I can hardly make out the conversation down there, but it sounds like the guy right behind her said, “Excuse me, can I get past?”
She jumps a mile at his words, as if she had no clue he was behind her. Probably because she’s freaking the hell out, realizing I’m right here. I chuckle internally as I glance at Lux and the poor guy she’s blocking from entering the classroom. I can tell she’s apologizing, but her gaze flicks to me again before she moves. I’m torn. Do I need to concentrate in this class? Fuck yeah, I do. But now that I think about it, being able to screw with her ability to succeed here at SRU, that’s actually pretty good compensation for distracting the hell out of me in one of my classes I need for my major. It’s probably a really fucking bad idea to invite this, but I can’t help it.Come on, sweetheart. Show me you’re braver than you’ve let on. Show me a little of that fire I saw the other night on the stairwell. Tell me you hate me again so I can spit those words back in your face.
Lux steps to the side and allows no fewer than six people to pass before she reluctantly meets my gaze. Her hard swallow is visible, even from here, as she scans the room, looking for empty seats. But one by fucking one, each seat fills until the only one remaining is to my immediate left. I couldn’t have planned this any better myself if I’d tried.
Slowly, Lux makes her way to the stairs, ascending at a snail’s pace. At the top, her chest rises forcefully with her breath, but she doesn’t immediately make a move. I study her in those moments as she stands there, debating with herself over whether she should take the seat on the end next to me. Her face is carefully blank, and her gaze flits around, looking everywhere but directly at me. She wears a pair of black shorts and a white tank top with some sort of band logo, combined with a light sweater over it that doesn’t match at all. It was obviously an afterthought on her way out this morning, or something she’d tucked away in her messenger bag just in case. Not a bad call, considering it’s warm outside but like a fucking refrigerator in here. Scanning down further, I notice—and linger on—her long, tan legs. When I finally wrench my gaze from them, my eyes travel to her feet in flip-flops, the toenails painted the same shade of purple as her footwear. I retrace my way back up her body, this time noting the flare of her hips, her tiny waist, and her lush, full breasts which stretch the front of her shirt.
A cough from her makes me raise my gaze to meet hers. She looks a little pale, but there’s a fire in her glittering gray eyes. A spark. That’s what I was looking for. That’s what I want—some fucking fight.
“Do you mind if I sit there?” She nods her head in the direction of the seat my bag occupies.
My lips twitch involuntarily. I can’t even help myself when a slow smile splits my face as I murmur for her ears only, “At your own risk, of course.”
She cocks her head to the side, rolling her eyes. “Whatever.”
A rough laugh escapes me, and I move my bag to the floor at my feet. She slips into the seat beside me. “You were almost late, Lux. Trouble sleeping?”
Her face pales as she sneaks a look at me from the corner of her eye. “My alarm didn’t go off.”
“Interesting.” Maddox gave me a few lessons on lock-picking. Go figure. I’m really good at it. And after she was asleep last night… I turned off her fucking alarm, figuring that would be the easiest way to mess with her the first day of classes. Only I had no idea we were in the same class, and I’d get to up my game even more. I wet my lips, then try to concentrate on the professor as he walks into the room.
I grimace, knowing my focus is going to be split today, half of my brain on class and the other half on Lux. She should prepare herself because the alarm was child’s play. It’s the least of what I’m gonna do to her. “You should probably check your alarm before you go to bed at night. Maybe you had it set for a.m. instead of p.m. I’ve done that before.” I shoot her a dark smile.
She sucks in a breath, then scowls and shifts slightly away from me. “Did you fucking mess with my phone?” she hisses under her breath.
