Page 10 of Merciless Intents

There was a light tug of a small section of my hair. “Hey! Damnit, we need to talk.”

My nostrils flared as I struggled to ignore him. All I wanted was to be invisible, and thanks to him and that asshole, Damian, that was becoming impossible.

Almost five minutes passed since the last time he’d tried to get my attention, and I’d started to relax a little, thinking maybe he’d received the message. The teacher busied himself chatting with the student up front about the vacation to the Bahamas or Cayman Islands or where-the-hell-ever she went—I couldn’t remember. It was hard to focus.

Without warning, a delicious, woodsy scent wrapped around me. I looked to my left just in time to see Asher’s long fingers as they slipped my hair back behind my shoulder. I opened my mouth to speak, but his mouth was already at my ear.

“You can try to ignore me, Temperance,” he said, his voice low, dangerous. His lips brushed my ear with every word, sending chills through my entire body. “But you shouldn’t. I’m only trying to help you. Do yourself a favor and stay out of Damian’s way. He’s won’t back down now that you’ve humiliated him in front of everyone. Just go with the flow. Don’t piss him off even more. Things will be a lot easier for you.”

“Mr. Jackson,” the teacher said. “Is there a problem?”

“Oh, not at all, Mr. Anderson,” Asher said with that sweet voice and tone he’d used with me the day I’d met him in the parking lot outside the bookstore. “Temperance’s phone fell out of her backpack, is all.”

Asher handed my phone to me. The same phone that had been buried in my backpack and had no chance of falling out.

I looked over at him, his dark brown-almost-black eyes staring into mine. “Thanks,” I said through gritted teeth.

He smiled, and it was beautiful. “Glad to help.” He winked and sat back in his seat.

“Thank you, Mr. Jackson,” the teacher said before turning to the rest of the class. “Anyone else want to share anything?”

I turned around and eyed him suspiciously. When I looked down at my backpack, it was indeed open. He’d opened it, taken my phone, and used it as an alibi just in case he got in trouble for talking to me.

Smartass.

“Don’t touch my shit,” I whispered before putting the phone back in the bag and zipping it up.

“Alright then,” Mr. Anderson said, clapping his hands together. “If no one has anything else to add, let’s get started!”

CHAPTER FOUR

TEMPERANCE

When math class came and went without issue, relief filled me. That was one class where I now knew I would be safe. I hoped there would be more, but that one was guaranteed. I needed to make a couple of pit stops before lunch, so I quickly made my way to my locker and stilled.

Only ten feet from my locker was Damian closing his.

Shit.

Wolfe. Wilder. Ofcourse,our lockers would be close together. There probably weren’t that many W’s in the school.

Students filled the hallway, yet somehow, when he turned, his eyes locked on mine almost instantly. It was as if he’d sensed me standing there.

That thought was rather unnerving.

Holding my head high, I made my way down the hall to my locker. There was no way in hell I was going to let him intimidate me. Especially after I’d kicked his ass that morning.

“Hello, little lamb,” he said as I passed. His voice revealed nothing. He didn’t seem pissed. To most people, I was sure they would find that hopeful. To me, that was a sign of danger. The calm before the storm.

“Hello, Big Bad Wolfe,” I responded, not looking in his direction and not allowing my steps to slow as I walked to my locker.

I quickly got in my locker and swapped out the books in my backpack before zipping it up and putting it in the locker, too. I didn’t want to carry it with me to lunch.

“So, I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot,” Damian said as he leaned against the lockers next to mine.

It was rather alarming how much space he occupied, and I wasn’t talking about his body. As I closed my locker, I noticed people walked on the opposite side of the hallway just to avoid coming within five feet of him. It was like he always had an invisible force field around him, making it feel as though he occupied far more space than he did.

“I agree,” I said, closing my locker and facing him fully. I crossed my arms over my chest, and his eyes wandered down before lazily looking back up at my eyes.

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