Page 15 of Merciless Intents

Trent laughed loudly. “Damian cornered Temperance.” My eyes widened. “Turns out, she’s feisty in more ways than one.”

My eyes then narrowed. “What the hell isthatsupposed to mean?” I turned to Damian. “What is he talking about?”

“You shouldreallypay more attention to your friends,” Damian said.

“I’m paying attention now. What the hell did you do?” I asked, trying to hold the rage back from my voice, not that it was going well.

“Well, I didn’t much like how we left things this morning with Temperance. I thought an apology was in order.”

I snorted. “Bullshit. You talked to Harper and realized intimidation wasn’t your way in with the new girl, and you decided to change tactics so your little bet wouldn’t suffer.”

He shrugged. “Potato-potahto. Point is, I decided I didn’t want her to hate me. Itriedto talk to her, but she wouldn’t even give me the time of day. She ran off to hide in the bathroom, so I followed her.”

My expression fell. “You followed her into the bathroom?” I asked incredulously.

I’d thought to ask if he knewanyboundaries at all, but I knew better. The answer was an emphaticno.

“I did! Initially, I just planned to talk, but that got ruined when Whiner Rhiner came clomping into the damned bathroom to inspect her patchy makeup and wild hair before finally using the bathroom. Obviously, I couldn’t let her catch me in there—she’s one of the few teachers in the school who we can’t seem to get in our back pocket. That meant I had to hide. Naturally, I jumped into the stall Wilder was hiding in since it was open. Well…andshe was in there. That was one opportunity I couldn’t exactly pass up.”

“Oh, of course not,” I deadpanned.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk, and he continued. “Once I was in there, I realized there was a very high likelihood of her squealing like a rat. I didn’t trust her, so I pinned her to the wall and covered her mouth with my hand. To be one-hundred percent honest, I absolutely planned to stop there, but there was something in her eyes that drove me forward.”

“Was that fear? Hatred? Annoyance? Murderous rage? You know, most people would find those to be warning signs to stop, but you seem to enjoy those,” I snapped.

The guys laughed, and Trent shook his head.

“Relax,” Michael said. While Damian was the cruelest of us, Michael was the coldest. I’d wondered at times if he might be some kind of path—psycho or socio—but he found too much amusement in things for that to be true. Or so I thought… “You know damn good and well he doesn’t touch anyone who doesn’t want it. He’s not a fucking creep.”

“Yeah, that’s a little insulting, man,” Damian said, and I could see the flash of hurt in his eyes that I’d think that of him. “Those things only egg me on in non-sexual situations. I love fucking with people, and the more pissed off they get, the more I enjoy it. That doesnotapply during sex, or in this case, sexual situations.”

I groaned and fanned my hand. “What-the-fuck-ever. Get to the point. What happened?”

Damian cut the shit and gave a play-by-play of everything that had happened in the bathroom stall. Everything from how she looked at him and how she panted for him to how he’d touched her. He made sure not to leave out the part about shoving his big fucking head between her legs to kiss her clit and then leave her wanting.

Fucking dick.

Had she given me that opportunity, I would have sucked the soul out of that girl. Just one more douchebag move on his part.

I hated him so much sometimes. He was my best friend, and I loved him, but I hated him just as much. It took everything I had not to launch myself at him. The only thing keeping him safe right then was knowing how he’d get me back if I retaliated in any way.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” I asked, not bothering to hide the disdain from my voice. “YouknewI liked her. You knew I wanted her, and you just couldn’t fucking help yourself.”

He laughed. “What? Did you honestly think she’d want you after seeing you this morning? You shattered whatever cavity-sweet act you put on the day you met her this morning when she saw the real you. She’ll never want anything to do with you. Besides, sharing has never been a problem for you before.”

“She wasn’tmineto share, Damian. I just liked her. She’s the first girl I’ve had genuine interest in for a long ass time. You knew that.” I shook my head. “Whatever. Doesn’t fucking matter. Just stop with that shit. You have your little bet, whatever, but leave her alone otherwise.”

His eyes squinted a little as he looked up at the ceiling, exaggerating a thoughtful look. “No, I don’t think I can now. I’ve tasted a bit of a wild streak in little Wilder, and I’m curious to see just how far it goes. In fact”—he looked around at all the guys at our table—“nobody is to lay a single finger on her. She’s my new pet. She was my cure for boredom before, but now I think I’m going to enjoy breaking her in a whole new way. Paws off.” He looked directly at me, a dark smile on his face. “You, too. No touchy.”

My hands balled into fists as I stared at him. I had to bite my tongue to keep from flying off the handle, and I quickly turned my head. Avoiding any further eye contact was for the best, or I’d unleash hell on him. I was about to pull my phone from my pocket when my eyes landed on Temperance across the room. She was with Luna, the only other goth girl I’d ever met around here, and Justin Blackwell.

The three of them smiled as they headed to Luna and Justin’s usual table and took a seat. They weren’t far from the exit, which meant I could grab her and escape the room without too many people taking notice.

“Hey, where are you going?” Damian called out, and I ignored him.

“Just let him go,” Michael said. “I think you’ve pissed him off enough for one day.”

Trent’s laughter met my ears, quickly followed by everyone else’s as it stalked me across the room.

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