Page 67 of Cruel Prep (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 1)

I thought once I fucked her, my fixation would go away. Whatever strange draw she had over me was just a bit of latent horniness, and once I checked that box, I’d be back to normal.

Except, that didn’t happen.

If anything, it’s worse.

Every time we are close, I want her. Unlike with other girls, I don’t get tired of touching Lily.

Lily is different.

She’s not like a bag of potato chips where the first few bites are good and the rest are just salty convenience—something you eat because they’re there and available. Every time I get a taste of her, I want another one twice as bad. I never get used to the strange frenzy that comes from being with her. She is a drug in my system. A hit of dopamine stronger than anything else I’ve experienced before.

“Holy shit!” Viktor shouts, pulling me out of my salty-snack thoughts and making me jerk the wheel.

When I realize there is nothing in the road, I reach over and punch his shoulder hard. “Don’t scream while I’m driving, idiot.”

Viktor ignores me and points out the windshield. “That’s her, right?”

“Who?” I follow his finger and immediately realize who he is talking about.

Lily is hard to miss. Especially when she is wearing nothing but her tiny running shorts and a sports bra.

She is jogging down the sidewalk on Main Street, earbuds in, her lean runner’s legs tanned and flexed. The spandex shorts hug her curves and leave very little to the imagination.

So much so that I want to grab Viktor’s ear and direct his attention literally anywhere else.

“After everything, you think she’d be ruined on running in the dark,” Viktor says with a suggestive wag of his eyebrows.

The jealousy coiled in my stomach becomes instantly protective.

Lily shouldn’t be out at night by herself. Especially not while looking like that. Someone worse than me could come along and find her, and what would she do then?

I yank the wheel to the right and pull up along the curb. “Get out.”

Viktor’s mouth falls open. “What?”

“You said your ass was numb. So, go for a walk.”

He blinks dumbly at me, not understanding. “Are you kicking me out of the car?”

I nod. “Yep.”

“Forher?” He points her retreating frame out again as though half of my attention isn’t already on her plump backside.

I nod again and circle a finger to hurry him along. “Glad you’re keeping up.”

He snorts and shakes his head. “What the fuck is going on with you two? I know this is all some plan you have, and all of us are supposed to trust you, but it seems to me like maybe you’ve lost sight of why this all started.”

Lily is getting further away every second. If she turns off the main road, I might lose her.

Plus, I absolutely do not want to have a heart-to-heart with Viktor about … anything at all.

Especially not about Lily.

“None of us have spoken to Nico at all since he left,” Viktor continues. “So, I don’t think this is about that anymore. And Cora thinks the same thing. She said you were—”

“I was what?” I snap back, face screwed up. “Let’s just skip over what the fuck you were doing talking to that psycho bitch and just focus on what enlightening things she had to say about me. I’d love to know.”

Viktor rolls his eyes. “It wasn’t like that. We ran into each other, and she just mentioned you were especially … motivated when it came to Lily. That’s all. I wasn’t talking shit about you behind your back. You know I wouldn’t do that, right?”

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