Page 35 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

I cast a quick glance behind me, but everyone else is far behind us.

A few strides later, I’m right beside her.

I don’t miss her wicked flinch, either.

“Don’t mess with me,” she says.

“Me?” I grin. “Never.”

“Liar.”

We’ve reached the beginning of the incline. Dodging roots and rocks, we navigate the hill silently. My lungs burn at our pace, and a quick glance at my watch tells me we’re going too fast.

What had Coach said? Don’t get suckered into a match race.

Yeah, well.

I guess I’m a sucker.

“You need this job?” she asks me.

I lift one shoulder. “If I don’t keep this one, I’ll get another. Maybe in your dad’s office. I can make sure all his paperwork is pristine—”

She rams into me.

It’s the shock of it more than anything that puts me off balance.

I grab her wrist as I fall, dragging her with me. We tumble off the path, down a pine-needle-covered slope, and finally stop sliding about ten feet down.

I land on top of her.

It isn’t an unfamiliar place to be—but the annoyance that flares up inside me is. She stares up at me, wide-eyed. There’s bits of leaves and needles stuck in her hair, and her chest heaves.

“What the fuck?” I growl.

“Get off me.” She shoves at me.

I grab her wrists and press them into the ground. “Is it because I mentioned dear old dad?”

She stiffens.

I lean down and rub my nose along her jaw, inhaling sharply. She smells like…

Stop.

“But, Riley,” I whisper in her ear. I so enjoy how she shivers under me. “I haven’t even mentioned your mother. Or Noah. Or you.”

“Leave them out of it.” She tugs at her wrists.

Above us, there’s the stampede of feet.

We’re being overtaken.

“We’ll finish this later.” I hop up and make the climb, brushing needles from my clothes.

On the downward slant, most of the girls have passed us. I grimace. It’ll be a sprint to catch up, then pass them. And how the hell do I explain that?

But it’s either this or the mail room, and I’m sure as hell not going to work with Dad.

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