Page 36 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

“As long as we’re on the same page.”

“I’d be shocked if we were on different ones.”

My irritation grows. I step inside, and she tags along, too close for comfort. My skin prickles. It isn’t a bad thing until she reaches out and touches me—then it turns to pain. A sharp blade. The sound of screeching metal.

That car accident I wish I could forget.

So much blood.

I shouldn’t have this reaction to something that happened when I was a kid. An accident I had no control over—and no involvement in. But her presence seems to draw it out of the depths of my memory.

“Earth to Theodore,” she says, her hand still on my arm.

“What?” I snap. Get yourself under control.

Control has kept me sane all these years. What won’t keep me sane is Lucy Page.

She gestures to the locker room door—the one I almost walked right past. I hold back my sigh and step inside.

She follows.

“You can’t come in here,” I bite out.

It’s empty, though. Everyone must’ve been in a hurry to head home. It’s a Friday, after all, one of the rare ones thatwe don’t have a game tonight.

She strides forward, peeking into each row of lockers, then back to me. “No offense, but I don’t trust you not to ditch me.” Like last time. She doesn’t say that, but I hear it nonetheless.

“Fine.” I yank off my jersey and pads, then undershirt.

I’m not afraid to say I’m ripped. Muscles born out of a desire to blow off steam—running and weight lifting, among other things. I don’t have an ounce of extra fat on me. And apparently it catches her attention, because her face goes slack for a split second.

She regains control over her expression a moment later and glances away.

“Like what you see?” I’m curious, but probably not as much as her.

She doesn’t give anything away now. A mask has slid down over her features. Something flips in my brain, and she goes from innocent to dangerous.

I walk forward and stop just in front of her. “Tell me.”

She rolls her eyes and averts her gaze. “You’re hot. So what?”

“You’re a distraction,” I tell her quietly. “Let’s get this out of our system.”

Lucy’s eyes widen. “What?”

“Come on, little Page. You and I both know you have a weird fascination with me. And I… you distract me. When you’re here,” I clarify. “So let’s just get it out of our system.”

“You want me to kiss you?” Her eyebrows go up. “I didn’t expect that. I didn’t think you even knew who I was.”

I trace her jaw, trying now to get a reaction out of her. A flinch, a scowl. Anything. She gives me nothing, and I wonder how far I’ll have to push. How far she’ll let me push.

Her eyes are steel.

I shrug. “Or you can blow me. I’m not adverse to the second option.”

She scowls and steps forward, running her hand down the center of my chest. The slightest sensation tickles. Her finger goes lower, to the waistband of my shorts, and she runs her nail just under the elastic.

I hiss out a breath.

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