Page 42 of Tangled Rose

Heaving out a sigh, I go to the end of the next hallway and come around the corner, hoping to see the doors to the lunchroom, but nope. A dead end. Just some windows above a bench. Fucking weird school. I pivot on my heel and stop dead in my tracks.

“Well, who do we have here?” This is the guy I met at the party on Sunday who’d given me the icks. And today is no different. Marshall’s eyes positively gleam as they roam over me from head to toe. He reaches up to brush his hair from his eyes and gives me yet another appraising look. “Damn, girl, your body…” He shakes his head, gaze falling to my boobs.

I roll my eyes. “Don’t be a dickhead. Marshall, we met at the party on Sunday. Lyla, remember?”

He nods, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Right. I remember you, for sure.”

I draw in an unsteady, nervous breath. He may be all fancied up in his school uniform, but he is exactly the kind of asshole I’ve been dodging my entire life—and this one is on a Rose power trip. “If you’ll excuse me, I was heading to the lunchroom.”

“Baby, you’re on the complete opposite side of the school for that.”

My entire body tenses. “Oh yeah? Well, what are you doing over here?”

He rubs his hand over his jaw, lips twisting. “Following you.”

The fuck? My heart jerks in my chest. I stare at him, speechless.

He snickers. “Goddamn, you should see your expression. I’m just fucking with you. I had to ask my physics teacher a question before class later.”

Silently, I nod, wanting nothing more than to get away from this guy. He still creeps me out. And fuck. I have physics next. How much do you want to bet this asshat is in that class?

He jerks his head, flipping his blond hair out of his eyes again. He squints at me for a second. “You look really fucking familiar. Did I mention that?” He works his jaw back and forth, studying me.

I shake my head, shrugging. “Marshall, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not from the area. My hometown is over an hour away. You can’t possibly know me.”

“You’re right. I don’t know you. But what if I like what I see?” He takes a step forward, backing me up against a bank of lockers. One hand lands on the locker behind me, next to my head. He leans in close as his other hand coasts up my arm.

“I’d say that’s your goddamn issue, not mine. If you’re not going to point me in the direction of the lunchroom, I’ll just find it on my own.” His touch revolts me. “Get your fucking hand off of me, and back up.” I twist my arm away.

He grabs me by both arms, his fingers clamping down on my biceps. For several seconds, he stands there breathing hard. He’s stronger than he looks.

Then again, so am I, and I’m not having it. “Do you want me to scream? Because I will.” In a quick move, I jerk my arms up, put both hands on his chest, and shove hard.

Marshall stumbles backward, then holds his hands up as if he meant me no harm. Fucking liar. He’s slick as an eel. I bet he hits on all the girls. I also would lay money on him being a perverted creeper. “No need, baby. No need.”

I cringe at the term of endearment he’s now used twice. “Stop calling me baby.”

He gives me a bored look and points back the way I came. “It’s that way. Take the next two rights and go all the way down that long hallway. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.” Under my breath, I mutter, “For nothing, you dick.”

I think I’m in the clear when I feel a hand come down on my shoulder.

He yanks me around to face him. “I wanted to say one more thing.”

I glare up at him. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“How about we go out some time?”

I sputter with surprised laughter.

He cocks his head to the side, looking me up and down. “Just you and me. I can show you a better time than Danbrook can any day.” He laughs like the asshole he is. “Either of them.”

“Yeah, that’d be a big, fat, No, thanks.”

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