Page 18 of Eat You Alive (Court Legacy 4)

The door of the latest bus started to close as I made my way to the stop. I rushed on, hoping to God the driver would close the doors before Wolf got a chance to catch up with me.

But of course, I wasn’t that lucky.

My luck really did seem to end. Wolf was suddenly at the stop and making his way onto the same bus as myself. He paid fare right around the time I found a seat at the back of the bus.

And the look he gave me…

Ares “Wolf” Mallick had shared a lot of looks with me, the majority of them rage-based, anger. This look, though, seeped enough venom to alter the chemical properties of the compact space we were in. He found me. He sat with me, and when he did, he simmered beside me—heatedly.

And the bus was looking at us.

Everyone inside the vehicle was gazing our way, his way. I had a feeling a member of Legacy taking a bus wasn’t common.

“That was youroneof those,” he stated, placing an arm around me. It more so landed on the back of our seat, but people definitely noticed. He faced me. “Your one allowance. Pull something like that again, Red, and I swear I’ll take it out on your ass.”

The words had been low and so obviously for me. I shifted, playing them off. “I told you I usually take the bus.”

He made a noise then, also low. It hit somewhere within the confines of his big chest, and I shifted again.

“Like I said, your last. Defy me again, and it’s over. Your little life… Your entire existence as you know it—mine, and that won’t stop at your internship or your place here.”

He was so good, almost looking at me like he hadn’t just threatened my entire life in front of a busload of people. A hint of a smile even returned to his face as he threatened me. Maybe even because he threatened me. I gazed forward. “I can’t just change things. I take the bus to school. I have a routine. I…” I fought another shift, fingers bracing my bags. “I can’t justmove out.I’m Heath’s roommate. I can’t just—”

“He’ll have another by the end of the week,” he said, casually. He shifted this time, but I figured that was more so because he’d folded himself into bus seats. “As far as what you tell him, I don’t give a shit.”

“You’re unbelievable, and why did you even show up at my dorm out of the blue? You said you’d text.” I found it unnerving, that and all theseeyes on us. People weren’t being shy about looking, and a dude had even dropped the burrito he was eating in his lap.

“I did say that, but last I checked, I don’t answer to you.” He tossed me a look. “And I actually came to take your ass to school this morning.”

“Why?”

Another look, like it was obvious or something when it wasn’t. His lips turned down. “Because that’s what a guy dating a girl would do. That’s what we’re doing, by the way, and consider us in the early stages.” He glanced toward the front of the bus. People were still watching on, but since we were at the back, we did have a semblance of privacy. At least in our hushed conversation. Wolf adjusted in his small seat. “I’ll make the announcement when we’re official. We do it too quick and people will know something’s up.”

Wolf flicked his chin then at some dudes at the front of the bus. I recognized them as football players, something I only knew because they lived in my dorm too. I hugged my stuff. “So, what are the logistics of this?”

“Logistics?”

I nodded. “Yes, what’s involved with this assignment? How often should I expect you around and have to play this game?”

And what did he expect out of me while I played?

I leaned off his arm then, easy to do. My hair up today, he was starting to touch my skin, and I didn’t like that. He made me uncomfortable in more than one way, and like he knew, his arm returned to the place behind my neck.

“You don’t expect me around, Red. In this arrangement, thisrelationshipyou answer to me.” His lengthy digits folded around the back of my neck, his finger tracing lazily at the short hairs at the nape. Lava coated my skin again, and when I shot away from his hold, he grinned. “Which means I get to touch you, and when I do, you don’t recoil from my fucking touch.”

“Well, that would require some pretty good acting,” I said, laughing. He sneered and a little flutter of pleasure burst in my chest. I smiled. “Anyway, you touch me and—”

He hooked his arm around me, and not just on my chair. Face inches from mine, he scanned me like he always tended to do, and I shivered.

He noticed.

“Yeah, real hard acting, Red,” he crooned, tipping my chin. He pinched, and I angled away. His breath touched my ear. “I get to touch you. You’re my girl, so I get to do that, and something tells me that won’t be so bad for you.”

God, he was arrogant, cocky. He basically had me in indentured servitude, but I wouldn’t be his sex slave. I looked at him, face on. “I’m not having sex with you.”

“You’re right. You’re not.”

I blinked he said it so quick, a grin touching his full lips.

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