Page 36 of Sweet Possession

My jaw clenches, fists begging to fuck this asshole up. It takes everything in me not to hit him. “Yes, well, discussion is over.” I look to my angel. My eyes soften as I see the concern in hers. “Come, Miss Hale.” Remi grabs up her bag and scrambles out of her chair.

My gaze moves back to Brody, and I don’t like the challenge I see in his. “Why don’t you sit,Remi. We haven’t finished our talk.” His words are for my angel, but his eyes never leave mine. His smirk grows bigger when he no doubt witnesses the rage on my face. That’s the thing with Brody. He notices everything about me and knows all my moods. The fucker has known me too long.

Stepping into him so we are toe to toe, chest to chest, I get right in his face. “Don’t,” I hiss. “Remi is coming with me. Trust me, you don’t want to do this, Brody. I may have been mad about Cali, but I will fucking murder you if you mess with Remi.”

“Asher,” my angel whisper-hisses. I know why she’s mad. I may not have come outright and said it, but I basically just outed our relationship to my enemy. Brody now has leverage over me, over my girl. I’ve made her vulnerable. A sitting duck. He could expose us whenever he wants. I’m not bothered about losing my job, but my angel will be devastated if she loses her scholarship.

Stepping away from the dickhead in front of me, I lock eyes with Remi. “Go to class.” Her gaze bounces between me and Brody. She fidgets, swallows, then does as I asked. Smart girl. I am seconds away from really losing it. She storms past me, clearly pissed, but right now, I don’t care. I know it’s not her fault Brody kept her behind, but it still infuriates me. I hate the thought of them alone.

Facing Brody, I ask, “How did you know?” I’m trying to keep my cool, but it’s hard.

He smirks. “You might want to refrain from fucking herin the school library.” He tsks. “Didn’t take you for a cliché, Ash. Your student? Really?”

“Fuck you,” I growl before turning and heading for the door, only to stop when I get to the threshold.

“Thatgirl,” he sneers the word, “is not worth your reputation, Ash. I’m just trying to help you.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I let out a condescending chuckle. “You canhelpme by staying the hell away frommygirl and me. Don’t test me on this, Brody. Stay out of my damn business. You may think you’ve seen the worst of me, but you don’t know the lengths I will go to in order to protect her. Remi is mine. Not you or anybody else will change that.” I watch as he processes my words and then storm out back to where I’m supposed to be.

* * *

My angel is angry.

She glares at me throughout class, and when she’s not glaring, she’s throwing me looks of disdain. I know she’s pissed, but she needs to get the hell over it. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her with me, to keep her safe. And if that means marking my territory in front of Brody, then that’s what I’ll do. I know it’s selfish of me. Iamselfishwhen it comes to Remi. I won’t apologize for that.

The bell sounds, indicating the end of class. I feel the curious stares of my students, but I don’t acknowledge them. They’re wondering why I up and left so abruptly to get a missing student. I get it, my actions are strange. They can keep guessing though because its none of their damn business what I do.

“See me after class, Miss Hale,” I boom across the chattering students. I’m being reckless, especially after what happened, but I need to see her, talk with her before she leaves.

Students file out, and when it’s just the two of us, Remi steps up to my desk. Her eyes are narrowed as she scowls down at me. “What do you want,Mr. Grant?” she huffs.

My own eyes narrow in on her. I get that she is annoyed, angry, and whatever other emotions she’s feeling, but I won’t tolerate her attitude. Not when, technically, what happened wasn’t even my fault. “You can be pissed all you want, angel, but me confirming our relationship to Brody wasn’t news to him. He already knew, don’t ask me how because I don’t know, but it’s why he kept you behind. He was messing with me.”

Her eyes widen as she blows out a breath. “W-what? He knows?”

I nod. “Yes. Why else do you think he asked you to stay behind? He knew I would be pissed. He’s messing with me.”

“Jesus.” She starts nibbling her bottom lip. It’s a nervous gesture. “Do you think he’ll say something? Oh God, I’m going to lose my scholarship,” she cries as she starts to pace in front of my desk.

I’m out of my chair and in front of her in seconds. Gripping her chin, I bring her gaze to mine. “Stop. I don’t want you to worry, angel. I’ll fix this,” I murmur, imploring her with my eyes to believe me. No matter what, I will protect this girl till my dying breath. She needs to understand that.

Exhaling, she says, “Okay. I trust you.”

My chest tightens with her words, and I smile. “Good. Now go to lunch. I’ll see you later.”

ChapterTwenty-Four

REMI

Mr. Henderson knows about my relationship with Asher.

Not even a couple weeks into the semester, someone knows. And not just anyone. Someone who has screwed Asher over once, and I have no doubt he would do it again. I’m scared he is going to expose us, thinking it will hurt Asher. The thing is, he won’t care about losing his job. The only person that risks getting ruined in all of this is me. I worked so damn hard for this scholarship, wanting to prove I was better than where I come from, that to lose it so soon would be heartbreaking. I wouldn’t change anything about my relationship with Asher, but that doesn’t mean I’m not on edge about this whole thing now.

“Remi?”

I glance up from my plate to find Jessa staring at me, her brows furrowed. She’s the only friend I’ve made at Coral Lakes, and like me, she is here on a scholarship. “Hmm?”

“Is everything okay? You look… pale. Worried,” she murmurs.

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