Page 34 of Mad As Hell

“Do you trust me?”

The unexpected question rocked me. “Me trusting you was never the issue, Ryan. Not until you stabbed me in the back.”

Hurt flared in his eyes for a second before he got up and held out a hand to me. “Let’s go.”

I glanced dubiously at his hand like it was a viper. “No, thanks.”

He sighed impatiently. “Maddie, it’s lunchtime. You need to eat.” He frowned slightly. “Have you lost weight?”

Oh, was that supposed to entice me to get up?

Yeah… no.

“Way to make a girl feel good,” I snapped, bristling.

“That’s not what I—”

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs. “Whatever. I’m good here.” He sucked in a deep breath through his teeth, like I was dangerously close to pushing him over the edge. “I’m trying really hard to give you the option to make the right choice, but I have no problem carrying you there myself.” The hard look in his eye let me know he wasn’t bluffing.

“Why?” I spat. “Why would you ever think I would go back there? Didn’t you hear about what happened?”

He winced a little, and my bullshit radar went wild.

“What?” I demanded.

“I saw it. There’s a video,” he admitted quietly.

I let that sink in before a hollow laugh crawled out of my gut. “Of fucking course there is. I’m sure Brylee already made it go viral.”

“Ash actually pulled it down,” he replied, still looking down at me. “He put out a program that identifies the video and scrubs it anytime it goes public.”

And to think, Ash was the guy who had seemed the most standoffish of the four. As it turned out, he was the only one who really had my back.

“As great as that is, I’m not jonesing for a repeat performance.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Brylee won’t fucking touch you when you’re with me, and pretty soon, the entire school will realize you’re off limits.”

“Another decree from King Ryan?” I drawled, tilting my head back to eye him.

“Just get up, Maddie,” he muttered, holding out his hand again. “Or don’t. I have no problem throwing your sexy ass over my shoulder and carrying you there. But considering that skirt, everyone might be filming you for a new reason.”

I blushed and shot to my feet, because the last thing I needed was an indecent exposure video making the rounds. I pointedly ignored his hand and sidestepped him.

He made a soft, almost disappointed, sound in his throat as I stalked back to my room to grab my shoes. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and winced, realizing I did look like shit.

Whatever. I wasn’t here to impress anyone, so they could all suck it.

I found another pair of shoes, since my originals were still splattered with whatever the hell Brylee had her fangirl dump over my head. I took my time putting them on, dreading going into the other room and joining Ryan.

Finally, when I couldn’t realistically stall any longer, I got up and went to the door. “Let’s get this over with.”

He smiled tightly. “Words every guy wants to hear.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You should be lucky I’m speaking to you at all. Personally I’d just as soon grab a sledgehammer and beat the shit out of you.”

He looked offended and hurt. “Mads, you don’t mean that.”

I smiled up at him, baring my teeth. “Find me a sledgehammer and watch me go.”

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