Page 5 of Pretty Girls Never Lie (St. Mary’s)

“How could I ever forget you?” she spits.

I don’t smirk, but my lips tingle all the same.

I want to tell her off and grab her by her perfect little throat to drag her out of this school, but my fists stay flexed at my sides, and my feet remain unmoving inside her new room. “You need to leave,” I manage to say through the mess in my head.

Isla’s light-pink lips curve into a crescent, and it takes me by surprise. It’s crystal clear that she’s being devious, and the twinkle in her eye sends something warm into my chest.Oh, we like to play games now, do we?

“I’m not leaving. Didn’t you hear? I’m out of WITSEC because the past finally caught up with your pathetic father.”

She was in WITSEC?

I force out a sarcastic laugh, and it irks her. I’m not even going to try to decipher why I enjoy the rise I get out of her.

“You say that now.” I take a step toward her, and a weird sense of pride swells when she stays in the exact same spot against the red carpet-lined hallway. My hand finds its place on her little chin, and I squeeze it tightly. “Trust me when I say you’ll be changing your mind after being trapped in a place like this…with me.” I shift my gaze to her light hair and blue eyes. “You’re going to be begging to go back into WITSEC,Goldilocks.”

Isla rips her chin out of my grasp, and I chuckle.

I’m toying with her. Why am I toying with her?

“You think I’m afraid of you, Brantley?”

I raise an eyebrow. I wasn’t sure if she remembered my name, but then again, I bet she remembers everything from that night.

“I don’t think you’re afraid of me.”But you will be if you don’t get the fuck out of this school.“Why would you be afraid of the guy who saved you?”

A sweet, melodic laugh floats throughout the empty hallway. “I hope you haven’t spent the last four years thinking of yourself as a hero, because trust mewhen I say that you didn’t save me at all.”

“Keeping someone from killing you in cold blood isn’t saving you?”

I hid her and kept my father from ever finding out that Amos had an older daughter, but she’s right—I’m no hero.

Isla takes a step closer to me. Her sweet, sugary scent wraps around me and tricks me into thinking we’re somewhere other than St. Mary’s Boarding School. “You may have kept your psychotic father from killing me, but my life has been filled with nothing but torment since that night. If you think for one fucking second that you’re my knight in shining armor, you’re mistaken.”

Damn, she’s feisty.

And I like it.

Anger and pride swarm together and concoct one hell of a reaction. My hand cups the back of her head, and I pull on the strands of her thick waves. Her lips part, and her warm gasp lands on my mouth. “I’ve never considered myself a hero after that night. I know I’m a goddamn villain, which is why you shouldn’t bother unpacking that measly little backpack you’ve thrown off to the side.”

Isla pushes on my chest, and I let her go. She tumbles backward but gets her bearings quickly before she swoops down to gather her belongings.One backpack? Really?

“Get out of my way,” she barks.

I move to the side and watch her stomp into her room with her back to me. The contents of her life spill onto the bed, and she shoots me a glare. “Leave.”

I smile. “Only if you leave first.”

THREE

Isla

Classes started three days ago, and the only thing that has done is irritate me because instead of spending my time following up on my younger brother, I’m stuck inside a classroom that reeks of dust and fake promises of a better future.

Not to mention the other ten students in the classroom and how they all stare at me like I’m an alien instead of a girl who failed her senior year of high school. But newsflash: they did too.

“Hey, Elsa.”

I roll my eyes at the joke. I’ve been called Elsa more times than I can count.

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