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“Good. Why don’t you apologize, and we can start off on the right one?” He stepped closer, only a few inches between us. The way he looked at me unnerved me deeply. It was predatory. Almosthungry. He reached out and twirled a lock of my hair around his index finger. “We might be able to start off alotnicer.”
I slapped his hand away, and his eyes narrowed. “I agree that we started off on the wrong foot, but if you think for asecondI’m going to apologize toyoubecause I stood up for someone you were bullying, you’re out of your mind. Idon’twant a war with you, Damian. Hell, I don’t even want to know you. I just want to be the nobody new girl. You want to be big man on campus? Awesome. I’d love for you to do that. I just don’t want to see innocent people get hurt in the process. So, if you want to forget all this and have us just coexist, that’s great. But I willnotapologize.”
A disappointed sigh escaped him. “You’re making my job alotharder, you know that?” he asked.
Confusion crossed my face. “Your job? What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “Oh, nothing. Look, you should be nice to me. Being friends with me comes withlotsof benefits. Good ones.Pleasurableones. Being my enemy, however…” He trailed off, and a smug expression took place of the annoyed one he wore previously.
“Did you really just try that?” I laughed and shook my head. “You really are a piece of shit, aren’t you?”
He started to say something, but I was done. I turned and walked away. I could almost hear his blood boiling from behind me. I highly doubted that anyone ever turned and walked away from Damian Wolfe before he was finished with them. That was the second time in the first half of the first day of school that I’d managed to disrespect him, and I had a feeling he was hot on my heels, but I didn’t want to risk looking back.
Instead, I weaved through the crowd and took advantage of student traffic until we passed the restroom. I ducked inside and tried my best not to let my shock—at seeing what was probably the bougiest school restroom I’d ever seen—stop me. I didn’t want to risk him stepping in far enough to grab me and drag me out.
There were five stalls, and all were empty aside from one. The stalls weren’t like normal, cheap metal stalls. These had full-length, actual walls separating each one and real doors. My dad and I went and looked at houses once, and when I saw an open master bathroom that had a toilet inside what basically looked like a closet, I’d jokingly called it a toilet cubicle. These were the same—which I loved.
I hated stalls because there was really no sense of privacy. These, however, were as private as you could get in a public restroom with more than one toilet.
The walls were a beautiful navy blue on top and white on bottom with decorative trim. The countertop was a giant slab of white marble that matched the floor, and white bowl sinks sat on top. The cabinets underneath were a rich mahogany, almost black.
I ducked into one of the toilet cubicles, shut the door, and locked it just as another girl exited the only occupied one. When heavy footsteps entered the bathroom, I stilled.
“Anyone who isn’t Temperance Wilder—get out. You, too, Zoey,” Damian’s voice rang out, echoing off the walls.
Shit.
The water shut off as the girl grabbed some paper towels. “Sorry, Damian,” she said as her footsteps echoed out. I guess her name was Zoey.
“Oooh, Teeemperaaance,” Damian said in a singsong tone. He reminded me of a serial killer right then.
“What the hell are you doing in the ladies’ room?” I asked.
“Following you, of course. You were so eager to leave in the middle of our conversation and duck in here, so I thought you wanted to be alone with me.”
I snorted. “You’re a psychopath. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“A few girls. A few more guys. My father. Maybe a therapist or five. I might have heard it before.”
“Lemme put on my shocked face,” I said sarcastically.
“You’re really not afraid of a damned thing, are you?” he asked.
“Other than having to talk to your annoying ass, no. Go away. Can’t a girl go to the bathroom in peace?”
A shadow approached under the small two-inch gap at the bottom of the door. “Oh, we both know you didn’t come in here to use the bathroom, lost little lamb. You came in here to hide from me, but, new or not, you should know by now that you can’t.”
I unlocked the door and flung it open, coming face to face with the one person I wanted to steer clear of more than anything. He stood with one hand on either side of the door, casually leaning into it as his eyes focused on mine.
“Leave me the hell alone,” I said.
“No, no, no. See, I don’t think you fully grasp what’s going on here yet. For some reason, you seem to think you still have some kind of control.”
I shrugged. “Laid your ass out, didn’t I? I think I can handle you just fine, though I wouldreallyprefer not to. If I never saw you again, it would still be too soon.”
“Now, that’s just rude,” he said. His right hand gently brushed my cheek, and I quickly slapped it away. “You just caught me by surprise, is all. Trust me, it won’t happen again.”
“I thought you’d have learned not to touch me by now. Do you need another lesson?”