Page 55 of Broken Beauty

Ash tastes so intoxicating that I don't want to stop kissing him.

He slides his hand onto my throat and gives me a warning squeeze before ripping his lips off mine and looking at Liam.

My head rests on Ash's shoulder and I don't even dare to look at Liam and see how he is glaring holes in mine and Ash's chests.

“Sorry to interrupt you Mr. Jones and Ms. Madden but if you want to do those kinds of activities, I would expect you to do that outside of class,” Liam lectures but I don't look at him.

My cheeks feel like they are on fire.

“Apologies, sir. My girlfriend just can't keep her hands off of me,” Ash says and I can hear the playfulness in his voice.

I punch the side of his stomach but Ash doesn't even flinch.

“Next time you do that, I will kick you both out of my class and don't even bother coming back. Is that understood?”

“Understood, sir.” Ash rests his arm around my shoulders and then leans back in his chair while still staring ahead.

Liam goes back to talk about the project and I slowly take my head away from Ash's shoulder.

I wish that Ash would have kissed me where it was just him and I. It would have been special so that I know I hopefully mean something to him, but I'm just a game.

This is all just a game.

“Why would you do that?” I whisper.

“Because you're mine,” Ash says while not taking his eyes off of Liam.

Twenty-Five

Ash

Present

My hands ache against the hot water running down my hands and I look up to meet my dark eyes in the cracked mirror.

I cleaned up the glass from the floor so that Ally doesn't have to touch the glass and clean it up again. I feel bad for making her clean up all of the other shit in my house when I'm not able to but she said she would rather make sure I am taken care of than living in a pigsty.

She never scolds me about why I always punch the mirror; she never gets mad. Instead, she always shakes her head lightly and says my name softly, almost with sadness.

This is the fifth time this month that I have cracked a mirror but I can't help it. It's a release I need to be able to forget about the haunted memories from last summer and years ago between my mother and I.

She and I look so much alike and I hate it.

Today I have to meet Ariella for the project that Liam assigned us yesterday. It's due next class and since Bridgette wasn't in class today, I forced Ariella to be my partner.

Once class ended yesterday, she bolted out of the classroom with flushed cheeks and I texted her later on that I would be coming over for the project. I didn't get a reply but I know she saw it because of the read receipt.

I wipe the blood off my hands and then put ointment on the knuckles before leaving the bathroom.

After I put a shirt on, I leave my room and lock the door, even though Ally will easily be able to get in and see the mess so that she can clean it.

The drive to Ariella's house isn't long. When I am parked in front of her house I look up at her window and see her walking around the house with a white tank top and pink underwear.

That fucking tease.

She is holding her phone and talking, probably to Bridgette.

I get out of my car and lock the door before walking towards her house. I knock on her front door and a few minutes later the door opens and I see Ariella with her phone in her hand and she is still wearing that fucking pink lacy underwear.