Page 14 of From Hell

I slam my notebook shut, catching his fingers, gnawing my lip to stop myself from saying something I regret.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

“Piss off, Addison,” I mutter under my breath, letting my annoyance get the better of me.

Addison snarls. His hand latches onto my ponytail, snapping my head back with a yank, so I have no choice but to look at him. “What did you say?”

I purse my lips.

“Bitch, I was just admiring your art—.”

“Don’t fucking touch her.” Jaxon’s voice drips with a menacing softness that sends shivers down my spine.

Addison's gaze locks with Jaxon's, and the room seems to hold its breath.

“Gentlemen, enough!” Dr. Grant’s voice slices through the tension like a knife.

Jaxon remains unmoved, his eyes locked on Addison with smoldering intensity.

Suddenly, Addison laughs. “Fuck, man, if you’re fucking her, you only had to say.” His rough hand drops away from my hair. He shoots a look at Henry. “Come on, Wick, let’s get the fuck out of here.” He casts a glance at Dr. Grant. “This shit is boring as fuck.”

Jaxon hasn’t moved. He’s watching Addison like he wants to rip his throat out. “What a dick,” mumbles the redhead, but Jaxon remains silent. Yet, his silence speaks volumes. His eyes shift to me, their intensity drilling into mine as if he’s thoroughly disappointed, Adams’s apple bobbing in his throat.

No comforting words like “Are you alright?” or “Ignore him, he’s an asshole” escape his lips.

“I didn’t need rescuing,” I declare, tearing my gaze away to reopen my notebook on the right page.

“Then don’t act like a fucking damsel.” His soul-sucking eyes give me one last look before turns away. Dismissed.

Days later, in another lecture, I overhear two of my classmates gossiping behind me. I hate gossip, but hearing the namesJaxonandAddisonmakes me pause.

“…he practically crippled him.”

“Who did?” Both girls turn are stare at me looking back at them over my shoulder. I don’t usually speak, let alone engage so I ignore their strange looks.

“Jaxon smashed Addison’s hands with a hammer. Broken every bone. They say he’ll never be a surgeon.”

My mouth hangs open. “Are you sure?”

“You should know,” the blonde shrugs. Kelly, her name is Kelly something. “They say he did it because Addy touched you.”

7

LAINE

The next day I find out from the receptionist the location of my mother’s new office and pop in to see her. Mum stops pinging on her keyboard and takes a breath. “Lainey, you’re here. Sit. Sit.”

She waves me inside, so I close the door behind me and take a seat. I wait for her to finish her work and then she shoos me outside. As Mum locks her office, linking an arm through mine, she jars my temporarily forgotten injury. “Let’s grab a coffee together before I start work.”

“Okay,” I submit, trying not to wince.

We reach the hospital staff kitchen in no time at all, and she ushers me to sit on a stool at the breakfast bar to pour us both a filtered coffee. “It’s so good you’re here. I feel like I never see you. Your father is worried,” she says as she hands me a steaming cup of black liquid.

Sachet of sugar. A drop of cream. I go through the motions. I don’t need a caffeine fix, but I need something to focus on or I’ll faint. I forgot to take painkillers this morning. As my mum natters away about how I can’t be enjoying life living alone in a small cottage in the town I grew up in, with only a cat for company and no friends. I purposely don’t introduce her to Nola and Sage, so from her view, I am alone.

“Have you considered moving into one of those houses with a roommate?”

My jaw clenches and my insides crawl with annoyance. We’ve had this conversation so many times before, I know what she’ll say next. It’ll be about finding a man. “I enjoy living alone. I may not look it, but I amthrilledto be single, too.”