Page 9 of Ruining Him

Even as he says the words, his gaze roams over my body from head to toe, lingering on my chest for a moment before his eyes meet mine.

I smirk, but don’t say what I’m thinking.

But I do kick off the wall and approach him. He doesn’t move; he stays stock still until we’re a breath’s width apart, and I lean up to whisper in his ear, “Whatever you say, pretty boy.”

Before pulling back, I notice blood dripping from his temple, and I dart my tongue out, licking up the droplet of blood before stepping back with a grin.

“Goodnight, Aston. Get home safe,” I say before disappearing into the shadows.

Tonight was fun.

Probably the most fun I’ve had since I arrived at this prison.

SIX

COLE

My bedroom door clicks shut behind me and I lean against it, panting.

After my interaction with Lana outside of the church, I’d all but run back home, needing to be in my sanctuary.

She drives me fucking insane, and our conversation keeps playing on a loop in my mind.

I had just got rid of her from my head after the fight, and she had to go and pop back up again, interrupting the bliss I was feeling.

Of course she was there tonight, she probably followed me there like a crazy stalker.

That girl has more than one screw loose.

I kick away from the door and pull my shirt over my head as I walk to the bathroom.

The only thing swirling around my mind as I undress and wait for the shower to heat is Lana’s words.

Did fighting tonight make you want to fuck me less?

I groan and step into the shower, not even caring that the water’s still partially cold. With the cottage being on adifferent water supply to the rest of the campus, it sometimes takes time to heat up.

This place was once a part of the staff housing, but the students ended up wreaking havoc in the dorms, so they decided to spread staff out around the student accommodations, leaving this place empty.

Before our freshman year, all of our parents came together to make a deal with the school—they make donations in exchange for us having this place redone.

It was their way of showing how our families have superiority over the others.

A bunch of bullshit, if you ask me.

The water finally heats up, the warmth trickling over my skin as I scrub a hand over my face, my brain firing in a hundred different directions after the events of today.

Lana cut it so close to being right with what she’d said in the library today. Not that my father doesn’t love me, because he does, in his own way. But about how I wear a mask day in, day out, and she seems to be one of the only people who can see through it.

Why her? Why does she have to see through the image I portray? Out of everyone, why is it Lana fucking James?

I was so worked up after our exchange in the library that I headed straight home to change before rushing to the church, needing to get some aggression out.

And it worked.

Until it didn’t.

Until she was waiting for me outside and just had to go and fuck it all up.