Page 149 of Ruthless Chaos

My eyebrows furrow. “What are you t—”

“You must fucking love it when I go crazy, because you do shit like this!” he shouts, cutting me off. He straightens, closing the distance between us so that he invades every inch of my senses.

I’m surrounded by the earthy, masculine smell of him.

I curl my fingers to resist the urge to touch him.

“No, it’s not like that, Alexander,” I breathe, squeezing my eyes shut. My body grows warm.

“Then what is it like, Allie? Because you should be in your room, but instead you’re prancing around like you want me to kill someone.”

He grabs my neck and my breath catches. His hand on my skin feels like fire and electricity all in one, and I’m pulled into it. Alexander’s thumb rests against my trachea.

Any more pressure there and I won’t be able to breathe.

His gaze darkens, and a slight smirk twists the corner of his lips.

“I will go to any length to keep you safe, Allie.” He gazes into my eyes as he speaks. “You don’t understand what that means yet, and that is fine.” Alexander leans in closer, his lips ghosting over mine. “But you can’t be upset at the consequences of your actions.”

I catch my lower lip between my teeth as heat blooms in my core.

If he kisses me, I’ll go limp in his arms.

“I-I won’t do it again,” I say.

"Good girl,” Alexander says, his devious smile growing.

He lets go of me, and my heart drops. There’s a wave of sadness then some shame. All it takes is one touch and a look from him and I’m ready to fall apart. Despite the turbulence in my life, despite the uncertainty about everything, I’m drawn to Alexander in a way I can’t describe.

It’s like my body recognizes something in his.

Something only he can give me.

My core tingles; there’s warmth in my panties.

“Follow me,” he commands, walking towards the direction of the lake.

I follow him without a second thought. When we are back on the shore, I notice that the group of guys who were with him have disappeared. It’s just the two of us here, now.

I feel compelled to fill the silence. “What were you doing here?” I ask.

“Unlike you, I’m allowed to be wherever I please.” A soft chuckle escapes him, then he says. “Rush Week activities. I won’t scare you with the details.” I grimace. “My friends and I were speaking about our next steps.”

“Friends?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

I twiddle my fingers. “I’ve just never seen you with them.”

He slows his gait for me to fall into step with him. “We’re not like girls, who need to be around each other every moment of the day for our friendship to work,” he says.

“Not every girl is like that,” I say, defensively. “I mean that you seem pretty content with being by yourself.”

Alexander doesn’t reply immediately.

“You are my first new friend in a long time.” He looks at me through the corner of his eye. “Vance and Ezra have been my friends for almost a decade now. I am not in the habit of collecting friends because it requires a lot.” He huffs, as if he’s remembering something. “I’m very protective of them, my friends.”

His words warm me, even though I know they shouldn’t.