Page 153 of Wicked Little Darling

“Hold on a second, I think you’ve got something on your face here.”

He curved his hands over my cheeks, slid them higher to my hair, and lowered his lips to mine.

It was a slow kiss. Just like the one he’d given me the other morning, the one that made my toes curl and my stomach flip and my chest feel too tight. The one that felt like a mouthful of words filled with adoration and…love.

It was in that moment that I knew I would never be good enough for him. I had lied to him for months now, and whether I’d actually been telling Dean Voss incriminating information or not, it didn’t change the fact thatI’d lied to Dakota.

I had betrayed him.

Every single day.

For months.

He deserved someone so much better than me, someone who would always put him first. Someone who wasn’t a coward, who wasn’t an impulsive good-for-nothing.

He deserved someone who wasn’t afraid to love him with their whole heart. Who wouldn’t hesitate to love him or accept his love. Someone who would put that love before everything else.

He said that I was the most precious thing in the world, but it was only becausehethought I was precious that made it true.

Without Dakota, I was nothing.

I didn’t want to live in a reality where I meant nothing to anyone. I’d already been living in that for so long, and to finally have this—to havehim...

It was liberating and uplifting in a way nothing ever had been in my life. It was special and beautiful andprecious, and I never, ever, wanted to forget it or lose it.

So maybe I could pretend, for a little while longer, that we could have this.

Yeah.

Just a little while longer.

26

YOU BEND AND I BREAK

REESE

Iwas pretty sure Dean Voss was catching on to the fact that I’d been feeding him hot garbage since September.

If anyone deserved my lies, it was him.

“He’s incredible, Dean Voss. I’ve learned so much from him these past few months,” I said, putting some extra cheer into my voice.

Dean Voss tapped his finger against his desk, eyeing me with a distaste I was all too familiar with.

“Incredible?” he repeated dryly.

“Oh, yes. He’s so kind and generous, and he’s really helped me in one of our classes. I honestly don’t know why you wanted me to watch him for you, I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary whatsoever.”

Dean Voss flicked an irritated hand toward the door. “You can go.”

If Everett fed him lies that disparaged Dakota’s character, I would feed him lies that elevated it. At the very least, I could piss the dean off or make him stop and think for once. To open his fucking eyes and see the truth.

I didn’t care if he decided to take my scholarship away anymore; the most important thing in my life right now was Dakota.

Everything else was just background noise.

When I got back to our room, opened the door, and saw what was waiting for me, I quickly stepped inside and slammed it shut.