Chapter 62
Chapter 62
GRAYSON
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snarl, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. The taste of Aria’s cheap lip gloss makes me want to vomit. I shove her away hard enough that she stumbles back, hitting the ground with a satisfying thud. “Whore!”
Her eyes widen, fear flickering across her face. Good. She should be afraid. I’m only accompanying her because I pissed my father last night but she went ahead and kiss me.
The other students are starting to notice the commotion and I’ll be damned seeing her almost crying. Shit. She fucking deserves it. Where the hell is Jess
anyway?
“Get up,” I hiss. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
My phone buzzes. Logan. Finally. I glance at the screen, annoyed at the interruption but relieved I can ditch this pathetic scene. The urge to kick Aria while she’s down is almost overwhelming, but I resist. Too many witnesses.
“Clean yourself up,” I mutter, turning away. “And if you ever touch me again, I’ll make sure everyone in this school knows exactly what kind of girl you really are.”
I storm away from Aria, my blood boiling under my skin. Stupid bitch. My phone buzzes with Logan’s message, and something in me tightens with anticipation. Jess crying? This day might not be a total waste after all.
Behind the building, I spot them immediately. Logan leaning against the wall, looking bored, while Jess sits on the ground, knees pulled to her chest, mascara running down her cheeks. Beautiful.
“Took you long enough,” Logan mutters,
Tignore him, focusing on Jess. “Why are you crying?” I ask, though I couldn’t care less about the answer. What I care about is the delicious sight of her
tears.
Jess looks up, and something in me freezes. The hell? Her hair- I almost don’t recognize her. Blonde. She dyed her fucking hair blonde.
“What the fuck did you do to yourself?” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.
She stands up, wiping her face, suddenly defiant. This isn’t the reaction I wanted. She’s supposed to be broken, begging for me to take her back.
“Get away from me,” she says, her voice stronger than it should be. She stands, tugging at the hem of a skirt that barely covers anything.
“What is this?” I gesture at her transformation, disgust and fascination warring inside me. “Some kind of post–breakup meltdown?”
Logan leans against the wall, watching us with that stupid smirk. “Told you she went crazy.”
“Not crazy,” Jess says, lifting her chin. “Free.”
Something dark twists in my gut. Free? From me? The audacity makes my fingers itch to close around her throat.
“You look ridiculous,” I say instead, keeping my voice low, controlled. “Come here. Let’s fucking get you home.”
Damn it. The plan backfired at me. I lied. She doesn’t look ridiculous. She looks so fucking hot.
Jess’s eyes narrow, her gaze sliding from me to Logan. Her face transforms–realization dawning like a fucking sunrise.
“You texted Grayson?” The betrayal in her voice almost makes me smile. She spins toward Logan, who suddenly looks less smug. “You called him?”
Logan tried to reach for her. “Jess, look at yourself… I’m just so worried about you-”
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Chapter 62
“Bullshit!” She slaps his hand away. “You just couldn’t stand that I was finally having fun without either of you controlling me
I watch her rage bloom, savoring it. This fury–this is the Jess I’ve been cultivating. The one who’s learning to bite back.
“You don’t get to decide when I’m ‘too much,” she spits at Logan, then turns those flashing eyes on me. “And you don’t own me anymore.
The word “anymore” implies I once did. She remembers correctly.
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby,” I say softly, stepping closer until I can smell her perfume–different, cheaper than what I bought her. “Some things don’t end just because you say they do.”
Her pulse jumps visibly in her throat. Fear? Excitement? With Jess, it’s always been deliciously hard to tell the difference.
I fucking miss her. If she didn’t only beg for me to break up with her, I would’ve probably pinned her in bed now.
Her mascara starts to run. Black tears–like her soul leaking out. Fucking poetic. I feel bad for her. I do. However, it’s time for us to baby her in this world.
I laugh softly. “What exactly did you think would happen, Jess? That you’d play dress–up and suddenly become someone else?”
“You don’t know me anymore,” she whispers.
I move closer, my fingers finding her wrist. Her pulse races under my touch. “I know every part of you. Even the parts you’re trying to hide under this…” let my gaze travel slowly down her body, “…pathetic disguise.”
She tries to pull away, but I tighten my grip just enough. Just how she used to like it.
“Let her go, man,” Logan says, suddenly growing a conscience.
I ignore him, leaning closer to Jess’s ear. “That break–up hurts like hell Jessica. Then you’re here destroying yourself?”
I know I’m being harsh on her but 72 hours of her not contacting me after tearing my heart hurts my fucking ego too. She can do that? I can’t even breath waiting for her message or calls. That’s unfair. But right. I think I love her more. And I’m okay with that.
Jess, my so ever brave Jess look up with so much rage in her eyes. “Well, how badly it hurts you’re sucking Aria’s tongue in the morning?” she snarls, tears gleaming in her eyes. “Fuck you, Grayson.”
So that’s it. She saw us. I feel nothing but satisfaction knowing she’s been watching, hurting, burning with jealousy.
“Is that why you’re crying, Jess?” I whisper, tracing a finger down her cheek, collecting a tear. “Because you miss my tongue?”
She tries to slap me. I catch her wrist mid–air. Logan tried to step probably to save his bestfriend but I don’t him anymore. One look at him and he’s gone. He knows I won’t hurt Jess. I hope Jess knows that too but well, she’s a very stubborn woman so I might’ve to fuck that thought inside her womb.
“Let go of me,” she hisses, trembling. “Logan! Damn it. Come back here, you idiot!”
“Did it hurt, Jess?” I ask, voice deceptively gentle. “Seeing me with someone else?”
“Fuck you.” Her hands ball into fists, nails digging crescents into her palms. “You didn’t even wait a day before-”
“Before what?” I step closer, eliminating the space between us. “Before showing you exactly what you threw away?”
She tries to shove me back, but I only pull us closer. Goddess, I’m so stupid making her cry. I will go to hell for this.
“You think I care?” she snarls, but her voice catches. “You think I give a shit who you fuck?”
“I think,” I say, lowering my voice to that register that always made her melt, “that you broke up with me to punish me. To see if I’d come crawling back.” I lean in, lips nearly touching her ear. “But that’s not how this works, princess. I don’t crawl. I hunt.”
Her breathing hitches. “I broke up with you because you’re toxic.”
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Chapter 62
“Funny,” I whisper, “you never complained about my toxicity when it was making you scream my name.
Her eyes flash, and she wrenches one hand free to slap me. I let her–the sting is worth it to see that raw emotion, that pure, unfiltered Jess that onl/1 can bring out,
“I hate what you do to me,” she whispers, and there it is–the admission I’ve been waiting for.
I hate what you do to me too, baby. I hate how much you’re willing to break me just so you can achieve your dreams. Theo is a dead man. Jessica doesn’t know it yet but she’s an open book to me.
Her thoughts leak into my mind like blood through gauze. Always have. Messy little fragments that betray her every time. Right now, she’s wondering why I can’t just let her go and chose the easy route. Why is she wondering that? Doesn’t she know she’s the only option?
Her mind is chaotic–memories flashing of her meeting Theo in the woods. Then her naked on his bed. The fucking blackmail. Her crying in her room.
Fucking hell. Ifreeze, not believing what she’s allowing me to read inside her mind.
My vision blurs red. My hands twitch with the need to wrap around his throat. I can already feel his pulse stuttering beneath my thumbs.
“He’s blackmailing you,” I say.
Her eyes widen, pupils dilating with terror. “How could you possibly=”
I’m such a fucking idiot.
“You think I haven’t always known what goes on in that pretty little head of yours?” I step closer, watching her breath catch. “Since we were kids, Jess. Every thought. Every secret. Every lie.”
Her face drains of color. “That’s not-”
“Possible?” I laugh, the sound hollow even to my own ears. “I already told you you’re my mate Jess but even that you think is a lie.”
She’s backing away now, her mind screaming. Memories surfacing of other moments–times when I knew things I shouldn’t have. Times when she’d thought something and I’d responded as if she’d spoken aloud.
“The photos he has,” I whisper, pulling the darkest parts from her mind like drawing poison from a wound. “How did he get them?”
A tear slides down her cheek. “You don’t understand! I was protecting you!”
“Do I look like a man that needs your damn protection Jessica?”
Her thoughts spiral wildly–not just Theo. The Council. The entire fucking Alpha Council knows about us. About what we are. What we’ve done.
“It’s bigger than Theo,” I say, chest tightening as I follow the thread through her mind. “He’s working for them, isn’t he?”
The blood drains from her face. “How are you doing this? You’re in my head–stop it!”
“You’re my mate,” I snarl, gripping her shoulders. “Your thoughts have always been mine to read. Did you think that was normal? Did you think everyone had what we have?”
Her mind floods with realization–all the times she’d thought I was just perceptive. All the times she’d convinced herself it was coincidence.
“Theo is a dead man to me, baby,” I say, thinking of million ways to kill a man. Each method more satisfying than the last. Slower. More pair. dead man to me. You hear me?”
She’s shaking her head, but I can see it in her mind–the relief mixed with horror. She knows I’m serious. She knows what i’m capable of.
And deep down, in that dark place she tries to hide even from herself, she wants me to do it.
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Chapter 63
