Page 46 of Soulless Saint

A few more grumbles from the throng, but I ignored them, keeping my attention solely focused on Becca.

“Nothing,” she whispered. “There’s nothing you can do because I’m not interested in knowing you.”

“I’m not buying that.”

I’d seen the way she was looking at me last Sunday, like she could eat me alive with her eyes alone. She’d looked at me the same way when I went to return her purse, even if the words coming out of her mouth didn’t match the hunger in her stare.

“I’m not selling it,” she retorted in a harsh whisper, continuing to follow along with the instructor. “It’s the truth. I’ve had enough of gangs and guns to last me a lifetime.”

“So I’ve heard.”

She jerked upright at that, her brown eyed stare piercing in its intensity. “What do you mean?”

I smirked. “The new girl on campus shows up at my house and you think I don’t look into her? I always know who’s in my home, and if I don’t, I make it my business to find out.”

At least a part of that was true. I couldn’t tell her the Crows asked us to keep an eye on her. I wouldn’t hang them out to dry like that, not unless there was no other option. What she needed to know right now was that I didn’t think she was safe, and I’d made it my business to ensure said safety.

She frowned at my words, likely regretting ever coming by.

“Well, I won’t be coming to any more of your Sunday Masses. One of your friends made it very clear I wasn’t welcome, not that I care.”

My face pinched, and right away the urge to ring the neck of whoever made her feel that way pulsed through me like angry fire.

“Who?” I asked, but I barely got the word out before I realized exactly who would’ve said some shit to her. “Wait. Red hair? Bitchy face?”

“That’s the one.”

“Don’t mind Gill, she’s all bark, no bite.” …and I would handle her myself.

Her brows lifted, but she said nothing. Why was she being so difficult?

The instructor guided us into some warrior stance, but while everyone else faced the right wall, I did the opposite, facing left so I could be face to face with Becca as she stretched her arms wide and leaned into her forward leg.

And those thighs…

I mimicked the move in reverse, spreading myself wide, stretching my arms straight out in front and behind myself. She tried and failed not to trace the long lines of my body, her gaze snagging on several tattoos before settling on the very visible bulge in my shorts. I knew it. She may not have wanted to know me but she definitely wanted to know me. It was a start.

She blinked twice, her throat bobbing before she turned her gaze studiously to the front of the room.

But I didn’t have the same restraint. I watched slender muscle harden and contract over the unblemished skin between the waistband of her skin tight yoga pants and sports bra. She had some tone to her, that was for sure. But I worried about her food intake. When she lifted her arms high, I could see the ridges of her lower rib cage pushing through her skin.

“And dance your forward arm back into peaceful warrior,” the instructor breathed, and I nearly collapsed onto my ass trying to replicate the ridiculous pose. Giving up, I settled back into the first posture instead, watching Becca move her arms into the shape with ease.

It was clear she wasn’t going to continue the conversation unless I pulled every word from her, so I might as well get to the point.

“Anyway, there was, uh, something in your purse that I took out before I gave it back to you and I need to know if you have any ene—”

“I knew you swiped my joint,” she spat in a venomous whisper, moving out of her powerful warrior stance to stand tall, glaring at me. “It was my last one, so you better replace it.”

She bent with a low growl to retrieve her mat from the floor, rolling it messily into a bundle she threw under her arm.

“Shit, sorry!” she hissed, tripping over the girl next to her in her haste to leave.

Well, that shit went swimmingly.

I ground my teeth, thinking of the texts from Dad no doubt piling up on my phone in the men’s locker room. But fuck that. I wasn’t going to give up that easily.

This girl had haunted my dreams all week. I was off my game and stumbling. But I knew how I could get back on my feet.

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