Page 5 of His Dark Vices

"Are you sure? It'syours, after all."

From the way she punctuates the word with an arch of her brow, I know she knows she was the first one here.

"Yeah, take it." The second her fingers secure the muffin, I go on. "In exchange, I'll be taking your number."

The girl scoffs and rolls her eyes. Next, the muffin drops from her hand and bounces on the ground between us, coming to a rest against my shoe. Her eyes are on me the whole time. The smirk falls from my lips.

"Enjoy your muffin," she chirps brightly. Then she turns on her heel and stalks off.

I hear a few titters around me, but my eyes are glued to her back—her ass, rather. It's fat, alright.

But did she really just walk away from me?

The sour mood from before snakes its way back into my stomach, twisting the hunger into nausea. I feel a rush of emotion sizzle across my skin, and I rake a hand through my hair, suddenly irritated.

Who does she think she is? Just fucking leaving like that? When I'm giving her my attention? I can have any girl here I want.

Except that one, an inner mocking voice whispers to me.

I stomp off after her, ignoring the students watching me. I don't know what I'll do when I catch up to her—or if I'll even catch up—but I know I can't let her get away with that. She's cute and all, but something in me can't take this easily.

I'm the one who walks away.

When I exit the building, I don't see her anywhere. I scan the passing girls, but there aren't any curls anywhere.

Wait, there they are. Her puff of curls bob up and down as she walks away from the school's buildings. I follow her path, weaving between anyone who gets in my way, shrugging off their complaints. My eyes are glued to that head as I wonder where she's going. And far ahead, she steps off the paved paths and into the trees that surround the university, quickly disappearing into the forest beyond.

I stop and have a look around. No one is watching me. And I still don't know what I'll do with her once I get her alone. I didn't think it would be just the two of us, and it's not like I want to force myself on her.

WhatdoI want to do?

What's clear is that I can't bear her rejection, not even for a second. It pisses me off so bad that my feet start moving on their own, again chasing after her. It must have been some instinct that stopped me because as soon as I step into the trees, I'm glad I waited. It's so quiet that she would have heard me coming and probably screamed for help.

I keep moving until a clearing starts to come into view. And there she is, sitting in the middle on a blanket spread out on the ground. I stay within the cover of the trees and just watch as she pulls out books and a laptop from her messenger bag. It looks like she's getting comfortable to study or work on something.

So she's one of those girls who keeps her nose buried in a book? I hold back a scoff. No wonder she rejected me.

But that's no excuse.

No, she needs to know who she rejected, who she had a chance with.

I keep watch, my plan of action slowly solidifying as the minutes tick by.

I bet all she knows is what's in those books, bet she lives in a little world of grades and extra credit.

I can make her understand what she passed up.

I feel myself grinning at the thought, and the snake in my belly slips away, appeased by the plan forming in my head. There's nothing more to do for now, so I go back the way I came, leaving her in the clearing.

But I know what to do now. I know why I came.

I need to show her the mistake she's made, make her come knocking on my door so I can open it.

Then slam it in her fucking face.

CHAPTER 3

Bree

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