Page 30 of Wicked Surrender

Seven o’clock can’t come fast enough.

I looked forward to seeing Laura in the library tonight. Not just to have another chance to tease her and piss her off, but to see what she thought of the instant replay of her attempt to dump that loser. Ethan hadn’t taken it well. At one point, I thought the dumbass was going to cry.

But what he said was fucking gold.

It was the best bit of reality TV that I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t wait to show it to her and make her relive the awkwardness she had to have experienced.

I watched it several times since the afternoon. Each viewing I gave myself, I noticed more and more details. She’d been tense, and then annoyed. And it would be my goddamn delight to make her watch it again.

That wasn’t all.

This was my ticket to her compliance, too. If she wouldn’t cry or tattle to Dean Chen about how much of a bullying asshole I was to her for any other reason, this video might be the turning point. It was the ace up my sleeve, the leverage I needed to get her to do what I said.

I was in charge here, not her, no matter how she was supposed to be the one tutoring and guidingme.

I came to the library early, determined to have this play out perfectly. My prompt attendance—beating her here—was just one more tool I had to throw her off even more.

When she arrived in shorts and a vintage Guns and Roses band shirt, the most dressed down I’d ever seen her, she stopped short at the sight of me seated at the table. For a full beat, she simply stared at me, like she wasn’t sure what to make of my being here.

Swallowing hard, she stepped forward again to join me. The closer she came, the more my heart raced. Pure pleasure would be coming my way. I could get the ultimate satisfaction at making her miserable, at ruining her, and not only that, but I’d also have this stupid term paper written so I could celebrate my win at a party tomorrow night. It’d been too long since I let loose.

“Evening,” I greeted, coating the word with glee.

“Hi.” Her reply was stilted, almost resigned.

“What are we covering tonight?” I asked, feigning interest in work.

“I have some…” She sat and eyed my phone lying face-up on the table. “I have some practice trig papers you can do.” Her voice was cautious and low, not trusting my so-called enthusiasm to participate tonight. “But I think you also have a term paper due in medical philosophy due soon too.”

“First, I want to review something else.” I stood, enjoying her tense stare as I got up and moved around the table. Pulling a chair next to her, scraping the feet loudly on the floor, I sat so close that our knees touched. As I held my phone up so we could both see, I registered how stiffly she sat, staring ahead with her jaw locked tight.

“I’d…” She swallowed then drew a deep breath, making her chest rise so much that her breasts further strained the thin material of her dark shirt. “I’d rather not.”

“Oh, I insist, Second-Best.”

Ever so slightly, her jaw slid as if she were grinding her teeth.

Smiling, I leaned in to put my arm around the back of her chair to loom over her. She didn’t retreat, rigid and tense.

“Because this is just too good to pass up.” I let the video play, volleying my gaze between the screen and her eyes to make sure she was watching. She was. Like the brave fool she was, she watched it all. Her breakup with Ethan was a mix of comedy and drama, but only to the level of a B movie.

After it was done, I let it replay automatically but I slid the volume down to mute it. “Poor, poor Ethan.”

She drew a deep breath, mute and sullen. If she hadn’t stooped to hate me yet, she would now.

“He sure didn’t seem to take it well, huh?”

Still nothing. Not a tear or a sniffle.

“I guess he couldn’t handle the truth,” I added, determined to get a reaction out of her.

Now she shrugged, just barely. “Is that all?”

“You’re not embarrassed?” I chuckled, leaning in closer to the point I wanted to groan at how fucking delicious she smelled. Sweet like apples yet tangy, too.

“It doesn’t matter if I am. Like I told him, it’s over.”

“Really?” I laughed once more. “But is it over?” I set my phone down and crowded into her personal space some more, finally getting her to make icy eye contact with me. “This kind of stuff never dies down.”

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