Page 20 of Tangled in His Game

Maybe everyone who’s suspicious of Victor’s story keeps quiet because they don’t want to deal with the idiots who think I’m a slut or some lowly organism not allowed to be in their presence and breathe the same air.

Just as I enter the classroom, Victor and everyone else look straight at me. Yep, robots. All of them.

The only good thing is that Victor won’t be sitting next to me anymore, or maybe not, because I need to talk to him. The whole morning, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to approach him so I don’t make any mistakes.

And I think I need to do it after this class. It’s the last one, so he won’t be in a rush to get somewhere else. He isn’t supposed to have practice until later. Now the only thing left is to make sure his friends aren’t around him when I talk to him. Or anyone else.

I don’t want anyone recording us or listening in on us so they can spread more fake news about me. Victor has to take the whole thing back and say it was a joke and not real. Then everyone will go back to ignoring me and forget about the whole thing.

I feel Victor’s gaze on me as I take my seat, and I glance at him. His lips actually pull up into a sly smile. I grind my teeth together. Ugh! He’s not even a tiny little bit sorry about what he did.

But he will be.

***

ILEAVE THE CLASSROOMfirst, which is easy because my seat is closest to the door anyway. As I get out into the hallway, I lean against the wall and wait.

As students trickle by, I tap my foot against the floor with impatience. At least no one seems to be paying attention to me, but that’s only because I’m standing across from the door and a little behind it, and they’re all going in the opposite direction.

Social media is still burning with Victor’s stunt from last night. After what seems like a century, Victor finally walks out. He’s laughing about something with his friends and doesn’t even look my way.

“Victor!” I yell, glaring at him.

His gaze finds mine, and there’s a smile on his annoyingly handsome face.

“We need to talk.” I cross my arms.

Vanessa and Greg hesitate, looking at Victor, but he waves them off. Vanessa shoots me a glare over her shoulder as she and Greg leave.

“What do you want?” Victor eyes me carefully once everyone’s gone.

“Whatever it is that you’re trying to do, it ends now.” I stare into his eyes.

“And what exactly are we talking about?” He steps forward, getting so close to me that we’re only inches apart.

The wall behind me doesn’t allow me to back away, and I don’t want to. But Victor’s proximity is distracting. I’m trapped between him and the wall, and my heart rate quickens. He tilts his head, and my gaze falls on his mouth.

“You know what I’m talking about.” I lift my chin. “I don’t want anything to do with you. Use someone else for your stupid, childish games and leave me alone.”

He presses his lips together, leaning forward. Ugh, he smells so damn good. How is that even possible?

“Or what?” he asks, placing his hand on the wall right next to my face.

My heart skips a beat.

“Or...” I swallow hard, my mouth suddenly as dry as a desert. “Or I’m leaking all the videos I have.”

His eyebrows shoot up as he chuckles. “What videos?”

“The videos...” I reach out and press my fingers against his side, right in the spot where I’m sure one of those guys punched him yesterday. “The kind that your dad won’t like if they come out.”

He winces, flinching away from me. But his face turns deadly serious, his eyes even colder than before.

For a few moments, he just stares at me, as if he expects me to crack and confess that I’m bluffing. But I won’t back down. I only have that one video, but who knows what else he might have been doing?

Since he isn’t laughing, it looks like I’m on to something, which is good. It’s not like I have to show him any proof, and if he insists, it’ll be the video from yesterday. All I need is for him to stop tormenting me.

He moves his hand off the wall. Then he slams his fist right next to my head a moment later. I gasp, my pulse in overdrive.

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