Page 9 of The Masks We Break

Which is what Ineedto do.

I let my tongue slip out to moisten my suddenly dry lips, and I don’t miss Blaze’s eyes watching it sweep across. The warm feeling of blood pooling in my cheeks alerts me that I’m still showing him what I shouldn’t.

Instead of the response I’m dying to give, I grab the opposite door, yanking it open. And even though my pulse is thumping so hard it’s making my entire body shake, I don’t give in to it. No matter how bad I want to, I can’t make the same mistake twice.

I won’t.

FIVE

One, two, three, four, five.

Every sixth step, I take in another long draw of breath, a small puff of white billowing out and disappearing behind me. My morning run usually clears my head, allows me the space I need from everyone and everything to get my life sorted out in my mind. But today, I can only think of her.

In truth, she’s all I’ve thought about since the gala. Seeing her after so long reignited a foreign feeling in my gut I still haven’t been able to place. I imagine it’s something like guilt. Maybe regret for how things ended back in high school.

Or perhaps it’s merely desire—finally obtaining something I’ve craved for so long.

I imagine it would be like taking my first bite of chocolate cake. Sweet, rich, savory. All things good and bad at the same time. Well...she wouldn’t be bad for me, necessarily, but I would more than likely destroy her. Remy has always wanted something I don’t have the ability to give.

But that knowledge doesn’t curb the need to scratch a long-awaited itch, only bringing me back to the guilt. A vicious cycle I’m finding rather irritating.

Either way, she’s a distraction. A temptation I need to rid myself of, which seems to be more challenging than I remember. She used to be putty in my hand back then. If I so much as smirked, she melted.

Now? Now my puppet seems to have a chip on her shoulder. And that makes me want her even more.

Fuck.

One, two, three, four, five.

I can’t help but imagine her exposed, under me, allowing me control over her flawless curves and freckled skin. That silky black hair tangled in my fist. Her pouty mouth parted as cries of her pleasure fill the room.

Although I’ve kept the same steady pace, my pulse accelerates, traveling south and gorging my dick to a painful length.

“Fuck.” This time I groan out loud, thankful the Square has a vacant outdoor trail.

I’ll need something to satisfy my thirst for her. Someone who can be at my beck and call for a while until I finish this damn lit class, whereas it turns out, she’s the professor’s assistant.

The old man hadn’t looked too pleased with her timing and had a private conversation that turned the small girl redder than I’ve ever made her. That had low-key pissed me off. Something about the way she curled in on herself and took whatever scolding he was giving ignited an odd type of fury in my veins. It took a lot more self-control than I’d like to admit to find a seat at the back—far from where Remy sat and observe as she passed out the papers.

Her damn leggings were so tight I could make out the lines of her pussy as she bent down to rummage through a bag and pull out the stacks of paper. It made me miss the days back in high school when her clothes were always too big, hiding her dangerous figure. It was a lot easier on my blood pressure.

Then there was that moment in the hall. The mint from her breath mingling in the space between us and that damn stray hair I wanted to tuck behind her ear. The right ear that points just a little more than the left...

I need a distraction from my distraction. Someone to calm my racing pulse and rid me of these wayward thoughts. The images that make my control falter.

One, two, three, four, five.

Slowing to a powerful stride, I exit the trail as the sidewalk to my apartment comes into view. I’ve only been here a few days, but I must say, this place is relatively perfect. It’s secluded, away from any roads and people. Everyone who lives here is quiet, and besides passing some when headed to campus, I haven’t even seen anyone else here.

I stretch my arms across my chest as I walk to my door, counting my pulse in time with the seconds, adjusting my breathing for cool-down. The moment I reach into my pocket for the keys, I hear her. That sweet giggle floating in the air and trickling down my spine, traveling to the last place I need it right now.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

Keeping my back toward her, I unlock the door but peek over my shoulder to see Remy laughing with a friend from high school. They both have coffee in their hands and brown shopping bags dangling from their elbow, a large Solace U’s Farmers Market logo stamped on the side.

Thankfully, today she’s gone with an outfit a little less...constricting. An oversized shirt hangs from her delicate shoulder and lies atop loose jeans. Her hair is French braided to the side, stopping just at her collarbone, drawing my attention to the smooth curve of her neck. Her smile works its way into my veins, and I have to stifle my own.

Amora disappears inside, and right before Remy follows her in, she stops, her shoulders stiffening. She feels me, I justknowit, and again, I do something I usually wouldn’t. I wait.

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