Page 30 of Love is Angry

“You forgot the part where I told you I can’t do that.”

He laughs. “No, think about it. Let’s be completely honest about the idea of a superior education, to begin with. You said it yourself once that we’re nowhere near mature enough in our late teens and early twenties to fully appreciate and digest a proper college education.”

“Ah, I see you’re a quick study. Using my own words against me, huh?”

“You weren’t lying, were you?” He shoots the words back with a sly grin. No wonder all the girls love him unconditionally. One smile and poof. He’s got you. Hook, line, and sinker. I shake my head in response. “So, then, what’s the harm in practicing what you preach? You also said college should only be open to people over 25, and that we should spend the period between high school and college working different service industry or any other kind of jobs that only require a high school degree.”

“To gain life experience, yes,” I reply, conceding to my own point. “Because going to college now would mean at least 70% of an education wasted. We’re way too hormonal and emotionally green to fully comprehend the choice of a career now. Yeah.”

“Given the lengthened lifespan that we’ve been able to enjoy since the early 20thcentury, at least,” Rhue adds. “And I agree. Personally, I’d take a job at a bar or somewhere if I didn’t have hockey. Were it not for my athletic endeavors, I’d probably follow your lead and take at least one gap year.”

“Yeah, the whole practice what you preach thing is not the reason I imagine myself getting kicked out and completely banned from your house,” I say, trying not to laugh. “Your parents would kill me if you don’t go to school next fall.”

He stills, a shadow fluttering across his face. His eyebrows pull into a slight frown as he carefully considers my expression. “You don’t want these sessions to end, huh?”

“You’re one of my more lucrative gigs,” I reply, though my skin feels like it’s on fire. I’m getting too much of his attention now and I don’t know how to cope. He usually saves that smoldering glare for Sarah and the likes. I feel uneasy. Like I’m an imposter of sorts. “I’d be an idiot to want this to end.”

Rhue leans closer, though there is still the massive ebony desk keeping us apart. My throat is parched, suddenly ablaze by that darkening look in his eyes. “Is that all I am to you, Madison? A job that pays well?”

“Maybe,” I reply, trying to minimize the seriousness of this moment between us.

Half the seniors at his school would kill their own siblings to date Rhue Echeveria. Then again, half the seniors at his school are just a brush over eighteen and too dumb for their own good.

Slowly, Rhue gets up from his father’s seat. Something is coming. I know what it is, and it’s headed my way. He’s got that look in his eyes; the hunger I see in myself whenever I think of him. He moves slowly, like a panther prowling, following his prey. My heart shrinks and struggles. It’s the size of a pea, now, my chest tightening and throbbing with every rapid beat. Dum. Dum. Dum.

“You’ll have to forgive me, Madison, but I find it hard to believe that the only reason we’re meeting here twice a week is solely for the purpose of my academic development,” he says, now moving around the desk in a bid to get closer to me. Every cubic inch of space that vanishes between us adds a drop ofsweat to my temple. I’ve been fantasizing about those lips for weeks, now. “There has to be more to us than that.”

He’s too close. Towering before me, while I shrink in the armchair, my fingertips slick with sweat against the leather upholstery. I try to think of a way to get myself away and in a better, more neutral position, but my own brain conspires against me. I am muted and paralyzed as he leans in and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. The touch alone is electrifying, making me quiver in response. Rhue smiles. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

. I should cut this off before we get too far, but the fire burning densely inside me demands that I allow it to consume me. For that, however, I would need Rhue for kindling. He wouldn’t say no, judging by that hungry look in his eyes.

“What’s the matter, Madison?” he asks, his lips now barely an inch from mine. I was a fool to rely on the desk. It does nothing when Rhue is determined to get what he wants. “Cat got your tongue?”

There are so many ways in which this could go wrong.

Rhue is about to kiss me. I can see the lust twinkling in his darkened gaze. Lips slowly parting. The tip of a pink tongue that I would like nothing more than to feel on my skin. My loins tremble with delight at the thought of the many ways in which this could go wrong. Only a breath is left between us, and I’m holding mine, fingers digging desperately into the armrests.

Then his last name pops into my head. All the deliciously wrong ways in which our bodies and souls might intertwine pale away into vapid nothingness as I realize the implication of any kind of physical relationship between Rhue and me.

“This is a bad idea,” I hear myself whisper.

“It doesn’t feel that way to me,” Rhue breathes, and I feel the heat caressing my lips.

When he kisses me, my entire world spins upside down. But who knew upside down could feel so right?

Chapter 14

Rhue

I shouldn’t be alone right now.

That stunt I pulled earlier with Madison almost surely cost me my soul. I should be enjoying myself. Patting myself on the back for breaking her the way I did.

I lured her in, and she bought the whole show. There were some questions asked, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Lindsey and Rita coming over to my side helped sweeten the pot, too, though it clearly scared Madison at first.

My phone is still blowing up with messages from both of those spoiled, self-righteous airheads. They liked our threesome so much they want to do it again. Personally, I don’t. The girls served one purpose and one purpose only. They helped me to blow off some steam, allowed me to fuck their brains out, and that was it.

“Fuck,” I mutter and open the fridge. There’s a half-empty bottle of wine in the door. It’s probably still good to drink, but I might need something stronger. I check the freezer next. “There you are.”

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