Page 23 of Unbidden

The dejected look leaves his face at my statement. “Sure. Can’t wait.”

With that, he turns and leaves with a smile. I watch him walk away before a throat clearing behind me draws me back to Reed, my own smile faltering in the process.

I consider declining his dance, but I decided I might as well get his daily humiliation done with. I move toward him, looking to the side as I hold my arms out in the same position as before.

“Really? You need a dance class. This form is terrible.”

My eyes fly to his, anger in them. Before I can respond, he takes his position and starts moving us. His pace is much faster than Jared’s had been. I struggle to keep up, stepping on his feet twice in a matter of minutes.

“Slow down,” I hiss at him.

“First time I’ve ever had a woman ask me to slow it down,” he quips.

I glare at him. “Unlike you, I don’t have the pleasure of years of dance and etiquette classes engrained in me from birth. Why did you even ask me to dance?”

He scoffs. “You should be thanking me. I saved you from Clark. That guy’s a loser.”

I stop in the middle of the dance and try to pull away.

“Ms. Miller, may I remind you that you’re being graded?” Mrs. Bonavich states.

I allow Reed to pull me back in, but I continue to glare at him. Once Mrs. Bonavich moves on, I tell him, “Jared is not a loser. He’s sweet and a great dancer. Much better than you.”

“Tell yourself whatever makes you sleep better at night. He just wants a piece of your ass. He heard the rumors too.”

“No need to be jealous, Reed. You know I’m too busy pining after your asshole ways to even look twice at another man. Especially one as handsome and sweet as Jared.”

My sarcasm isn’t lost on Reed. “Jealous? Yeah, right. You’re a used-up whore looking for a rider who doesn’t know any better. Looking for a virgin to defile?”

“That’s me. Corrupting the youth of the world.”

I step on Reed’s foot again, causing him to cuss lightly.

“You’re really bad at this,” he mumbles before pulling me closer to him. I can feel him start to lead me with his body, much like Jared did.

His face is so close to mine that I can feel his breath on the side of my neck. My own breath catches as he squeezes my hip, a shot of pleasure racing to my core.

My mind might hate the man, but my body craves the touch he provides.

Why couldn’t you want a nice guy like Jared?I reprimand my body.

Another jolt of pleasures rushes through me as Reed leans down to my ear. “Are you cold?”

His light laugh causes me to frown. Of course he knows his effect on me. It isn’t enough for him to be an asshole to me for no reason, but my body has to give him even more ammo.

I go to pull away once again, but he has other plans. He abruptly lets his arm drop, spinning me using his hand still clasped in mine. I stumble, disoriented, but he’s there to catch me, dipping me low.

Claps ring out around us, and my face heats. Reed pulls me back up, pinning me to his chest. He leans in, meeting my eyes. He’s so close that if I moved an inch forward, my lips would be on his. My eyes flit to his mouth without permission. I catch his slight smirk before he hides it.

“I bet virgin Jared doesn’t have moves like that.”

His words register a moment after he steps back from me, turning to move to the other side of the room.

As another song comes on, I numbly make my way back to my desk.

What’s with Reed Yates?

That’s the million-dollar question.

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