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And even if she did recover and step into the world, she might never approach sex like everyone else.
“I don’t want one,” I grit out the words, still clenching my teeth against the pain.
She blinked, confusion heavy on her face. “Are you sure? The website said it was a reward of some kind.”
And that was technically true.
“So, I assumed ‘happy endings’ were good.”
“Please stop saying it,” I begged her as I rolled onto my knees. “We can talk about this later!” When I had time to think of an answer.
Every time she said it, even innocently, it was getting harder to control my body’s reaction to the painfully eager expression on her face. It was glaringly obvious that all she wanted was to make me happy.
This was going to kill me.
“Oh, The Dunce is giving out happy endings now?” a low, sleazy voice drawled from behind me, and I glanced back to spot the three individuals I’d wanted to avoid at all costs: Cory Moore, and his lackeys Drew Wallace and Adrian Collins.
“Where can I sign up?” Cory asked, sneering in Bianca’s direction.
The three wolf shifters began targeting Bianca the day she transferred here. And considering that we stayed with the same class from grade school to graduation, we’d been stuck having to deal with them continuously over the last eight years.
“Fuck off, Cory.” I’d never lost an erection so fast in my life, and I moved to my feet, picking up my backpack along the way. I was already hiding Bianca from their view before the wolf even had a chance to reply. “Why aren’t you in homeroom?”
“Who do you think you are, the hall monitor?” the dark-haired nuisance replied with a sneer as he rolled his shoulders in a way that made my annoyance flare. His sharp canines seemed more pronounced against his tanned skin than usual, which meant that he was going through some changes that affected wolves during puberty. Which was justperfect, because teen wolves tended to become assholes then—and Cory and his friends were already Grade A ones to start with.
“Move out of the way, loser.” Adrian stepped forward, lowering his square chin threateningly. “We’re talking to Dunce, not you. We want happy endings too.”
My ire grew higher, and my hands flexed against my leg as I fought against the urge to pound in his face. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but Adrian in particular had been growing more annoying lately.
Usually he was content to stay in the background. “How—”
“It’s not foryou,” Bianca replied, looking around my arm. There was an underlying tension that hadn’t been present before, and for a second, I wondered about this sudden wariness.
Despite her past, she hadn’t displayed much fear toward them before.
But then her statement registered.
“Don’t answer to ‘dunce!” I tore my eyes from Adrian and growled at her. “Have some self-respect.”
But she ignored me, glaring daggers as her focus moved to Cory. Her confidence returned. “You haven’t done anything to deserve one,” she said, flipping her hair with a huff. She was obviously still talking about ‘happy endings,’ and my stomach dropped in horror.
Why? This was probably the worst thing to happenthis entire month. Why wasn’t it that more than a few weeks couldn’t go by without some sort of disaster?
“Oh?” Cory seemed intrigued, and my hackles rose in the way his searching gaze moved over the little part of Bianca that he could see. “What does one need to do todeserveit?”
Okay, it was past time for this conversation to be over.
“Well—” But Bianca was on fire today—it had to be the extra dosage of caffeine. The words just flew out of her. Plus, her shyness tended to evaporate when she hated someone. She could be ruthless. “—for starters, you could trynotbeing a massive jerk. And then maybe—”
I turned, pulling her to me, and slammed my hand over her mouth to stop the torrent. “Stop. Talking,” I hissed into her ear, warning her as I silently pleaded with any and every higher power that Cory and the others would, please, choose not to comment on this.
It was still too early in the morning to go through this drama.
She stiffened in my arms, and it was then—at this most inopportune moment—that I became hyper aware of the way her body fit perfectly against my own. Flyaway hairs from her perky high ponytail tickled my nose, and her floral scent seemed to fill the senses. Her breath was short and tight, and I knew that she was probably close to panic—she hated being touched—but it was still a struggle to release my tense muscles.
“I think I’ll take you up on that. It could be fun.” Cory’s thoughtful reply was enough to shatter the spell. He’d never looked at Bianca in this predatory way before. “I’ve never had a hate fu—”
I turned on my heel, releasing Bianca, and my arm swung out before he could even finish his disgusting statement. My fist collided with his jaw, and the jock fell into the locker with a loud crash.
