Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series (13 page)

“But your grades …” she stammers.

I close my eyes, shake my head, and laugh. Dammit. She’s still going
on about that? Like it matters. I’m in a fucking gang right now, dealing drugs,
fighting with people, making horrible decisions, all for the sake of my
brother. To say that my grades are of less importance would be an
understatement. My life is one fucked-up mess, and there’s nothing I can do but
fight to make it better.

I glance sideways and notice Leafy observing me from a distance.

“Something wrong?” I ask. She’s staring at me with this crazy look
on her face, like she’s afraid of me. Maybe she finally is. Maybe she isn’t.
Neither would make me happy.

She shakes her head rigorously, and I can clearly tell that’s not
what she thinks at all. The scared look on her face speaks volumes.

“Then why are you looking at me like that?” I say, inching closer.
The closer I get, the more she withdraws. She can’t handle me being in her
comfort zone, and it’s only making me want to come even closer. I like scaring
her. I like that she makes me feel powerful.

She’s still fighting, and I’m confused by her constant change of
attitude. One second she can’t stop butting into my life, and the next she
wants to flee as fast as she can. I don’t think she even knows what she wants
anymore.

I can relate to that.

A grin appears on my face as I scoot closer, wanting to make her
even more uneasy. I want to hear her breath hitch in her throat, hear her heart
go crazy for me, see her plump breasts rise and fall with each short breath,
and kiss her sweet lips. I want to conquer her. Claim her as my own. Make her
want me the way I want her.

She’s turned her head away from me, her lips quivering. Her neck is
exposed to me, and it makes me want press my lips against her pale skin.
Strands of hair tickle my cheek. Her intoxicating scent drifts into my nose,
and I can’t help but inhale, loudly. Her smell is just too good.

She freezes, clinging onto herself. My mind tells me to back off,
leave her alone, because she can’t handle me. My heart tells me to let her in.
I don’t know which one to listen to anymore. When she’s not around, I’m
determined to let nothing sway me from my course, but when I see her, I falter.
She’s just so goddamn attractive with her petite body, and her ability to learn
with such ease is something I admire. And the way she keeps coming back to me,
even when I’m being a dick, tells me she can’t resist the urge to be near me
either. We’re drawing toward each other, neither of us wanting it, but unable
to fight it.

I don’t want to fight it.

I want her beautiful eyes on me, I want her to see me succeed, I
want her to cheer me on, to be proud of me, to be there for me and support me.
Her looking at me with those doe-like eyes makes me excited. Hungry. Lustful.

And so I lean forward, open my mouth, and whisper into her ear, “I
like it.”

She shivers, her arms riddled with goose bumps. I’d love to just run
my fingers up her arm and along her cheek. My cock twitches in my pants just
from the thought of it.

I chuckle and take in a sharp breath to smell her one last time
before I slide back to my own seat.

She just sits there, staring straight ahead, not moving an inch.
It’s quite amusing to look at. Her breathing is loud, ragged, as she
straightens her glasses and clears her throat.

“Why did you do that?” she asks.

As if that wasn’t clear enough. I want to tease you until you give
in to me. I could tell her that. Of course, that would probably scare her more
than I already have.

The corner of my lip quirks up into a smile, because I’m thinking
about all the ways I could fuck her until she screams.

“No reason,” I say with a big smirk on my face.

Her eyebrows draw together. “What?”

Guess she won’t take no for an answer, again. Geez, what is it with
this girl? Talk about persistence.

“Are you going to explain why you’re acting this way?” she asks.

“Nope.” She can try all she wants, but I’m not going to tell her.
She won’t like the answer anyway, because I don’t even understand it myself.
One part of me wants to keep her far away, and another one wants to make her
mine. It’s hard to choose.

“Why do you even come to class anyway? Only to torment me?” she
snaps.

What? I never meant to torment her. Dammit. This is what you get for
messing with girls, Hunter. I’ve been so bad at showing her what I feel. I
don’t want her to be dragged into this gang, and I know the only way to keep
her at bay is to be an asshole toward her. But I can’t keep this up. I’m
falling for her kindness, and I can’t bear to treat her like that anymore.

I can imagine it’s confusing for her, though.

“Leafy, don’t take life so serious,” I say, trying to diffuse the
tension between us.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snaps.

I wish she could take a glimpse into my life without being in
danger. Maybe then she would understand.

“You gotta live a little,” I say.

“Excuse me, but I think I’m fine without your advice, thanks.” She
purses her lips and starts flipping through the pages of her book, almost
ripping them out. Guess I really piss her off. But she can’t be serious about
being fine the way she is. She’s withdrawn, sheltered, and probably a bit
lonely, too. I’m sure I could bring some fun into her life, if she’d let me.

If I took that chance.

“Oh c’mon. Is your life really all that exciting?” I say, trying to
coax her to come out of her shell.

“I don’t need excitement,” she says, snapping her book shut.

I wonder what’s ticking her off so much. She doesn’t want me to know
what she finds exciting? Interesting …

“Everyone does something they get excited about.”

Look at me, I enjoy all sorts of things. Like sucking on her
nipples. That would be exciting to me. I wonder what they look like …

I’d love to know what she’s thinking right now.

I poke her arm, and when I feel her soft skin I want to slide my
fingers up and down and caress her. It’s hard to restrain myself. “Come on …
you can tell me,” I say.

“Fine. I like reading. Happy now?”

“Reading?” No shit. I see her doing that every day—not so exciting.

“Yes. Books. You know, the thing lying on your table that you refuse
to look at.”

Ouch. Nice retort. She’s really trying to get under my skin, and she
knows exactly what my weak spot is.

“You think I’m doing that on purpose,” I say. I’m not. I’d like to
learn, if I could be as fast as her. Sometimes things just get in the way. Like
gangs … and sexy girls.

She nods. Should I be offended now? Well, I haven’t exactly told
anyone about my situation, so I can’t blame her for not knowing any better.

“Wrong.”

It’s not that I don’t want to read. On the contrary, I’ve always
been a lover of books. I like escaping into a world where people have great
families and live happy lives, something I’m not really familiar with.

The only problem is remembering the stories. The same goes for
homework.

I clear my throat. “Just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean I
don’t want to. I know it’s important. Just like I know it’s important to have
some fun once in a while.”

What I actually want to say is that I’d love to do something fun
with her sometime. But I know I’ve been messing things up between us
deliberately. With good reason. So taking her out right now probably wouldn’t
be on her list of favorite things to do.

“Right, because you’ve seemed so happy these last couple of days.”

Fuck. There she goes again, confronting me with what’s really going
on. I don’t want to remember that. I just want to forget all about it. I hate
that she’s right, but dammit, it’s my own fault. And it’s also my fault she’s
trying to get under my skin. I did the same to her. Guess I had that coming to me.

But still, it hurts to hear that. It reminds me of the things I
don’t have, like a family. A good life where my brother is out of jail and …
well, there is no and. That’s just it. I have nothing else.

I sigh. “Believe me, I would give anything to be in your shoes right
now instead of my own,” I say.

She chuckles. “Of course you would.”

“Except for the whole monthly women things … you know …” Right. What
the fuck am I saying? Am I actually thinking about what it would be like to be
her?

I shake my head. Blame the drugs. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. “On
second thought, never mind. Anyway, you should really start enjoying life more.
Might make it a little easier.”

She folds her arms, her eyes flaming hot. “You mean by fighting with
people?”

Fuck. How does she know? Did talk spread so quickly around campus?
And goddammit, I didn’t even do anything bad to that guy. I gave him a break,
let him run off with only a few punches for show. That was no fight. Although I
did want people to think that it was.

But damn, I don’t want her to know that. I’m trying not to be an
asshole.

“Whose idea was it? Yours or his?” she says.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say under my breath, and I turn
my head. I can’t look her in the eye, it’s too confronting.

The teacher stops, and when people get up, I notice it’s time to
leave. Shit, another class I didn’t follow. Why do I keep letting myself get
distracted? I want to punch myself in the face.

“Whatever,” Leafy says. “If that’s your idea of having a nice, easy
life, have fun with it.”

What? How can she think I like beating people up? Am I really that
repugnant?

She gets up from her seat, ready to leave, but I’m not done with her
yet. I grab her wrist and say, “I never said I liked that part.”

She stays put, looking down at me, her eyes filled with anger.
Frustration boils inside me. I don’t want her to look at me like that. I never
wanted that.

“Then why do you do it?” she says.

I want her to know. I wish I could tell her everything, but I know
that’s the worst thing I could do right now. For her sake, I won’t.

“Because I have to,” I say, and that’s that. It’s the truth, but
it’s all I’m going to say about this. I just want her to know it’s not my
choice to fight people.

I let go of her and get up too. I wait until she’s done packing
before I follow her out of class. The only reason I’m tailing her is because I
want to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone else about the fight. I’d rather put
this under the rug and never hear about it again. Especially considering what
really
happened.

When we walk out of class, someone almost literally bumps into us.

“Hey, Autumn,” he says.

When I see his face and that short blond hair of his, I know I
recognize him from somewhere. The club.

Shit. I gotta run. I don’t want the gang to connect me to Leafy. No
way.

“Um … Who’s your friend?” he asks when he looks up at me.

She knows him? Fuck. I hope nobody from the gang told him about me.

“Hunter Bane,” I say, clearing my throat.

I seriously do not want to start a conversation with this dude right
now. If he goes to the club, that means he’s dangerous. I wonder how well he
knows Leafy.

“What do you want?” she snaps.

Good. I suppose that means they’re not friends.

“Look, I’m sorry about my friends. I don’t want to make things
worse, so I was wondering if you’d like to hang out for a while. You’re done
with classes for today, right? Let’s go grab some food,” the guy says.

Leafy’s eyes shift between him and me, and I shrug. “You should
come, too,” the guy adds, looking at me.

“What? I uh … no, I can’t do that.” God, no. The gang is coming way
too close for my liking.

“Sure you can. A friend of Autumn’s is a friend of mine,” he says.

I rummage in my pockets and to my relief I’ve got nothing on me.
Neither does Leafy.

“Sorry, I’m broke,” I say.

“Yeah … me too,” she says. “Rain check then?”

“I can pay, no problem,” the guy says.

Oh, to hell with that.

“Oh, no, I can’t take that,” she says.

“No way I’m letting a dude pay for my lunch,” I jest.

“Besides, I have work in about an hour or so. Don’t really have a
lot of time,” she says.

“Okay,” he says, sighing. “Well, I’ll see you around then. Let me
know if you want to do something, okay?”

“I will.” She smiles, but I can clearly tell she’s trying too hard
to make it look real.

Doesn’t matter. It’s time for me to get the fuck out of here before
this whole thing blows up in my face.

“Yeah, I really have to go,” I say, and I turn around and jog off.