Grey: You thought wrong xx–D.
“What’s wro—?” Jaimie begins to ask but looks over my shoulder and stops, clenching her jaw in anger. She shoots to her feet and storms over to the “couple” and begins screaming at Grey, but I can’t hear anything but a low hum, my mind gone fuzzy.
I try to stand too, but I can’t move. I am paralyzed, tears dotting my lower eyelashes. How can he do this to me? We were fine yesterday, but now he’s here with her after ignoring me all day. I guess I underestimated how truly evil she could be. But I know she isn’t the only culprit in the murder of Olivia Westerfield; Grey is her partner in crime.
He stands there looking smug and unbothered, bored really. Devoid of any and all emotion. But when his eyes flick over Jaimie’s shoulder, they lock on mine, and I swear I don’t see him anymore, but really the devil he has shown me time and time again.
His lips pull into a malicious smirk as he raises his hand and waves his fingers at me. He’s taunting me.
I have to get out of here. I can’t—I can’t—I can’t breathe.
I think I’m going to faint.
I jump to my feet and rush past the three, ignoring Diana’s mock laughter, Jaimie’s hand reaching out for me, and Grey’s smug expression.
I nearly slip and fall once I step outside. The rain pelts around me, instantly soaking my clothes so they stick to my skin. The hairs on the back of my neck rises from the chilly wind blowing all around me. I burst into tears, unable to hold them back any longer. Everything just comes crashing down on me until I am nothing but tears as I run aimlessly down the sidewalk.
How is it that this guy—this sick, twisted, and horrible guy—can make me feel so much like shit? How could I have bypassed the cruelty that lay beneath his façade? I should have listened to my mother because look where I am, crying in the rain and running without any thought but I told you so.
I once told myself that he would break my heart if I ever committed to being with him in any way that would go against my original plans while in college, and I almost listened to my better judgment and stayed focused, but he got inside my freaking head and made everything about him.
“Liv!” I am suddenly whirled around, facing a black wall. I almost scream when I get a whiff of a familiar scent that I once craved but now makes me sick in the stomach.
Grey.
“Get the fuck away from me!” I push away from him and almost slip onto the ground, but he grabs me before I can. I’d rather be on the ground bleeding than in his grasp. I shove him away with everything I have in me. “Leave me alone from now on! I want absolutely nothing to do with you!” I shout over the thunder clapping in the sky. I clench my jaw and turn away.
“Oh, stop being so fucking dramatic!” he yells before grabbing my wrists and pinning me to a brick wall. I scream on the top of my lungs. I do not want to be anywhere near him. I have never felt this pure rage before. It churns and builds and grows and demands to be unleashed onto him.
“Get away from me, Grey!” I shout, feeling my veins throb.
He slaps his hands on the wall behind my head. I jerk and yell in shock and fear. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Princess,” he whispers in my ear. I open my eyes and feel my heart squeeze.
I want his hands off of me and my hand on his cheek. I want to punch him and yell at him and tell him off, but all I can get out is: “You already have.”
His eyes grow hard, and I curl my fingers in his palms and feel him release his hands in pain. I stomp on his foot and push him away again and continue on down the road, not knowing where I am going but knowing that if I do not get away from him I will end up losing my mind more than I already have. I am already scared of myself right now.
I get three feet away before I’m turned around again, and this time I let out everything without holding back.
“What the fuck do you want from me, Grey? You tricked me, you won, you broke my heart—so what more could you possibly want from me? Do you want to see me cry, break down until I can’t physically move? I’m already crying, I already lost my mind, my heart—every fucking thing you could possibly want! I thought we could be so much more. I actually saw something between us, and I know you saw it too! But you’re too much of a fucking asshole to commit to something like that. I hope you’re happy with Diana, truly. Just—just leave me alone from now on, okay? I am done with you. I don’t have any more energy to give you another chance,” I scream, but my voice grows hoarse and shaky, low toward the end.
He looks at me with a hard expression, borderline no emotion.
“I got to you,” he says.
“No shit!” I snap, balling my hands at my sides. I want to punch him for leading me on only to break my heart, like I thought he would, but I put trust in him. It’s too bad he didn’t put any trust in us. “I thought—I thought you wanted me.” My voice breaks. I am aware of how pathetic I sound, but I might as well get some answers if this is the end.
“I’m a great actor,” he says with absolutely no emotion.
“You sure are,” I say in agreement. “You really deserve a round of applause for your performance. I don’t know why I couldn’t see it before. My mother was right about you. You did nothing but break me.” I don’t want this to be true. I want this—everything—to be a dream. “So what? Why exactly did you choose her over me?” I have already breached the lines of pride. I want the truth more than anything.
He shrugs with a snake-like smirk. “She gives great head and is a good fuck. No…a great fuck.”
I scoff and pretend his words didn’t just cut me deep. “So you just left me for her…is that why you left yesterday?”
He hums, looking into the sky like he’s contemplating the answer before he shifts his black eyes to me with a wicked grin. “Pretty much. Yeah.”
“How sadistic can you be? I was worried about you!” I yell at him with everything I have in me. What is wrong with him?
He shrugs casually and lets out a sigh. “It was fun playing with you; you really did put up quite the resistance…at first. After that…” He hisses, and I watch as his true form appears—a monster. “You became really easy, like putty in my hands.”
“Fuck you, Grey Wyler,” I spit with as much venom I can and spin on my heels. I cross my arms and don’t bother to control my sobs as the thunder ramps up and rivals my equally deafening heart.
“I would say same, but you still have yet to pop that cherry!” he calls after me, erupting into cackling laughter that makes me jump with a booming sob that leaves me choking on my breath.
Chapter Forty-Three
The weekend was spent with my mother ignoring me and my heart recovering from the last time I saw…him. But I don’t think it ever can, not fully at least. While I was at home, I couldn’t stop thinking of how much I have changed since arriving at Penn State. I was so focused on my education, so wound up and sheltered in this ridiculously large house.
But once I moved to university, I changed, and for the worst. I’ve been going to parties, getting drunk, and doing unholy things with a guy who only ended up breaking my heart. I should have listened to my mother. She’s never wrong. But I—he got in my head, and he twisted who I was and turned me into a paranoid, pathetic girl who got too caught up with a toxic man.
I was supposed to celebrate my father’s forty-sixth birthday, but my mother made it near impossible with her icy glares and her little snippy remarks. I wish she could have toned down her obvious disappointment in me so we could celebrate and actually be there for Father. But she couldn’t, not when her only daughter—her bright daughter—defies her once in her life.
I still can’t believe I disobeyed her. I’ve always listened to her and did as she commanded, and I still will be studying extra hard and focusing on school, but not as far as letting her dictate who I can’t be friends with.
However, I wasn’t helping, either, with my mind only able to think of that horrid guy. I was so wrapped up in everything back at the university that I ended u
p buying my father an expensive collection of golf clubs he probably already owns, the day after since my mother just had to find the perfect dress for me to wear at the extravagant dinner just for us three. Can’t say I didn’t expect it, though. She has been the type of woman who holds a grudge for as long as the person who dares go against her doesn’t do what she tells them. She once ignored my father for a whole year when he denied her a beach house in Cozumel, Mexico, until he finally let up and granted her one in Honolulu, Hawaii.
At least I got to spend time with Louise and her daughter, Charlotte, a sweet girl just like her mother. I didn’t know how much I truly missed Louise until she greeted me at the door. To say I nearly tackled her to the ground with a hug that made her wheeze but laugh all the same would be a terrible understatement.
I’ve missed our time spent together watching Master Chef marathons, her teaching me how to bake banana bread, her helping me with my homework, and so much more. She was like a mother to me when mine was too busy working. And it wasn’t like my mother had to work; our family is incredibly wealthy. She pushed herself to work so she wouldn’t be there for me when I needed her, only when she wanted to control me.
I let out a lengthy sigh as I stroll through campus. Mason had to meet with his Economics professor this morning about his grades, so instead of sitting and drinking our coffees in the coffee shop as we usually do, I’m meeting him at his classroom. He and I, thankfully, talked and made up over our little spat over the devil alternatively named Grey while I was at my parents’ house. So, to make things right between us, I decided to go out of my way to get our coffees and his favorite blueberry muffin and catch up with him. I intend to relive my mother’s cruelty toward me and how much I got to catch up with Louise with him.
“Yo, watch out!” a male voice calls out in warning.
I look up from my phone and come face to face with a football. I let out a gasp and feel my eyes widen. Before I can even react or feel the ball hit me square in the face, I am yanked to the side. The coffees smash to the ground, spilling out their dark contents onto the concrete. My heart is beating out of my chest in shock.
I shift my eyes up and arch my eyebrows at the sight of a tall guy, his face shady and masked by the sun peeking through his chestnut hair. I squint my eyes, and he steps back. I nearly gasp at his blinding yet attractive features.
Enriched cerulean eyes, straight-edge jawline, and a slight stubble. A large dimple creases into his slightly tan left cheek when he grins. His lips, blossom pink and round, are moving, but I can’t hear a word. What is he saying?
“You okay there?” He touches my arm, and I snap out of my thoughts and nod with a small smile.
“Yes, sorry. You were saying something?” I feel my cheeks bloom with heat. How embarrassing can this get? What? I rid my mind of a certain someone, and all of a sudden, I become impaired in front of guys? I was that way before, but still…
He laughs and nods. “Yeah, just to watch out. You really could have gotten hurt there. And that I’m sorry about your coffee,” he says, glancing at the stream of caffeine making its way down the path.
I wave at him dismissively. “That’s okay, it wasn’t your fault. I’m just glad you saved me there. I can only imagine the migraine I’d be having right now if you weren’t here.” I nervously laugh. I watch as he takes a subtle step forward.
“Whoever you were texting must be pretty important if you almost ate that football,” he jokes.
I can’t help but laugh and scratch the back of head. “Just a friend.”
He likes this answer because he raises his brows and tugs his lips into a smile. “A friend, huh? There a boy in front of that…friend?”
I’m fully aware he’s flirting with me, but I don’t know how to reply without going into deep thought. I can’t help but wonder if he’s manipulative and hurtful like Grey. I pray this mentality of comparing him with other guys doesn’t last long. I want to be able to move on from his toxic residue. I will not let that guy stand in my way of a normal life without worrying about the next heartbreaker or I’ll be alone my entire life.
“No, there isn’t,” I tell him, a smile working its way to my face.
His face brightens. “Lovely to know.” He thrusts a hand out without moving his deep blue eyes from my own. “Sam, Sam Wilson.”
I take his hand and hold his gaze. “Olivia Westerfield.”
“Mind if I call you Liv?” he asks, with a squint of his eyes.
I’m about to tell him yes when I think…usually I reserve that nickname for people who mean something to me. But out of the two people I allow to call me that, Grey has hurt me in more ways than I could ever comprehend, so what point is there to relinquish the name if it means that “special person” will just screw me over without batting an eye?
“No, I don’t mind at all.” I shake my head and beam up at him.
He’s opening his mouth to reply when a blur of black passes by and he’s suddenly groaning but laughing against the tree behind him. I blink a few times to make sure I’m seeing this right. Grey is pinning Sam to a low oak tree and hissing words at him I can’t even hear right since they’re a few feet away from me.
My heart stumbles in shock and anticipation at the sight of Grey. His scent wafts into the air from his quick movements, but I yank myself from the bubble of idiocy he seems to conjure inside me when he’s near, and I think of the poor guy he has held up for no reason.
“Grey! Let him go!” I run over to the two and yank on Grey’s arm. But he doesn’t even budge, as if I’m an annoying gnat or something.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Grey curls his fists around the collar of Sam’s shirt and jerks him forward. His eyes are on fire, and he grinds his teeth together. “Speak, or I will knock your teeth down your fucking throat.” Why is he being like this?
“Don’t say anything, Sam,” I tell him, my voice carrying a sharp edge as I glare at Grey, my apparent shadow of misery. I bet he doesn’t even know Sam, but since he saw me speaking to another guy, he lost his mind.
“I got this, baby girl,” Sam says, chuckling. So he does know Grey…they must be familiar enough that Grey’s aggressiveness doesn’t scare him. And, wait…baby girl? Yuck. It isn’t any better than princess, I’ll tell you that.
Grey snaps and pounds Sam’s back against the tree and warns in a low voice, “Call her that one more time, I fucking dare you.” He crooks his lips into a nasty snarl and reiterates, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Can’t a guy visit his buddy at college?” Sam teases, raising his hands.
“We are not buddies, and neither is she.” Grey nods blindly at me. “She’s off limits. That means no talking to her, got it?”
“Excuse me, you asshole!” I snap and slap Grey’s shoulder. He and Sam both look at me with shocked expressions. “Yeah, I curse now. A fantastic side effect of you. You can’t just grab people and throw them against trees and then demand they can’t talk to me. Let go of him…now, Grey!”
His nose flares, and he shakes his head. “Stay out of this, Princess.”
“No,” I say in defiance and roll my eyes. “And quit calling me that.”
He whips his head around, his face hard as stone, eyes dark as night. I raise an eyebrow, and he reluctantly lets his fingers relax. Sam straightens himself and grins at the brooding boy.
“Looks like someone’s finally got the pit-bull under control,” Sam jokes, making me frown and cross my arms.
“I suggest you fuck off before my mercy expires,” Grey says through gritted teeth.
Sam’s jaw rocks, but he maintains his bright smile and flashes me a smirk. “I’ll see you around, baby girl.” I merely raise my eyebrows and watch as he looks between us, gives off a sigh, and then saunters away. I watch him before turning to Grey and jabbing my finger at his chest.
He looks annoyed, but I should be the annoyed one here. He can’t just butt into my life like that. He doesn’t mean anything to me.
Not anymore. I made that frightfully clear the last time we saw each other, and so did he. So why he is pushing guys against trees and claiming me like I’m a piece of land is beyond me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask with my eyes narrowed, trying to look intimidating. But it doesn’t work because he scoffs in return and smacks my hand away. I hold my glare into his dark eyes to no avail.
“I think I’m saving you from someone you shouldn’t be messing around with,” he says in a bored tone.
“Too bad you didn’t save me from you then, isn’t it?”
He doesn’t reply immediately. “Listen, he’s a bad guy. You should stay away from him.”
“And so are you, and I’d like it if you stayed away from me.” I wrench my arm from his tight grasp and rub the reddening skin. Already scarring me some more, I see. “I thought we agreed you leave me the hell alone.” I grit my teeth to keep from screaming my lungs out at him.
“We never agreed to any such a thing,” he says with a cocky glint to his eyes as he displays his signature smirk. It once made butterflies grow in my stomach and made the world stop, but now I recognize the vicious nature behind it, and it makes me sick to my stomach.
“You may not have, but I did—stay far away from me, Grey. I’m not kidding.” He drops his smile, and his eyes lose that obnoxious glint they previously held. I back away from him and speed walk toward the building, my heart beating recklessly hard against my chest.
***
I’m working on my program admission when the door to the room pushes open and I hear screaming. Panicked, I look up from my notebook and unplug my headphones. I almost plug them back in because of the shrill scream Jaimie lets out.
“What is wrong with you?” I shout over her scream.
“I got this sexy bitch before some washed-out girl could,” she exclaims, swinging her hips side to side as she kicks the door closed behind her using the heel of her bootie. “It wouldn’t have fit her anyway.” She falls onto Jaimie’s bed, kicking the air while swinging a shopping bag back and forth.
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