“How jealous you are,” he murmurs as he brings his hands around me, his body wrapped around mine. “First Blythe and now Sasha.”
“I don’t care enough to be jealous, Tristan.”
He squeezes me gently. “I think you’re a pretty little liar, Princess, and time will tell.”
I tilt my head back softly, knocking my helmet against his. “Keep dreaming. Just because you fed me and let me ride your bike, it doesn’t mean I’m yours.”
“You sure about that?” he asks, his voice teasing as one of his hands slides up my ribs, pausing just below my breast.
“Move that hand any further up and I’ll break your fucking fingers,” I growl.
“I love it when you talk dirty,” he laughs softly, and I can feel the movements against my back, but his hand stays where it is. “If we don’t go now, you’ll be late for your Government class.”
We pull up to the school, getting a few glances, but Tristan ignores them as he shrugs off my backpack and hands it to me.
“Here,” he says with a grin as our fingers brush. I snatch back my hand and give him a look.
“Thanks.” Handing him the helmet and the keys, I step back. He’d been in my space way too much today already. I didn’t want him to think we were friends or something. “And by the way, you’re not eating with me tonight.”
He shrugs. “I know. I have some place I want to be anyway. I just said it to get him off my back.”
Nodding, I bite my tongue and resist the urge to ask if he’ll be with Blip because that’s none of my business. I don’t care what he does.
He stands in front of me, helmet in his hand before saying, “Do you want me to walk you to class or are you just going to stand there?”
I blink slowly. I hadn’t realized I was waiting for him until his words pulled me out of my daze. “I’m going. But why aren’t you?”
“I told you, I have someplace to be.” He smiles and turns away, climbing back on the bike.
“Oh.” I ignore the small flicker of disappointment, blowing it out like a birthday candle.
Giving me a mock salute, he starts up the engine. “See you later, Princess.”
I flip him off and ignore the wink he gives me before speeding off. The bell rings out across the campus, and glancing down at my watch, I realize he’s right. I’m going to be late for class if I don’t move like my ass is on fire.
Out of breath, I dump my bag on the floor and rest my head on the desk for a second. I barely made it here, but luckily, it seems Mrs. Krankle is running late. Inhaling slowly, I almost jump out of my skin when Serena lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, what happened to you during the study period?” Her voice sounds strained, like something is off. I look at her carefully, her brown eyes are narrowed slightly as she watches me in return.
“I wasn’t feeling well, I needed a break,” I explain softly.
“With Tristan Radcliffe?”
“Huh?” I don’t like the accusatory tone of her words, as if I’d been caught doing something wrong. Huffing, she pulls out her phone and shows me some pictures of me on Tristan’s bike, panties almost on show. Then there’s an image of us talking and one where he’s handing me my bag back. We look friendly, more than friendly in fact, as he smiles at me.
“Are you dating?”
“It’s not like that.” I frown as I push her phone away. There’s a feeling of unease settling in my stomach, probably from eating too much food earlier after starving myself, but it’s making me feel uncomfortable.
“That’s what it looks like, Elena.” She slides into her seat and taps her pen against her notebook disapprovingly as she stares straight ahead.
I straighten my shoulders a little, why did it feel like I was on trial here? “I was feeling sick, so he took me to grab some food. That’s all.” I explain it slowly, not that it was any of her business.
Her mouth makes a strange twitching motion as she clicks her tongue. “You may want to warn your parents, they might not like this with your dad’s campaign starting soon.”
Mrs. Krankle enters, flustered and muttering apologies as she places her textbooks down on the desk, cutting off my response. Serena doesn’t understand, my parents won’t be angry, they’ll be happy. They’ll start organizing my bachelorette party and registering for gifts. I wanted to wait until after college to get married, but that wasn’t the agreement. I clench my fists as I recall the conversation I’d had with my father about it at the beginning of the school year. We’d been having dinner, my parents and I, as we discussed what my father had planned for the upcoming year. He liked to make sure we were all on the same page, that way we could always present a ‘united front’ to the town. He hadn’t even paused when he told me that I’d be married at the end of the year. That college would be unlikely. He stole my future without even blinking.
“Can’t this wait until I finish my studies?” I drop my fork, my appetite gone with my father’s words. I was actually going to have to marry Tristan Radcliffe. I had no choice. And I could almost live with that, except I would have to give up everything.
My father sounds bored as he cuts into the steak our chef has prepared. It oozes blood, and I watch wordlessly as he brings it to his mouth and chews it slowly before answering. “It’s up to your husband if you even go to college, Elena.”
My mouth falls open
