“And secondly…” I smirk. “Fuck off.”
Classes drag. They’re only made slightly more bearable knowing that I've got economics at the end of the day and I'll hopefully have a chance to catch Mia alone afterward.
I turn up to class early in the hope she might have done the same thing, but I'm disappointed when all I find are the over-eager bookish types hovering around the classroom door. Spotting an empty bench so that I can see the students coming and going, I wait. The nerds eventually head inside once our professor arrives, probably to make sure they get prime position front seats.
There's two minutes to the start of class when I finally see her approaching, only she's not alone. She's once again being escorted by Cade fucking Kingsley.
I might have only spent a few minutes with her on Friday night and have limited knowledge of her from school, but she really doesn't seem to me like the kind of girl who'd be interested in an arrogant asshole like him.
They both look up as I stand from the bench and walk toward them. His hand tightens on her hip as I approach.
"Fancy seeing you two here," I mutter as we all come to a stop outside the classroom door.
"You seem to have forgotten your puppy dog," Cade remarks, making a show of looking around for Alex.
"And you don't seem to have lost your bullshit attitude."
Mia snorts a laugh at my comment but quickly tries to cover it up as a cough.
"I can take it from here. Mia," I gesture toward the door for her to go first.
"You need to stay well away from my girl, Danforth," Cade barks, taking a step forward and pushing Mia behind him as if she needs protecting from me.
"Or what, Kingston?"
His lips purse in anger as his shoulders tense and he sucks in a deep breath as if he's trying to keep himself under control.
"Don't test me." He steps right up to me, so close that our noses almost touch. "Or it won't just be your broken throwing arm you need to worry about."
My reaction falters. How the fuck does he know about that?
"Cade, that's enough. We're going to be late."
"You're with me. No one will care, babe," he purrs at Mia before he twists away from me and pulls her into his body.
"Cade, I need to get to class." She tries fighting him, but she's no match for his strength and only ends up pressed tighter to him.
"You know how much I love it when you fight back," he says, threading his fingers through her hair and slamming his lips down on hers. They're so close to me, and now blocking the door, that I have no real choice but to watch as his tongue pushes past her lips and invades her mouth.
I remember doing exactly that a few days ago, and it makes me want to rip his fucking tongue out of his mouth.
"Enjoy class, babe. I'll see you later."
"Great," she mutters, her lips curling as her palms push against his chest as if she wants him nowhere near her. The move confuses me even more.
She tears her eyes from his, glances at me, and then spins on her heels and marches into the classroom.
"I'm fucking watching you, Danforth. Keep your hands off what's mine,” he seethes.
"You might want to convince her that she actually wants you first."
Before he has a chance to respond, I march through the door and swing it closed, hoping that he is standing close enough that it smashes him in the nose.
Our professor stares at me as I make my way into the room and past the nerds at the front as he waits to start his class. The seat next to Mia is empty, aside from her purse, so when I get there, I knock it off and sit my ass down.
"This is taken,” she grits out.
"I don't see anyone else sitting here, do you?"
She mumbles something beneath her breath, but it rolls off me.
"What are you going to do?” I taunt. “Call your boyfriend to come and move me?"
"He's not my boyfriend," she seethes.
"Really? You might want to give him that memo, because he seems to think he owns your ass while you're—"
"Mr. Danforth, Miss Thompson, if you don't care to listen then you know where the door is," Professor Laken barks across the room.
Mia cuts me a seething look before sitting forward and pulling her notepad closer to begin taking notes.
I fucking knew she was a note taker.
Mia doesn’t look at me or even register my existence throughout the whole lecture. It drives me fucking insane, because with her so close, I have no clue what the hell Laken is talking about.
I don't know what it is about her, but unlike everyone else I've met in Gravestone, she calls to me, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let that go. I've felt like an outsider, like I don't belong here, from the second I followed my uncle into town all those months ago. I hated the place then, and things haven't really gotten any better.
The second Laken looks like he's bringing things to an end, Mia slams her notepad closed and stuffs it into her bag like she's about to run.
Before she has a chance to stand, I reach out and wrap my fingers around her forearm. "Not so fast."
"Let go, Bexley." Her big, hazel eyes plead with me.
"No, not until you've heard me out."
"Not interested. You need to stay away from me." She pulls her arm free.
My need to reach for her again is almost too strong to ignore, but I refuse to be like him, dragging her around like a ragdoll. Instead, I allow her to think I've let her go before quickly collecting up my books and following her out of the classroom.
I hang well back as she makes her way across campus. She must think she's lost me, because at no point does she look back to see if I'm following her. Instead, she
