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A snake in the grass is still a snake in the grass no matter how pretty its scales are.
“Because I see you now,” he breathes so quietly I know I’m the only one who hears. “So say yes or I’ll make a scene so bad this entire room will be begging for your expulsion before the day’s over.”
“I see how it’s supposed to be,” he murmurs, staring down at me like I’m an equation he’s finally solved. “I’ve been feeling odd things. You’ve been making me feel odd things.”
“I was going to kill you, you know,” he says,
“I kept waiting for the interest to die out. I kept waiting to tire of you, but the time we spent together over break…”
“I assumed my growing interest was because I’d never had a friend before,” he confesses. “It wasn’t until this morning that I realized I’d misread our situation entirely.” My forehead creases. “What do you mean?” “It was that pathetic display at your locker.” His face suddenly darkens, every ounce of softness disappearing. “You pulled out that pitiful little rose, and you had all this stunned excitement on your face. For him. For someone else.”
“I like you, sweetheart. I like you a lot. We’re not friends. We’re going to be more than that.”
There’s a long beat of silence that stretches between us. And then I laugh.
“I just don’t think you’re thinking very clearly.” He doesn’t look the least bit surprised by my outburst as he takes one more step toward me, close enough that I have to crane my neck upwards to make eye contact. “Well, you’re right on one account. I’m not thinking very clearly,” he huffs, his voice thick with frustration. “Which is the problem. I’m always thinking clearly. I don’t worry. I don’t get emotional. I am always in control. Of everything. Except when it comes to you. You do this to me.”
“Please,” he cuts me off sharply. “This morning, when you looked at him, it took every ounce of my self-control to avoid walking over to Freddy Rook and bashing his skull in till he was no longer worth looking at. You do this to me.”
“I have no intention of killing you,” he says with an eye-roll.
His mouth curls up, no shame or guilt to be found. “Well, I never said I was a saint. Or above blackmail. You should get used to it.” “Should I?” “Yes.” There’s no room for argument in his tone. “You’re mine now.” “Just what I’ve always wanted,” I reply sarcastically. “A relationship built on a foundation of blackmail and secrets.” He shrugs, his voice dropping to a murmur. “Well, I think you’ll find there are a lot of benefits to being mine, too.”
“I like dressing you up like this.” He catches a caterer who’s wading through the sea of red dresses and black suits and plucks two long stem glasses off the tray. “What? Like a doll?” I inspect the glass of copper-colored liquid he hands me. “Precisely.” He takes a swig of what I assume is some sort of sparkling cider, eyes gleaming. “A pretty little doll that I get to show off…and only I get to touch.”
“Poppy!” Freddy calls. “I forgot to tell you. You look gorgeous tonight!” I don’t even have time to open my mouth before Adrian whirls around, his fist colliding with Freddy’s face in a sickening crunch.
“You’re right, sweetheart. I am a control-freak. I’m an Ellis – it might as well be built into my DNA. I’ve got a stubborn streak a mile long and I never learned to share. What belongs to me –” He hooks a finger under my chin. “ – belongs to me. If you think I’m going to entertain someone else even thinking they might have a chance with you, you must not have been paying very close attention tonight.”
“You can choose to keep Freddy around. You can even choose to pursue him romantically if you wish. I just don’t think you’ll like the outcome of those particular choices.”
“You’re a monster,” I whisper. He just blinks at me – unfazed. “You knew that already,” he says quietly and strokes the mark he left on my neck. “But I’m a monster infatuated.”
“I can’t feed you a line. I can’t curate a version of myself that you’ll respond to because you already know exactly who I am. It’s why I’m so drawn to you. “And now I don’t know what to do with all these…” He shakes his head. “Feelings. You say that I’m standing on solid ground, but you’ve stolen every bit of it right out from underneath me. You have a hold on me that nobody ever has.
His voice drops to a melodic murmur that slips beneath my skin. “I quite like your darkness.”
“Look at you,” he hums. “You’re such a good girl for me.”
“It doesn’t matter if you change your mind,” he groans. “It doesn’t matter if you wake up one day and decide you hate me. I’ll never let you go.” His pace quickens, but his strokes have begun to get sloppy. “I don’t care what I have to do. Who I have to kill. I’ll break you into tiny pieces and rebuild you myself if it means I get to keep you. You’re never leaving me, sweetheart.”
