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A large, tanned hand covers mine, and I still. His fingers, steady over mine, push the journal back into place. “You know what I think, Poppy?”
He's On to you poppy dearest
ear. His voice is soft – almost seductive. I don’t dare answer. “I think you’re lying to me.”
I watch him warily, and it’s only when he’s out of arm's reach that I ask in disbelief, “You’re not going to kill me?”
“Not right now. You’ve just become the most interesting thing on campus, Poppy Davis.”
“And you’ll bring a sign in support of me?” I stare at him. “You want me to make a sign?” The shit-eating grin on his face proves that he’s enjoying every moment of this.
Lol!
I could spend hours on the veins that curl down his forearms or the shadows that indent his abs, I could – “See something you like?”
Hehehe
As if he can sense he’s the subject of conversation, Adrian twists toward our bleachers and searches the crowd.
his gaze jumps right over her and to – Oh. He’s looking at me.
“Does everything have to turn into an ultimatum with you?” “If it gets me what I want,” he says and takes a step forward. “You’d rather manipulate the situation than ask nicely.” “Manipulate. Convince. Does it really matter if the end result is the same?” Another step forward. “And I did ask nicely.”
Oh adrian
He already knows I don’t care about Cam – it doesn’t matter how many times I say it. There’s something else he wants to hear. “Adrian,” I say, and my voice is steadier than I expect it to be. “I wasn’t watching Cam or anyone else. I was watching you. The whole time I was there, I was watching you. You were amazing. You were the one I couldn’t look away from.”
weak.” He bends even closer to scroll the page, and I take a sharp inhale of his fresh, woodsy cologne. Does he even realize what he’s doing to me?
Poppy is falling
own, should not be a novel revelation. But he’s not looking – he’s looking, eyes shamelessly raking over me from head to toe,
It’s too intense.
“You have leverage over me. I have leverage over you. It’s –” “Mutually assured destruction,” he cuts in, eyes still twinkling
want to go to the dance,” I hiss quietly. “It’s not about you. It’s not about him. It’s about me wanting to go to a silly high school dance with a cute boy and take pictures and embarrass myself on the dance floor. It has nothing to do with you.”
The anger vanishes from his face. “Then go with me.”
“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.”
Oh my sweet adrian
I take a sharp inhale as his gaze flits over the dusting of freckles on my nose and down to my mouth, his meaning clear: our fucked up friendship has intoxicated him as much as it’s intoxicated me.
“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.”
And I realized you were right. I haven’t seen you very clearly, but I do now. I see you – us – for what we are.”
“I like you, sweetheart. I like you a lot. We’re not friends. We’re going to be more than that.”
My world is muted – and the things I do feel are easy enough to ignore. But around you, everything is…amplified.”
“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.”
“Just what I’ve always wanted,” I reply sarcastically. “A relationship built on a foundation of blackmail and secrets.”
Lol!
“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.
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’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’m not the one that has to quit smoking. So, when I catch Rick’s gaze, I can’t help but wink. Have fun with those nicotine withdrawals. His eyes widen to a hilarious degree. “You –” “Sweetheart.”
Heheheeee
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.
Does he mean… And, as if he can read the half-formed thought in my head, he answers it with a kiss to my jaw. “I told you. I want it all.”
then quietly asks a question I’m not expecting – but probably should’ve. “Have you ever done this before?" I hold my breath. “No, I haven't.
“Have you?” My heart clenches in anticipation for the ‘yes.’
“No,” he says. “I haven’t.” I’m barely able to keep my jaw attached to the rest of my
“You’re mine,” he affirms. “There’s no going back – not anymore. This is forever.
“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.” “Never,” I rasp.
“It’s more. It’s not some vague, fleeting emotion.
You’ve consumed me. You’ve crawled into my brain and infected every inch of it. You’ve turned me into a man obsessed. What I have for you…”
“It’s not love, it's l...
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“It’s not patient. It’s not always kind. It’s not selfless. It’s as dark ...
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