Boys Who Hunt (Spine Ridge University)

by Clarissa Wild

Nothing is more priceless than the smug faces of rich boys who think they’re untouchable … just before I’ve robbed them.

The one on the left—a tall, muscular guy with a piercing in his lip and brow and tattoos all over—casually leans back into the couch as he takes a whiff of his cigarette right through the mask, his painted brown, medium-length hair loosely tucked into a bun, along with those black ear tunnels giving away who he is—Heath Preston, a notorious heartbreaker of Spine Ridge University, and the eldest of the three.

The one on the right, with his lanky but muscular frame and dark-brown hair swooping above his mask has a girl on his lap who’s suckling on his knife earring, but his head is tilted over the couch and his eyes are fixated on Heath as he bites his lip. Max Fletcher is the youngest of the boys, an eternal dreamer, and definitely the odd one in the crowd.

But the one that really makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up is the one in the middle. The shortest of the three, but the one...

She’s gorgeous and smart and so very cunning. How does he not immediately fall in love?

God, why am I such an idiot when it comes to girls? I always know what to say to the guys, but girls? Girls scare me.

“I told you I’m not like them,” I say. “Rob me until I’m as poor as dirt, I don’t care. As long as you leave my heart intact …” Her eyes flicker with interest. “If you stole my heart, I’d have nothing left to give to you.” I suck in a breath when she squeezes my dick. “I couldn’t bear it.”

“Fuck, I love your hands. I love your lips. I love your tits, your hips, your ass. I love your back talk. I love how you hold nothing back, how you fight back. I love everything about you.”

“I have fallen in love with you. And I came to find you because I wanted to give these to you because I wanted to apologize.” He swallows, and it feels like my lungs cannot drag in the air I so desperately need. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. I’m sorry for betraying you. I’m sorry for taking part in their games. For making you confused, for—” I slap him. It only registers with me the moment a red mark appears on his face. But then he leans in and pecks me on the top lip so gently it melts my heart. “Being obsessed. For making you feel something you don’t want to feel. For falling deeply, madly in love with you.”

“Forgiveness only happens when it’s earned. So earn it.”

“Good, because you’ve stolen my tainted heart, little thief. And you’d better take good care of it while I love you with every inch of my obscene fucking soul.”