Little Devil

by Bethany Winters

She belongs in a place like this the same way sharks belong in the ocean – that much is clear – but she also looks like she’d rather be a million miles away. Bored. Happy but not happy. Here but not here.

The way he looks screams troubled loner boy, but the way he moves and handles himself screams fuck me sideways.

I dare you to speak your words, Jordyn James.

“I spoke my words,”

“I don’t want a princess,” I tell her, shamelessly moving my eyes over her sexy little outfit. “That little devil inside you? I wanna play with her.”

“You’re perfect just the way you are, Jordyn. Don’t let any fucker tell you different.”

“I dare you to swim with me.”

I just hope she doesn’t rip my heart out and take it with her when she decides she’s done with me.

“I like anything with blood or sex. Or both. Same goes for books.”

Not mine, not mine, not mine. But fuck, he feels like mine.

It was entertaining at first because she’s so fucking pretty but now I’m getting agitated, not so patiently waiting for her to finish so I can lure her into a dark corner, pin her back against a bookshelf and drop to my knees for her.

I want more. So much fucking more.

No one’s ever taken an interest in me the way he does and I don’t know whether to love it or hate it.

He’s kissing me like he wants to keep me. And goddamn him, I think I want that, too.

I’m so fucking high. She’s the best drug I’ve ever had and I’m officially addicted, out of control and desperate not to lose my fix.

I accidentally stumbled upon the girl I want for life at eighteen years old and I’m fucking keeping her. Indefinitely.

It makes me fucking giddy to know she trusts me over them, to know she chooses me over them. It makes me hers.

“It’s your take on life,”

“The way you’re just you without apologizing for it. The way you put yourself first and take what you want. The way you have fun. I wish I had the balls to be more like you.”

“All that matters is that you like yourself.”

“What am I supposed to be?” “Just be you,” he says simply. “Irresponsible and reckless and fuckin’ stupid, like always.”

“I dare you.”

“Mine.”

I want you, Jordyn James. Even when you’re not looking, you’re all I want.”

“And if I dared you to kiss another girl?” “I’d lose the game,”

“Dare me, then,” he challenges, wrapping both arms around my waist to rest his forehead on mine. “You wanna win, right? Dare me to go kiss someone else and I’ll fucking show you how much you mean to me.”

“Xan,” I whisper, hesitating a second before I decide to tell him. “I think I’m falling for you.” A light laugh leaves him and he smiles against my lips, still moving with me to the beat of the music. “Baby, I’ve already fallen.”

“We can do whatever the fuck we want, and if you think I won’t fuck you right here against this wall in the middle of this stupid party to stake my claim, you’re dead fucking wrong.”

“Not a fucking chance,” I whisper. “You can’t just break up with me whenever you feel like it.” “Why the hell not?” “Because you’re mine and I’m yours. Because I love you and you love me. It’s that fucking simple.”

“I love you, Jordyn James,” I tell her again, slower this time. “Whether you like it or not, I love you and I’m not letting you go. Not today. Not ever.”

“Not this time, baby. If you’re doing this, do it because you want to. Do it because you want me.”

“I do want you,” she says without hesitation. “It’s always gonna be you, new boy.”

“I dare you to love me forever.”