Page 84 of Vicious Knight
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is.” I reach out to touch her face but she backs away.
“I don’t want you to touch me.”
“And yet, if I chose to fuck you right here in front of everyone, you’d let me.”
She balls her hands at her sides and glares at me. “You’re sick.”
“Maybe. But at least I get to be who I am…” I lean close to her ear. “Annika.”
She flinches at the name, which brings the reminder of my power over her.
“I never told you I like that name.” I lick the shell of her ear. “Maybe more than Ivy, but Ivy seems more fitting for us. All ivies have thorns, don’t they?”
“Why are you so mean?”
“I’m different. That doesn't mean I’m mean. Your new friend there, on the other hand, is mean.” I motion back to the café as if we can still see Aiden, and I hold up my hand so she can see the scar the asshole left me. “I haven’t cut him yet but look what he did to me.”
She takes in the scar then looks back at me. “Maybe you deserved it.”
I smile back at her. She’s really growing some balls. “Maybe. But guess what?”
“What?”
“You’re not going on that trip on Friday.”
Her eyes snap wide and her lips part. “You can’t tell me not to go. It’s just a trip.”
“Didn’t I just hear Aiden invite you back to his room for wine? Do you really think that’s all he has planned for you? You’re not going.”
“You are unbelievable. This is so unfair. I’ve been looking forward to that trip for weeks.
“I don’t care. You’re not going.”
“Fuck you, Thorne. Fuck you.”
I allow her to walk away. She needs to blow off steam. I do, too.
Ivy was my distraction, but now she hates me more than ever.
Chapter 19
Ivy
“How have things been?” Eilish asks, resting her hands on her desk.
We’re sitting opposite each other in her office. The room is a quaint little space, with high-end décor like the rest of the sorority house, and even looks like a therapist's office except for the life-size poster of Aerosmith on the door. That belongs to Eilish.
While I think of how to answer her question, I stare at her perfectly manicured fingernails and get lost in the electric purple color. It’s more vibrant than her lilac hair, but the shades complement each other.
“I’ve been okay.” I’ve never had to lie so much in my life. Definitely not for normal, common-place things like how I’m genuinely feeling.
But I could never tell anyone the truth. At the same time I entertain the words in my mind with the answer I really want to give her:
Life is actually fucked up, Eilish, and I really want to go home. I attracted the attention of a monster who harassed me to no end during the first few weeks of college, then he discovered my darkest secret and decided to blackmail me.
He went apeshit when he saw me talking to another guy and I practically, foolishly, oh-so stupidly asked him why he hadn’t fucked me yet. Much to his satisfaction.