Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
"Is a dead man."
I bite back a smile. "He is a dickhead," I admit. "He is a jackass and super into himself. Grant is always trying to bulk up," I tell him. "Who needs all those muscles? I feel like it gets to a point of overkill."
"Oh, there'll be overkill." Eros's face is dead-ass serious.
"If you want to get a person like Grant, you have to get at their ego, so I started slipping into the locker room and replacing his uniform polo with larger ones so he'd think he was shrinking and not bulking." Eros's lips twitch. "It was silly and petty, but it made me feel good. I could tell it irked him. I did it three times and made sure to make comments to him asking if he'd lost weight."
"How'd he take that?"
"He'd get all pissy and then was convinced I put a curse on him." I roll my eyes. The curse must not have bothered him much because he’s still a dick.
"A curse?"
"Some think I'm a witch. I might lean into it a bit more than I should. It makes people steer clear of me, and I’m all about that. I want to give off that vibe.” I have taught myself to keep people at arm's length. It’s best for them that way.
"Wouldn't make me steer clear of you.”
“I don’t think there is anything that would do that.” Eros isn’t letting me go. If I wanted to be free of him, he'd have to be six feet under. That’s such a morbid thought, but it turns me on. I might not be right in the head myself.
“It’s good you’ve come to terms with this.” Again, his expression gives nothing away, but I know he’s dead serious. I lift up to press my mouth to his. Eros quickly dips in. When things start to get heated, the alarm on the new phone Eros got for me starts to go off. I break this kiss.
“I need to get ready.”
“Fine.” He huffs, rolling off of me. I sit up as he leans against the headboard, watching me.
“You really don’t want me to go to school, do you?” Why am I starting to have guilt over it now? I thought he was coming around to it when he made sure I’d have everything I needed to do so.
“It might be good for me.” His jaw clenches. Not sure his teeth would agree if he keeps clenching them.
“Why do you say that?” I ask, getting up from the bed. He’s now stretched out across it with his hands behind his head, his ankles crossed, appearing relaxed, but I know he’s not.
“I can’t keep you under lock and key?”
I lift a brow. “Was that a question or statement?”
“Whichever pleases you more.” I snort a laugh, heading into the closet to get dressed.
Eros and I had hung up all the stuff he’d gotten from my condo which did include my extra school uniforms. While we put everything away, Eros filled me in a little more on how things work around here.
Eros told me his parents had built this place years back on the Marino estate. They made sure each room was a suite so that one day when him and his siblings had families, they’d feel welcome to still stay here for a holiday or if the occasion called for it. For a family that people think is ruthless, it’s clear they aren’t that way to each other.
“Hellcat,” Eros says as I exit the closet, running a hand down his face.
“What?” I glance down at myself. I’m wearing my mandatory white polo and pleated skirt. I’m not big on having bare legs all day. The school can have a chill to it at times, so I wear black pantyhose that have a fishnet pattern with my boots. “When we met, I was wearing this,” I remind him.
“I know. I know.” I roll my eyes at him and head into the bathroom to finish getting ready. I only do light makeup—well, light for me—eyeliner with a dark smoky eye paired with a deep purple tinted lip stain before pinning part of my hair to one side.
When I step back out, I expect another remark about my style, and I’m not wrong. Eros got dressed while I was in the bathroom. He makes his way over to me. His arm wraps around my waist, and he lifts me easily off my feet to bring me eye level with him.
“How do you always manage to be so beautiful?” Beautiful sounds so soft and far beyond pretty. It’s not really a word I would have thought anyone would ever think when they saw me. Eros, however, sees me in ways I can’t begin to understand or even see myself.
“You’re not so bad yourself, handsome.” I rest my hands on his shoulders. “You ever think you’d be giving a girl pretty words, Romeo?”