Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
But I get the feeling she might be just as vindictive, if not more. And that alone makes it worth all of my time to ruin this perfect day.
Lana
I check my phone to see what and where my next class is after my break, but the second I walk past the biggest tree on campus, I shriek as something falls out of the branches.
An actual fucking dude.
Dangling upside down.
With an apple in his hand.
And it’s not just any guy … it’s Milo.
“What the f—”
“Hi, Lana!” he says with a cheerful smile.
I’m too shocked to even take another step. How the fuck is he even here right now?
“Headed somewhere?” he asks like it’s totally normal to hang from a tree. Upside down.
Talking to me.
The girl he and his friends used in a dark alley and left all alone to deal with the mess.
Rage bubbles up to the surface, and I follow my instinct.
PUNCH!
Right in the fucking face.
His eyes roll into the back of his head, and he tumbles out of the tree while I step back to avoid any damage to my expensive Manolo Blahnik shoes. With a loud groan, he falls onto the grass all crooked and fucked up, but I guess he’s still alive, considering he’s still making sounds.
Too bad.
“Fuck …”
The apple rolls across the ground in front of me, and I kick it away. “Serves you right,” I retort, folding my arms.
“God, that felt good.”
I frown.
What is up with him?
“Are you insane?”
“Maybe. Do you like insane guys?” he muses as he scrambles up from the ground, patting himself down. “Because if so, I’m as crazy as they come.”
I roll my eyes and waltz right past him. “Whatever.”
“Hey, wait up!” he yells.
“No, thanks,” I reply, keeping my head held high while I continue to strut.
But he keeps following me around, to the point that it gets me so fucking pissed I punch him in the face again when he’s right behind me.
He groans, but it swiftly turns into a high-pitched moan as he clutches his bloodied nose.
“You made me bleed.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t keep following me around then,” I retort. I fish my small knife from my pocket and point it at his stomach real close-up so no one can see. “I can make you bleed a whole lot more right now if you don’t walk away.”
“Oohh …” He practically giggles and presses his body farther into the blade. “Don’t tempt me, please.”
My brows furrow, and I just stare at him, utterly confused by his reactions to my violent nature. He should be scared, mad, angry, hell, maybe even upset, yet he’s the opposite.
I push the knife farther into his stomach and watch him hold his breath.
“For you, I’ll happily bleed,” he murmurs.
“Is that your way of apologizing for what you and your fucked-up buddies did?”
“I’m not sorry,” he says. “But I am sorry you hated it when I loved it … so fucking much.”
“You’re sick,” I hiss.
“I’m not the only one.”
The sparkle in his eyes makes it hard to look away.
What does he mean with that?
“Are you insinuating—”
When I attempt to punch him again, he catches my fist midair, and a wicked smile forms on his lips. “Yes. You like to cause pain.”
I gasp, too flabbergasted to speak. In a rush, he suddenly pushes me all the way to the wall of the school building, pinning me to it.
“Don’t act so surprised. You already knew how sadistic you were. You just never thought others would find out.”
“No, I’m not. I don’t like—”
“Not the mental pain.” He grabs my hand and puts it against his reddened cheek. “Physical pain.”
I slap him again, but even my second hand is caught midair, and now I’m truly trapped between him and the wall.
“You stopped me again. Why didn’t you stop me earlier?”
The grin on his face only becomes bigger. “Just because I can doesn’t mean I want to.” He leans in so close I can feel his breath on my skin as his hand slowly lowers from my wrist to my face. “Now are you going to try to slap me again just for saying hi?”
I expected him to hit me back.
What I’m not expecting is the sweetest caress I’ve ever felt, and it knocks the oxygen out of my lungs.
“Or are you going to let me kiss you?”
His lips are so close I can almost taste them, his eyes on mine as though he wants to see my reaction.
But when his lips connect with mine, I bite.
He inches back and brings his fingers to his lips, showing the blood. “Fuck … You know that only makes me want you more, right?”
“You enjoy pain,” I rasp.
“Only realizing that now?” he jests.
“What do you want from me?” I growl.
He plants his hands beside me on the wall. “I want what you gave them.” He tilts his head and whispers into my ear, “I want your body in exchange for the secret to be kept.”