Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Stop being so obvious. You’re gonna give yourself away, and he’s gonna get suspicious.
But I’m not the kind of guy who can pretend he feels differently than he does. If something’s on my mind, I say it. I’m not used to having to stuff this shit down.
“What’s up?” Brad asks, picking up on my mood. “Dude, I’m sorry. I was just trying to chat, not pry into your shit. We can talk about something else. I just wanted to talk. I’ve had a lot going on, and I haven’t seen you for a few days.”
I try to keep from looking at him, but I can’t help myself. Now I’m trying to read him the way he’s reading me. Why have you been gone so much this past weekend? What are you and the guys up to? What got you into this shit? And why did the guys at Alpha Alpha Mu need Alexei to spy on you?
“I don’t mean to be a dick,” I force out. “I just really need to get caught up with schoolwork right now.”
He studies my expression. “All right. I’ll leave you to it.”
As he hops back up, a sensation in my chest twists up…at the friendship I’ve lost.
Or maybe never had.
Brad works at his desk, and I finish my reading before hitting my light and passing out.
The past few nights, I’ve gotten a pretty good sleep, but tonight I wake up every once in a while, rolling each way to try and get comfortable. As much as I’m looking forward to tomorrow night, once we’re finished, Alexei will be halfway through this spell that could do God knows what. Neither of us knows what we’re playing with.
This is stupid as fuck.
But I guess I’m all in.
I try to focus on the parts of this that are easier to lose myself in…
That bitable, fuckable ass.
Those tempting lips.
His beautiful smile.
I could swear I hear him moan, but then another sound catches my attention. Is that Brad? Although it doesn’t seem to be coming from his bed.
I roll onto my back—and see something at the foot of the bed. I sit up, scooting back against my headboard.
The light from outside illuminates what looks like a face floating at the end of the mattress. A tooth-filled smile is spread across its face, but its eyes are hidden in shadows. And now that I’ve had time to recover from the surprise, I see it’s not floating. There’s a neck attached, this person—a man—crouched down.
This is a trick of the mind. It must be.
The man shakes subtly, and there’s a sound, like he’s snickering. The creepy-ass grin shifts as the head tilts, and then the face moves slightly forward, enough that the light reveals the eyes that have been concealed in shadow.
The whites and irises are black.
My heart’s racing, my skin prickling. Every part of me is telling me I need to get the fuck out of here, but my choices are to pass it or sprint across Brad’s bed.
Brad’s bed it is!
As I start to move, the man springs up, his nude body coming into view, and before I can adjust in the bed, he’s on top of me.
“The fuck!” I call out, attempting to shove him off me, but he grips my wrists and pins them against the mattress on either side of me. Those black eyes bore into me, the grin expanding.
“Holy fuck!” I hear Brad say as saliva drips from the man’s mouth, hitting my face.
“Get off me!” I call out, but he’s too strong. I curse, straining against his hold.
Brad leaps out of bed, sprinting toward us, and the man turns to him, shouting, “He’s mine!” The words send Brad flying back over his bed, and there’s a thud as he hits the floor.
“What the fuck do you want?” I ask, and as he turns back to me, his eyes widen. He leans closer, and despite my best efforts, I can’t free my wrists from his hold or buck him off me with my hips, and that face descends upon me until I feel his lips against mine. I call out, my cry stifled by his kiss as I feel a tongue push into my mouth.
The next part is a blur. I’m struggling with the man, but I don’t feel in control of my body. Then he’s gone, I’m convulsing on the bed, and Brad rushes to my side.
“Matteo? Matteo!”
Why does he sound so far away?
11
ALEXEI
I kneel behind a patch of briars at the edge of the woods, watching the dorm exit.
About twenty minutes ago, I woke up to Luke panicking as he talked to Brad on the phone.
“What?” Luke asked. “Brad, stop talking so fast. I don’t understand.”
I tried to get him to tell me what was up, but he was cryptic in that way he gets when it comes to stuff about the Sinners. But I could tell by what he said, and the worry in his expression, that something was wrong.