Devil Incarnate (Boys of Preston Prep #4) - Angel Lawson Page 0,49

a bad idea. Just not quite in the way she meant. Every time he’s close like this, all I can see are the corded muscles in his forearms, the way he holds himself—confident and aloof. The intensity of his gaze does something to me, stirs something so deep inside that I don’t understand it. But I know that it’s something primal and cavernous and unquenchable.

I know that it wants more.

Swallowing, I look down at my hip. The bruises are fading by the day, but they’re still stark and alarming. I look away, refusing to meet his stare.

His voice is sure and smooth. “You liked this.”

“No,” I reply, head shaking.

“Don’t deny it.” As if to punctuate this, he curls his fingers around the bone, pressing into the soft, bruised flesh. “You fucking loved it.”

I try to hide the hitch of my breath, fixing my eyes to his firm chin. “I liked the sex, not the way you did it. It could have been anyone.”

“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself?” He presses harder, chuckling quietly at the way my mouth parts. “It was the best sex you’ve ever had, and you know it.”

I try to shake out of the fog, meeting his gaze with a raised eyebrow. “Wow, that Wilcox modesty doesn’t get much exercise, does it?”

“If the shoe fits…” he says, echoing my words. “Problem is, I don’t share. Not with pathetic Freshmen, and certainly not with sad old creeps like McAllister.”

I glare at him. “You don’t know anything about Warren.”

His jaw goes rigid, fingers digging in harder. “I know that I’m not settling for his sloppy seconds.”

The thing is, Heston’s not entirely wrong. I did make a pass at Warren—last year, at Reyn’s pool party. It wasn’t a great time for me. I have my highs and lows, and that day was definitely a low. But Warren was sexy and older, distinguished, and the thought of those hands on me had me shaking with need. I found him cloistered in the den, reading something on his tablet, and I made my move. It was common knowledge that Reyn’s dad slept around. Plus, I knew how I looked in my little bikini. Even the Devils—some of whom were already in relationships—gave my tits a second or third glance.

But the only thing I got from Warren was a blanket draped tight around my shoulders and his warm, sympathetic gaze.

“That’s not what you want,” he’d said. “Take it from someone who knows.”

I had a complete breakdown, right there on his couch. It wasn’t the rejection. I couldn’t even remember the last time a guy had rejected me, but it didn’t sting. No, the thing that made my throat seize with sobs was how he treated me with such compassion and understanding, even though I didn’t deserve it. I’d sunk so low that I was trying to seduce one of my best friend’s fathers. I knew how Reyn felt about his dad sleeping around. He hated it. And there I was, trying to exploit it.

I told Warren everything, and I might not have realized it, but I think it was because I realized that, in some awful way, he and I might be alike.

And we are.

Nowadays, we just…talk. He listens. Warren doesn’t judge me or make me feel bad about my choices. He’s the one who encouraged me to tell my therapist about the urges and impulses. When I told him about my dick-fasting, he wished me luck and cheered me on. And this afternoon, when I told him about Heston—without giving names, of course—he told me exactly what I needed to hear.

“You should be kinder to yourself, Georgia. It’s your senior year and you’re stressed out. Having a difficult time at this point is perfectly normal. Life isn’t always going to be a summer vacation on a yacht, isolated from anything that might tempt you. You might not realize it now, but this is only going to make you stronger.”

It’s the strangest thing, but now that I know him the way I do, the thought of having sex with him makes me feel sick to my stomach. Not because he isn’t still a total hottie, but more because I think I sort of love him now.

Possibly in the way a girl loves a father.

But none of that is Heston’s business. I think I’d saw off an appendage before showing him that much of my heart.

“So here’s the deal.” Heston licks his lips and a warm sensation spreads to my belly. “If you