Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,119

climax from him, too, and he bites down on my lower lip as he comes, not enough to hurt, but just enough to mark me possessively.

We stay where we are, his strong arms banded around my middle.

“You were so mean this morning, like usual. I mean, you were an ass all the way through breakfast. What changed?” I lean back, soaked in sweat, my heart pounding as I see his lips curve into a smirk. Calix is bathed in shadows, but I couldn't miss that haughty expression if I tried. Please don't do this to me, I think, fear sweeping over me in a cold wave. Don't trick me again; I couldn't bear it.

“I got sick of it,” he says, shaking his head, still smirking. “I got sick of playing pretend. You never do, no matter how hard or how long I play my parts, you just never show up to the act. Maybe I wanted to see what would happen if I didn't? Just for a minute.”

“And?” I ask, even though I almost don't want to.

“I loved it,” he says, and I hear that same tenderness in his voice now that I did when he first confessed to me. “I love you, Karma. Always have. Don't think I can ever stop.” When I reach up to touch the side of his face, his lids flutter closed against his cheeks. He's very clearly exhausted and running out of steam.

But I can't sleep.

I don't want to.

I'm not ready to lose this yet.

“Stay awake,” I whisper, my voice hoarse from sexual satisfaction and fatigue both. “Stay with me.”

“I'll be here when you get up. We'll hunt for ghosts together. On Monday, we'll …” He trails off and then rolls me over, tucking me in against him and resting his chin on top of my head. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I want to get up and get in the bath, go find some coffee, try my hardest to stay awake. But now that I'm tucked up against Calix, loving this moment and terrified of it ending, what can I do?

I wrap my arms around him, my eyes stinging.

“Everything will be different tomorrow,” Calix promises, doing the very thing he said he couldn't do. Promise me a tomorrow. “In the morning, I’ll tell you about the ghost I saw as a kid …”

“Sometimes tomorrow never comes,” I repeat for the last time as a stray tear leaks down my face, and my eyes close of their own accord. Big, stupid idiot, telling me he doesn’t believe in ghosts when he’s already seen one. Love blooms like a rose inside my chest, complete with thorns, cutting me to pieces and leaving me to bleed to death.

“Je t'appartiendrai malgré tout. Toujours,” he murmurs as I drift to sleep, wrapped up in Calix's arms and feeling his breath in my hair. Regardless, I’ll still belong to you. Always.

I have no choice but to spend the next three days crying at home.

There's blood all over my steering wheel.

I'm too stunned by the reset of my life to move the way I should, to push the lock down on my car door and drive off. And I'm punished for my inaction, on top of everything.

Calix rips the door open and yanks me out, just days after promising that everything would be different. It’s an emotional blow, one that I’ve avoided for three fucking days. If I’d had to deal with his animosity just minutes after falling asleep in his arms, his cum still warm between my thighs, I’d have probably puked all over his shiny Crescent Prep shoes.

I find myself thrown against the side of Little Bee anyway, Calix’s hands gripping my upper arms, his grasp dangerously tight. It’s a chore not to roll my eyes, to just stand there and pretend like this is any other day. Because it’s not. Each new day on this time loop hurts in a way that’s impossible to put to words.

“Are you fucking insane?!” Calix snarls, and I decide I can't take it. Shoving him off with both hands, I turn and run toward the convenience store, bursting through the glass doors and looking around frantically.

“Where is Raz?” I ask Barron, my eyes meeting his as I swallow back that moment in the chapel when he pulled my shoe off and began to massage my foot. Do not go there, not right now.

Barron looks up from the aisle he's bent over, the hood of his white sweatshirt pulled up, a pink lollipop