Saint (Angelview Academy #1) - E.M. Snow Page 0,18
doesn’t even look like he’s just left a gym, with every blond hair in place and his uniform hugging his ripped frame. He’s also alone. Gabe’s nowhere in sight.
His gaze finds mine and he doesn’t say a word, just stares at me and I realize he expects me to come to him. To willingly walk up to him like a lamb to the slaughter. I briefly consider turning around and going back the way I came, but my pride won’t allow it. If I run from him now, I’ll always be running from him. I’ll solidify him as my own personal boogey-man and will spend the rest of my time at Angelview peeking around corners, afraid he’ll be there waiting for me.
No. I won’t let him bully me into submission.
Raising my chin, I march right up to the bastard, knowing this confrontation was coming sooner or later.
May as well get it over with.
“Sorry for the apple,” I snap when I reach him, silently adding, but you deserved it and more.
He doesn’t look surprised by my vehemence. No. The sonofabitch looks amused, his stunning eyes flashing with dark delight.
“I don’t think we’ve officially met,” he replies. His voice is deep. Too deep. Someone his age shouldn’t have a voice like that. It makes me think of starless nights, when the sky is so black, it’s suffocating to look at. “Mallory, was it? I’m Saint Angelle.”
“I know who you are,” I hiss. “Obviously, I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are, and they clearly don’t have any problem doing your bidding.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His smirk tells me he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
“Just tell them all to stop, okay?” My voice wavers just a bit, and it’s mortifying that I can’t stop the show of weakness in front of him. I know he doesn’t miss it either, because his grin widens. “Call off your dogs and leave me alone because I’m sorry. I mean that.”
“No, and I definitely mean that.” He says the words so easily, it shocks me. My anger spikes, my temper breaking free, and when I open my mouth, I can’t stop the words that roll from my tongue.
“Look, I get it. I humiliated you in front of the whole school. Is this twisted revenge really what you need to restore your fragile ego?”
“Do you really think it’s that simple? That you get to say sorry and then it’s just over?” He moves so fast I don’t have time to process his intent, and before I know it, he’s in front of me, his hands splayed on the wall on either side of my head. I’m trapped, cold stone at my back, hot furious boy at my front. My breath leaves my lungs in a rush as I stare up into his face, dumbstruck. “It’s not, Mallory.”
“What do you—”
“Listen to me very carefully,” he growls, lowering his face so it’s even with mine. “You have a choice here. Make it easy on yourself and go home or stay and suffer. There is no in-between for you now. You threw that away this morning, so walk away before I fuck up your entire world.”
I’m so aware of him, it’s overwhelming. The heat of his large body. The way his biceps tense beneath his uniform blazer as he leans closer. His scent wraps around me like a straitjacket, confining me. He smells like smoke and weed, but there’s an underlying aroma that’s warm and intense and uniquely his. I don’t want to breath it in because it feels like I’m taking a part of him inside me, but I have no choice. He’s too close.
Far too close.
“Not an option,” I manage to answer at last, my voice hardly louder than a whisper. “I’m here to stay, so you just need to deal with it.”
He stares at me for several moments in silence, studying me intently, as though searching for cracks in my armor. One of his hands drops from the wall and he’s suddenly tangling his fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck, completely decimating what’s left of my braid. He pulls me closer, not enough to hurt me, but enough to let me know that I’m not in control of this situation. His fingers are big and rough, and I can’t remember anyone ever touching me like this.
He’s touching me like he owns me.
“You’ll regret staying,” he promises in a murmur. “I swear to God you will.”