Brutal Obsession (67)

I nod back and keep going.

“Violet!” Steele comes up beside me and runs his hand down my arm. “Hey, there you are! We’ve been looking for you.”

“We?” I crane around him, but there’s no one else. Just him, staring at me. “Have you seen Willow?”

He shifts. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

I raise my eyebrow but then nod. I shoot off a text to Willow, telling her that I’m here but going to chat with Steele, and then stow my phone back in my pocket. He leads me through the crowd. He’s broad-shouldered and easily moves people aside.

When I tried to make my way through earlier—without anyone acting as a human plow—I had to push and slip and shove to get anywhere.

This is a lot easier.

I’ve known Steele since I started at Crown Point University. We ran in the same circles, especially when I started dating Jack. He doesn’t have a crush on me. I know this absolutely, because he’s been lusting over Amanda for years. Since they had a one-night stand and she blew him off immediately after.

There’s pain and attraction there, and that’s way more than anything I’ve offered him.

Except that forced blow job.

My stomach twists. Is he going to bring it up? Try and get me to do something like that again? I consider slamming on the brakes and going back the other way, but I don’t. I go with my gut, following him down a hallway that’s empty of people. There are bathrooms at the end, and a coat closet.

I pull my jacket tighter around me.

“What’s up?” I keep my tone light. At least Willow knows who I’m with in case he goes all crazy on me.

He rubs his face, then meets my eyes. “I just…”

I tip my head back. “Spit it out, Steele.”

“Look, I just wanted to apologize. For forcing you—”

I wince and hold my hand up. “Stop.”

“Violet—”

“Stop, Steele.” I can’t believe I’m about to defend Greyson, but here it goes. “Greyson and I have a… thing. It’s kind of fucked up. But I assume he told you.” Lie. “I haven’t said anything because I figured you were cool with it. You know.”

He narrows his eyes. “You have a thing with Greyson.”

“Yep.” I’m going to kill myself for this later. “We like messing with each other…”

He steps back and chuckles, but it’s nervous. “Oh, so… okay. You knew? Because you seemed pretty distraught.”

Well… Fuck. Yeah, I think I tried to beg and plead my way out of it. To no avail. Greyson is hard and unyielding when he wants to be. He’s a monster. Not that anyone needs to know it. I always assumed that, on some level, his teammates knew. And were okay with it.

I guess there’s a thin line between being a demon on the ice and off of it.

“There’s no girl you’d go so crazy over, you’d do terrible things for? To?”

He has the decency to flush.

So there is someone.

I let my curiosity burn through me, quick and instant, and then shove it away. Whether or not it’s Amanda, or some other girl who has the misfortune of catching his eye? I don’t want to know. Talk about a can of worms.

“It was a punishment,” I say softly, closing in on Steele. “But I’ve got it handled. Okay?”

He scratches at the back of his neck. “Yeah, if you say so, Violet.”

“I do.”

He nods and moves past me. He leaves me alone in the hallway, and I lean against the wall. Have pigs flown? Did I really just make up an excuse for Greyson?

“Feeling guilty, are you?”

I glance over and find Greyson at the top of the hall.

“How much did you hear?”

He shrugs.

I narrow my eyes. “Was it a setup?”

He smiles.

Shit. That could’ve been another trap I walked right into. Imagine that.

I shiver, and he strides toward me. I don’t move from where I’m leaned against the wall, because I’m curious. Sue me, but I want to see what he’s going to do. A small part of me hopes he wraps his hand around my throat and pushes me to my knees.

But he doesn’t. He stops just shy of touching me at all.

And then his question hits me again, and I squint at him. “Why would I feel guilty?”

He lifts one shoulder. “I’m just imagining you didn’t sell me out this time because you hate that you sold me out last time.” He does lean in now, his breath fanning across my face.

I bet he tastes like whiskey. Didn’t realize it was the kind of night that required getting drunk fast, but here we are.

“You’re delusional.”

“Am I?” He laughs. “Doesn’t matter how hard I fuck you, baby. I still hate your guts.”

My chest tightens, and my eyes burn. Again.

Shit.

Why the hell am I having such an emotional response? I don’t want to care about what he says. It would appear to be his own special brand of brutality. He makes me obsessed with him and then this. He tears the rug out from under me.

I push him away and slip past him. It doesn’t take me long to find Willow, Jess, and Amanda. They’re dancing with some other girls, drinks in hand. Willow hugs me tightly when I appear at her shoulder, and she doesn’t object when I reach for her drink and take a few gulps of the vodka tonic.