The Bet: A Bully Romance(9)

Bridget nods as if she agrees with me. “Mine either. I’m a homebody. All I need is a glass of wine and a good book and I’m good for the night.”

“Boring,” Cally snickers from the couch. Just then, the doorbell rings. Cally scurries from the couch like there’s a fire and I start to pick up my books deciding that studying in my bedroom is a much smarter idea right now.

I don’t care to watch Cally have sex with someone on our couch, not that I think she would, but I don’t plan to stick around and find out. Bridget must feel the same way because she turns with her water bottle in hand and starts back down the hallway toward her bedroom. I load up all my stuff in my arms and turn to walk toward my bedroom, but my body freezes up when I see who it is that’s at the door.

Remington.

The blood in my veins turns to ice and I can’t get my stupid feet to move, it’s like they’re cemented into the floor or something. As soon as he spots me, his eyes turn from playful, a look I know all too well, to downright disgust and hate.

Why does he hate me so much?

I don’t understand, and still a part of me wants to. I want to go to him, wrap my arms around him and will him to tell me what happened. But I’m afraid, afraid of what he might do, and even worse how I might react.

We’re no longer best friends, were no longer anything, and that means there isn’t anything stopping him from hurting me. There are no lines, nothing to be crossed because in Remington's mind everything is fair game.

He doesn’t care for a damn thing, which is so unlike him. It’s dangerous, and a game that I don’t want to play. Cally closes the door, and the tension in the room grows thick. I can taste it on my tongue.

I don’t think she knows what’s going on, and even though I should probably tell her, being she’s my roommate and all I know, it wouldn’t change anything. Remington Miller is a North Woods god, and I’m just some transfer without a name. She would probably kick me out of the house if he asked her to.

“I’m so happy you showed up. I was just going to start a movie, want anything to drink?” Cally asks, oblivious to the daggers he’s throwing at me. Somehow, I know this is bad, him knowing where I live, who my roommates are.

You’ll pay for this.

His words ring in my ears. I can still feel the venom in his voice, clinging to my skin. I’m a nobody in his world, a nobody at this college, and he’s a god with women throwing themselves at him and men wishing they could be him. Making me disappear wouldn’t be too hard. Destroying me even easier.

“Cally, babe, mind if I have a short little chat with your friend.” His deep seductive voice gets the blood pumping in my veins. I find myself shaking my head without thought. Scurrying from the living room, I all but run down the hallway and to my bedroom.

His heavy footfalls fill the space behind me, and I know there is no way I can outrun him. I should’ve listened. I shouldn’t have pushed him. Reaching my door, I open it, throwing my books to the floor. Just as I turn to slam it closed and lock it, his booted foot wedges into the door jamb. My gaze falls to the spot. He still wears combat boots which is a strange thing for me to be thinking about at this moment when he’s so close and clearly wanting to snap me in two.

“Didn’t I tell you… warn you?” His voice is deadly, and I shiver, wondering if it’s out of fear or something else. Since that night when he pushed me to my knees and ordered me to suck his cock, I’ve been feeling things, things I shouldn’t be for a man as mean and scary as Remington.

I shove against the door, trying to shut it, but it only takes one tiny push for him to overpower me. He opens the door and saunters into the bedroom, my bedroom, his eyes never wavering from mine, fire and rage simmering in his green depths.

Why does he have to look so gorgeous, and angry, and mean, and no, I cannot be thinking about him like that right now. He isn’t the same person I once knew.

His huge hand grips onto the edge of the door and then he’s shutting it. Trapping us both inside I take a step back, the room feels smaller than usual now that he’s in it. The sound of the lock clicking into place sends my heart into overdrive. It beats so loudly all I can hear for a moment is the swooshing of blood in my ears. Can he hear it too? How hard my heart is beating?

What happened to the boy I loved?

“Get out,” I whisper, my voice weak, my body weak. I should’ve listened to him, listened to his stupid warning. Never before was I a rule breaker, but Remington’s rules are dumb, more than dumb, they’re asinine.

“Nope. I’m here to show you a lesson,” he smirks, but it’s not his usual smile, no this smile promises heartache. His eyes move up and down my body, and I feel like I’m under a microscope.

“I didn’t do anything…” My lips tremble giving away my emotions, and I hate that he gets me to react this way. He takes a step forward, his body looming, rippling with anger, with a vengeance, and I know the boy I loved once, the boy who was my best friend, my everything, is no longer inside him.

“You fucking exist, and that’s enough of a reason for me.”

I don’t even get a chance to respond, before he’s on me, his fingers digging into my skin roughly. This time I know I won’t get to punch him in the nuts, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just let him hurt me. I kick and claw at him, but he overpowers me as if I’m nothing but an annoying fly.