Page 176 of Wicked Savage Cruel
I wrinkle my nose and glance at my mom as she slings her oversized purse over her shoulder and moves to join Aaron and me on the sidewalk. “Not too late to change your mind?” Aaron mutters under his breath. “You know you wanna.”
I elbow him in the ribs.“Are we telling jokes now?”
When mom concocted this grand idea of me joining her former sorority, Aaron, being the protective big brother he is, was nice enough to offer me the spare room at his place. An offer I was quick to decline.
Under normal circumstances, I’d consider it. We were never very close growing up given the four-year age gap between us, but Aaron has always looked out for me. Most brothers would balk at the idea of living with their baby sister after they moved out, but Aaron genuinely wouldn’t mind. He’s pretty chill about stuff like that.
The problem isn’t living with my brother. It’s living with my brother’s very hot, very broody, drives-me-insane, asshole of a roommate—Dominique Price. On the best of days, we tolerate one another. On the worst, well, things can be openly hostile.
“I’ll pass on living with the devil and take door number two, please,” I tell him, and he chuckles.
“Dom isn’t that bad.”
I snort. “Are we talking about the same person, here?” Dominique Price very much is that bad. He gets under my skin in a way no one else can, and the pull he has over me, urgh. I hate it. Sometimes so much so that I think I hatehim. When we’re in the same room, I want to kiss him and punch him in the same breath. That he makes me question my own sanity is infuriating.
Aaron gives me a light-hearted shove. “Alright, sis, have it your way. But don’t come crying to me when you realize the grass isn’t greener on the other side.”
A gust of wind blows my hair into my face and I hastily push my blond curls out of my eyes. “I won’t,” I assure him. “The grass on your side is already dead and yellow so the bar is set pretty low.”
He smiles, his eyes scanning past me, and I turn to see a familiar black Escalade roll up beside my mother’s car. The broody asshole I just mentioned parks his overpriced SUV and three doors open, letting out Dom, Roman, and Emilio. Somebody please shoot me now.
“What are they doing here?” I groan.
Aaron throws his arm over my shoulder and pulls me into a side embrace. “They’re being good friends and helping you move into your new place.” The fact that he genuinely believes that should be concerning, but I know better.
“Whose idea was this?” I ask.
Already their presence is drawing curious looks from some of the girls. It won’t take long for them to realize who they are. God dammit, he is such an asshole. It would have been bad enough if he came on his own, but bringing Roman and Emilio is taking it one step too far.
“Dom’s,” Aaron confirms what I suspected and my mother being the weirdo she is, gushes.
“Isn’t that so sweet of them, Kasey? It makes me so happy to know you’ll have such a great support system here. Makes me feel so much better about my baby girl going to college.” She sighs, the smile on her face wistful as she turns back to the house. If I grind my teeth any harder I’m liable to break a tooth. She cannot be serious right now.
“Yep. Soooo sweet,” I tell her while giving Dominique my most murderous glare. Does he shake in fear like he should? Of course not. Instead he smirks like the cruel bastard he is and heads right for me, Roman and Emilio right on his heels.
I’m going to make him regret this. I cannot believe he’d set me up like this.
The guys do that guy handshake bro hug thing as if they didn’t all see each other a few hours ago, then Dom turns his full attention on me and I have to force my expression to remain impassive. Age has only worked to sharpen his features, making him even more striking than the boy I met my freshman year of high school three years ago. With his hair tightly braided away from his face, his sharp jawline and full lips stand out in stark relief, and I can’t decide if I want to kiss him or punch him—a frequent struggle of mine, so I do what I’m best at and just antagonize him.
“Are you so desperate for female attention that you have to drop in on the girls of Kappa Mu for a little bit of an ego stroke?” I smile in satisfaction when his dark brown eyes narrow.
Dominique has this edge to him that’s difficult to describe. He’s both regal and rugged; the juxtaposition between the two is likely what makes women flock to him. He has two thin slashes in his right brow that somehow take him from attractive to dangerous, and after graduation he filled out to a full six-foot-five, stacked with all the muscles you’d expect a division one athlete to have. The effect he has on people is hard to miss.
When he scowls the way he is doing right now, he’s damn near terrifying to behold. But when he smiles, a real smile that doesn’t hold an ounce of malice—and mind you those are rare—his entire face lights up and for a second it’s like standing in the sun after months of nothing but rain. God, I hate him.
“I don’t need an ego stroke. Not a single woman here can hold my interest,” he says, his eyes boring into mine and waiting for a reaction. One I refuse to deliver.Asshole.Of course he’d say something like that. Dominique hasn’t dated, like seriously dated, for as long as I’ve known him. He gets around, I’m sure. What football player doesn’t when you have an entire fan club of jersey chasers? But the only girl I’ve seen him with more than once is Tamara Vinzent. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her yet, but she’s his date to any event or function that requires one. I don’t really understand their relationship, and for my own sanity, I try not to think about it too much, but somehow she’s outlasted everyone else and has managed to sink some form of a hold into Dominique where no others before her have succeeded.
When Dominique realizes I’m not going to respond, the corner of his mouth curls into his signature cruel smile. “You worried someone will catch my attention?” He scans the growing crowd. “Not really my type, but maybe I can—”
“Yo, Baby Henderson,” Emilio says, cutting Dominique off from whatever he was about to say and cutting through the growing tension in the air. “You gonna show us the new digs? Introduce us to your new lady friends?” He winks, and if I didn’t know him better, I’d think he was serious. But Emilio is head over heels in love with his girlfriend, one of my best friends, so I know this is for show and he’s just helping me out. The softy. Too bad his little act of kindness won’t keep him safe if he and the others don’t get the hell out of here before anyone realizes the school’s star quarterback, wide receiver, and cornerback just showed up.
I shake my head. “Hard no. You three need to leave.”
Roman smirks and Emilio clutches his heart as though I just wounded him. “Baby Hen—”
“Stop calling me that and go home or I’m going to tell Bibi about your big surprise,” I warn.
He sucks in a sharp breath. “You wouldn’t. You love me?” He meant it as a statement but it comes out more as a question.
