Page 28 of Roses & Ruin

My heartbeat goes wild. He’s really going to keep pretending.

“You coming?” Hayden calls over his shoulder.

I bite back a dozen things I could say and fall in beside him instead. Fine. If he’s not giving me that answer, I’ll take another one.

“Who was that girl? The one with the ponytail and lotus tattoos?” I ask.

Hayden’s gaze flashes with understanding. “That’s Lotus Leaves? She’s a classmate.”

“Awfully handsy for a classmate.”

“I’m not her type. Trust me.” He cocks his head and lifts a corner of his mouth. “I don’t have the right…parts.”

“Oh.” I feel a hot flush sweep from my cheeks to my neck and down to my chest. Now I’m thinking about Hayden’s parts, and my brain is no longer working.

“She wanted advice on how to ask out a cute barista she’s crushing on,” Hayden continues, entirely too smug. “I was giving her my best tips.”

I have never felt more whiplash in my life than I have with this infuriating boy striding behind me. I feel desperate to regain my footing.

“Poor Lotus Leaves,” I manage. “She stands no chance if she’s taking dating tips from you, Mr. Not Nice.”

Hayden hums, overtaking me and turning around so he’s walking backward, facing his unbearable smirk at me.

“You’d be surprised,” he says.

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m serious.” The moon peeks from behind a cloud, making the purple flecks in Hayden’s eyes dance. “I’ve managed to make the most impossibly perfect women fall in love with me.”

“Gross,” I mumble, feeling the swell of envy in my belly.

“You don’t believe me?” Hayden stops walking abruptly, blocking my path. “I’ll show you.” Hayden’s smirk softens. “Give me your hand.”

I know I shouldn’t. Because I’m already so far gone. He’s not even touching me yet, and I’m getting that feeling again, that hot, dangerous one I got in the bar, where I’d do anything Hayden asked me to do.

So of course I give him my hand. Hayden’s eyes darken. He brushes the tips of his fingers down the ticklish inside of my palm, down to the pads of my fingers in the lightest, most delicious touch. It sends a shiver down my body.

“See?” His voice is rough now. He licks his lips. “I can be nice.”

I want to tell him that there’s nothing nice about this. But my tongue’s not working. And anyway, I don’t want him to stop.

Hayden turns my hand palm side up. His eyes don’t leave mine as he brings his lips agonizingly close to the inside of my wrist. If he were to breathe, even just a little, his plush bottom lip would graze the throb of my pulse. For a moment, we stay suspended in that moment, unblinking.

I want his mouth on my skin so badly.

And for a moment there’s a flash of hunger in his eyes, and I think maybe, impossibly, he might want the same.

Finally, his lips move.

“Good night, Rose,” he whispers, a hair’s width from my wrist.

When he pulls back and drops my hand, I realize what he’s said to me.

“Good night?” My voice sounds raspy. “You’re leaving?”

“You’re home.” He gestures over my shoulder. I turn around, and sure enough, there’s Coupland Hall, a proud and silent silhouette in the fog. I had no idea we were already here. How did we…?

I turn back toward Hayden, and he’s already walking away, his back to me.