Page 97 of Everdoll

Hearing her cheerful tone, my gaze softened. I looked down to find her smiling up at me—a smile brighter, softer, and much more beautiful than the one she had just thrown at that random boy. I swallowed hard, feeling the rage in my chest ease, if only for a moment. Every instinct in me screamed to pull her close and kiss her right there, but the scoundrel’s voice cut through the air.

“Oh, I saw you on TV, you’re…”

“Her boyfriend.”

I cut in. Mina was about to turn, but I pulled her back against my chest, resting my chin on her head once more as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders.

Then I repeated. “I’m her boyfriend.”

I glanced down at her to catch her reaction, and damn, she was blinking rapidly, her cheeks flushed a deep pink. So cute. I had wanted to do this ever since those stupid school friends of hers set foot in our home; the urge had been burning in my mind ever since. No one could think Mina was unattached, especially from this moment on.

I was completely hers, and she was completely mine.

“Remi…”

She tugged at my coat, and I immediately took her hand into my palm. It had just occurred to me to look at the bastard’s reaction, and as I had expected, his face was down now.

I was confident in my ability to understand people with a single glance, and it wasn’t hard to see the bastard wasn’t looking at Mina normally. Even an idiot could tell. I brought her palm to my lips, gently kissed them, overcome with longing.

It was unfair. Right here, there were people who got to see Mina far more than I did, while I was reduced to brief encounters in the middle of the day. It was so, so unfair.

“Mina?” Someone approached us. “Who’s your friend? I think I saw him somewhere… Oh, I remembered! He looks like the boy I saw at your house years ago! Right, he is! He’s become even more handsome. Unbelievable, oh… also resembles that Loxton heir, oh my god, is he…”

“He’s my boyfriend, Sigrid.” Mina grabbed my arm and pulled me close. “He came to pick me up from school.”

Her voice was so proud that I froze. A huge smile spread across my face. If I was going to lose my mind, it was the damn right time. Mina was claiming me, introducing me as her boyfriend. Her lover. My gaze locked on her; I couldn’t look away. Looking anywhere else but at Mina was always a waste anyway. I heard the girl say something, but the words completely flew past me, I couldn’t process a single one. All I registered was the sight of Mina raising her chin as she watched the girl walk away.

After that, she led me toward the car. I was still grinning like a triumphant fool, relishing every single second of the situation.

“Are you angry?”

“Shut up, Remi.”

I swallowed hard. Her voice came out so harsh and furious even after swallowing several times, I couldn’t compose myself. Fuck, I really have a problem. When she opened the back door and pushed me inside, I immediately sat down in the car. She came behind me and closed the door. I grabbed her hips and pulled her on to lap, but before I could reach, Mina acted first.

She crashed her lips onto mine. Damn. She had never kissed me like this before; her kisses were always soft, gentle, sensitive… She approached me timidly, as if afraid to touch me, as if she had no right to… But now she was so confident and hungry I felt something happening to my body. I couldn’t remember ever getting aroused that fast. “Mi…” At my attempt to speak, she bit my lips. I frowned slightly, but all I did was pull her closer.

Well, she wasn’t the only angry one.

I bit down her lips in the same way. In return, she leaned to my neck. She lifted her head, her eyes met with mine.

“That stupid girl said you were handsome, and you didn’t say anything.” With narrowed eyes, she huffed. “You liked it, don’t you? You asshole. I hate you.”

“No…” When she kissed me again, I thought my body would melt beneath her. She was acting like she used to, possessive like when we first met, and I craved to devour this version of her. I’d wanted this for years. That’s why it was never enough now. I wanted to sink my teeth into every part of her, taste her, swallow her. To lose myself in every feeling she awakened in me.

“But you’re mine. You were always mine.” Her soft, lullaby-like whisper drew my eyes to her lips. “Why are you wearing that black suit? Why did you style your hair like that?” She slipped my jacket off my shoulder. “You’ve always been so beautiful, Remi. But it’s a bad thing. That stupid girl notices it, everyone notices it. You don’t want me wasting myself on other people, right?”

“I’m sorry,” I began stroking her hair. “I don’t even remember her. You’re worrying for nothing.”

“Worrying for nothing?” Mina leaned with an amused voice. “Then what was your show about, my dear Remi?”

“You won’t talk to that boy again.”

Her grin widened, sparkles appeared in her amber eyes. “What if I do?”

“A family could lose a son. That would be sad enough.”

“And is that in my hands?”