Page 79 of Payback
“What?”
“Admit that our little hunt gives you pleasure, and I’ll allow it.”
“You made me believe a lunatic was pursuing me!” I growled.
“But you ultimately knew it was me.”
“Yeah, and now that I think about it, I believe I’d prefer the lunatic.”
My words only seemed to amuse him, and his arms constricted around me, pulling me close. I struggled to break free, but there was no room to maneuver.
“Ah, should that be our next game? Lunatic chasing after an innocent lady on the street, unaware of what awaits her?”
“You’re sick,” I retorted.
“You must have some fantasies, Alison. Your bedroom can’t be all vanilla.”
“Why do you persist with those remarks?” I asked.
“What?”
“Comments like ‘slut suits you’, speculating about whether I slept with professors, and claiming my college days were wild,” I pointed out.
“Because they’re true.”
“Do you really believe I slept with anyone who crossed my path?” I questioned.
“That, and perhaps for grades.”
“Haven’t you learned not to listen to rumors?” I spat.
“Yeah, but as I’ve also mentioned before, when it’s rumors involving you, I’m more inclined to believe them because you’re more than capable of such actions.”
“Sleeping with teachers for grades?”
“I don’t know what you did in college, but you did it in high school,” he countered.
“Did you witness it?”
“Fortunately, I wasn’t traumatized by such a spectacle.”
In my fit of anger, I seized his dark hair, and he let out a hiss, glaring up at me furiously.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he snarled.
“Listen to me very carefully,” I growled. “It’s fine if you want to think I’m a slut, and even use that term, but I need to make one thing unequivocally clear to you. I never slept with any teachers! That is a rumor!”
“Others saw you,” he retorted.
“They saw a perverted teacher touching my ass, and it was reported,” I informed him.
Jared looked puzzled, and I maintained my firm grip on his hair, ensuring my words penetrated his mind. While I didn’t care about his perception of me as promiscuous, I wouldn’t allow myself to be branded as the girl who engaged in an affair with a teacher when that wasn’t the truth.Hetried to touch me, and I wouldn’t shield a predator.
“You never slept with him?”
“I never slept with him,” I assured Jared.
“Did you sleep with any of the teachers?”
