“My ankle hurts so I’m getting a pass.”
“Oh. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“Not at all.” He’s speaking to her, but his metal eyes darken on me. It’s like he’s ripping my face open and dipping his fingers into my brain.
“Reed?”
“Yes?”
“How about you go watch practice?” He smiles at her. “The guys will be happy to have you cheer for them.”
She bites her lower lip. “You think?”
“I’m sure.”
“Deal! Take care of Ellie.”
She slips from under my arm, slaps a noisy kiss on my cheek and is off in the school’s direction before I can stop her.
I swallow as I meet Aiden’s metallic gaze. The smile he offered Kim vanishes in thin air and the loathsome poker face takes reign.
“Stop manipulating her like that.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“I only encouraged her to do what she already craved.”
Which is another form of manipulation that works in his favour.
Dickhead.
“You’ve been avoiding me today,” he says.
“I just wanted to spend time with Kim.”
“You know I can tell when you lie and you still lie anyway. It’s curious.”
I fixate him with a glare. “I know you did that to Knox, okay? I can’t just act all normal.”
“I did that, hmm?”
“Then where did you get the bruises from? They sure as hell didn’t come from punching a wall.”
“Maybe they did.”
“Aiden! What the hell is wrong with you? How could you do that to him?”
“Do what?” He advances towards me and I have no choice but to step back so he doesn’t slam into me. “You heard him. He said he saw his attacker’s face and reported him to the police.”
My back hits the side of his car. I startle as an electric shock snaps through me.
I place both hands on his chest. “Please tell me the truth. Tell me you didn’t do it.”
He slaps my thighs apart. I cry out as he thrusts his knee between my legs. The material of his trousers rubs against my boy shorts.
My frantic gaze searches our surroundings. “Aiden, stop it.”
“You stop it, Elsa. Stop trying to paint me as this politically correct person you want me to be. I’m not and I’ll never fucking be.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. All I want to know is that you didn’t brutalise Knox just because you saw him with me in the coffee shop.”