My teeth gnash together. “I’m no one’s problem.”
The words truer than he realizes.
His chuckle, although humorless it stirs something in my stomach. Cole’s hard chest reverberating my back, breathing out a laugh. “You’ve been a problem since you showed up, princess.”
Don’t ask me how I know, but I had a perception that he wasn’t talking about only a few weeks earlier.
That sensation I was becoming annoyingly familiar with stirs. Our closeness jarring.
But like a bubble, Cole pops it. “Are you done being a pain in the ass?”
I scoff, tugging again. Has he ever actually met himself?
The movement forces him to readjust. His hand flattening, grabbing at my waist. Even in anger, I can’t help the small batch of butterflies that blossom below my belly button at the touch.
“Let me go and we’ll find out.”
“Not until I know, you won’t cause more of a scene.” His breath tickles my ear, and those butterflies flutter. “Look around, look at what you started.” Tone low, condescending.
I do.
The room at a standstill. Curious eyes following the excitement like it was an event, and I am the headliner.
Cole’s pitch, lethal at the side of my cheek. “You walk around here not wanting to be seen,” I inhale sharply, he noticed. “Now that they’ve been awoken, they won’t go away.” He was talking about our peers.
His words, although arrogant and patronizing, unfurl the truth. My eyelids tightly close. They couldn’t find out my secret.
I am Rory Hale. Rory—Hale.
People couldn’t know who I am related to. If they did, then it was only a matter of time before they’d find out my other shame.
“You did this to yourself, princess.Youput them on your radar.”
My eyes snap open.
Cole’s words echoing my thoughts.You did this.Dread setting in, foul and sharp.You did this. You.
“What the hell is going on in here.” Coach Boone’s whistle rings in my ears. “Daniels, Kellet, let the girls go.”
Impeccable timing, Coach. I thought this school had a tardiness policy or was that just for students?
“It’s fine,” Cole says, not putting the effort into turning his head. His grip, like his jaw, was locked. “We got it covered.”
Coach side-eyes Finn when he boos. Neither of them amused but for different reasons. He because this looks bad on his part and Finn for ruining his fun.
Finn had been keeping tally. How many kicks Madison got in successfully—at Eli’s expense—before the teacher came storming in.
“You may not want people to know who you are, but that doesn’t mean you still don’t have a reputation to uphold,” Cole hisses only loud enough for me to hear.
Grip not loosening.
I stifled a laugh. “Or what?”
“Like your car, I’ll keep taking things away from you, until you have nothing.”
I snort. I’d already felt like I’d lost everything.
“You joke now but test me and see how far you get,” he says, voice rough, humorless. He was serious.