“May I help you?” the office admin said and pulled her glasses down the bridge of her nose to stare at Hades. I liked her. She gave sass to him when it was clear others didn’t.
“No.” That one word sounded bored as it came from him. He didn’t even bother looking in her direction as he addressed her. “For you.” He held the cell out.
“I have one,” I whispered and licked my lips, still sitting down, which caused me to crane my neck back to look at him.
“That service is getting shut off.”
My brows rose to my damn hairline. “Excuse me?” I reached into my bag and pulled out my cell phone. And sure enough, the asshole had cut off the service. I clenched my jaw and narrowed my eyes. “You bastard.”
He hummed, clearly enjoying that I insulted him.
“I need everything under my name, and the easiest solution is just to get you a new number. You can transfer any of your friends’ contacts into the new phone. But this is more convenient for me.”
Of course it was.
He held out a brand new smart phone, and I narrowed my eyes at him, which just had Hades smiling wider.
“That’s it, Princess. Show me how pissed off I make you.” He leaned in close and said in a voice that was only loud enough for me to hear, “You know how much I like it when you fight back.”
Before I knew it was happening, he gripped my wrist and lifted it toward him, slipping the phone into my palm and forcing my fingers to curl around it.
“I already programmed my number in.” He chucked me under the chin and gave me a wink as he stood.
And then he was gone.
I sat there fuming, frustrated, and hating—but loving—every second I was in his presence.
I was watching him retreat when I heard somebody calling my name. When I looked over to the front desk, the older woman looked at me expectantly.
I looked to the side, and I could see Trevor standing there, looking sheepish.
It was very clear by his positioning he tried to stay out of sight from Hades. I understood the sentiment, especially when Hades had threatened him the way he had.
I grabbed my shoulder bag and made my way toward him. We headed out to the hall, and a few of the guys slapped Trevor on the back, and some girls fluffed their hair and puckered their lips for him.
“How are you?” he asked as we took a turn and kept walking.
“Good. You?” I could sense this awkwardness coming from him. I stopped, which had Trevor doing the same and looking over at me, his eyebrows raised.
“Everything okay?”
“Listen,” I said and smiled. “Hades can be an asshole. Please know I don’t agree with how he acts and don’t want that to affect our friendship.”
He gave me that lopsided smile. “So we’re friends?”
I felt my face heat and grew embarrassed. “I just assumed—”
“I’d like that.” He full-on grinned now, and we started walking again.
“So, are you ready for your first day?”
I glanced up at him but only for a second, as I had to pay attention in front of me.
The halls were filled with students bouncing from locker to locker, the noise steadily rising the longer they congregated.
“It’s too early to tell,” I joked, and he grinned while staring straight ahead.
“It’s not so bad here. Just gotta know which groups to stay close to and which ones to stay away from.”