It’s fucking cold. And wet. Uncomfortable.
My clothes stick to my skin. The laughter isn’t so bad, but that douche Trent called me a dog.
Fuck. This.
“Ugh,” I snarl under my breath.
My shoulder crashes into Devlin’s chest as I leave the cackling assholes behind. The door bangs when I barrel into it, howls following in my wake.
This school is nothing but a rabid pack of hyenas.
Further down the hall, I catch the disappearing blur of Thea Kennedy as she rounds the corner in a rush. I could go after her and thank her for standing up for me, but I’m pissed off and stuck in wet clothes.
The heavy wooden door clanks open behind me. I whirl to find Devlin. Great. My savage master followed me into the hall.
Can’t a furious girl catch five minutes alone?
We stand there for a moment. My fists flex at my side while he props against the wall, considering me. He’s too focused on my breasts.
“Give me my money,” I demand, flinging my hand out expectantly. “I did it, so pay me.”
Everything about Devlin is sharp, cut and chiseled like marble. Cold. Hard. Unmoving.
Devlin strokes his chin, cocking his head
“The question isn’t whether you followed orders, but how quickly you obeyed.”
“What?” I breathe, stalking toward him. “Are you kidding me? You didn’t say I had to do it with a time limit. You called me over and told me to—” I lose my words, burned away by my anger. I fling my hands around to fill the space. “—in front of everyone.”
“Don’t fret.” Devlin hitches one shoulder, careless, unfeeling. “You don’t have a reputation to ruin in the first place. You’re only your labels to them. Gutter rat, trash, unwanted charity.”
My chest heaves as I drag in stinging gasps. My emotions are running away from me, slipping through my fingers. I work so hard not to let anything that happens in this hellhole get to me. Something inside is cracking in warning. The dam is splintering, threatening to unleash the torrent of everything I hold back.
With a frustrated sound, I shove Devlin. “Pay me, damn you!”
“No.” Devlin grins, arrogant and mean. “Earn it next time. Those are the rules.”
“You haven’t told me all the rules! You keep changing them!”
He grabs my wrist when I go to shove him again. “Yes, I did. My rules are what I say goes.”
Devlin releases me with an unimpressed scoff.
The crumbling barrier inside of me fractures in another spot.
I hate him! Why did I think I could trust he wouldn’t go back on his word? He’s a man, of course he’s going to trick me.
Getting in Devlin’s face, I hiss, “I knew I couldn’t trust you. I should’ve known your word was fucking worthless!”
Something malevolent crosses Devlin’s eyes, a flash of truthfulness behind his pristine veneer. The hatred I spew in his face is a distraction. While he’s focused elsewhere, I slip my fingers into his pocket with practiced deftness and dexterity, plucking his wallet. I’ll pay my damn self what I’m owed.
“Your mother must be so proud to have such a lying snake charmer for a son.”
Devlin growls and moves so fast I don’t have time to process. One minute my hand is seconds from liberating his wallet, the next he has my wrist in his hand, wrenching it above my head.
I gasp. “Wh—”
“Still want to keep running that mouth? This is the most you’ve ever spoken to me, I think.”