“He’s not my boyfriend!” I exclaimed, pissed Adrian was behaving this way.
He cocked his head to the side, staring at me with an expression I couldn’t place.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Tom voiced.
He glared back at him. “Learn some fucking respect.” Adrian kicked him.
“Oh my God! Stop!”
He did, but only to grab my stuff and drag me out of the tutoring room. Unable to manage his own strength, he began pulling me harder than he probably intended.
I silently thanked God the library was empty.
Adrian hurried us down the concrete stairs toward the exit of the building. I pitifully tried to keep up with his wide stride as he hastily rushed us through the parking lot to his car.
The clicking sound of my wedge sandals were beating hard against the pavement. One-by-one, it added to all the chaos erupting in my head.
“You’re going too fast,” I pleaded. “I’m going to break my ankle. Slow down!”
He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and without even looking at me, leaned forward to throw me over his shoulder. I beat on his back to put me down, but he didn’t listen.
Once we arrived at his car, he opened the passenger side door and tossed my body in there like it weighed nothing. I couldn’t believe the nerve of this man. Just when I thought his overprotectiveness was over, he goes and proves me wrong.
The entire drive to his apartment, I stared out the windshield with my arms crossed over my chest. Fuming from the inside out. I couldn’t believe he was acting this way.
It was complete and utter bullshit, and I wasn’t going to stand for it.
After he parked his car, I announced, “I’m not going in there with you.”
“Want to bet?”
I scoffed out in disgust. “What about Cade?”
“Cade is the least of your worries right now.”
“Adrian—”
“Paige, get out of the car.”
I snapped to face him. “Or what?”
He grinned.
This asshole had the balls to grin at me.
What the hell?
“Either you walk into my apartment on your own or I’ll carry you in there kicking and screaming if I have to. Do you understand me?”
My chest was rising and falling.
I never wanted to punch him in the face more than I did in that second. Instead, I calmly exited his vehicle and walked my stubborn ass into this place ready to declare war.
As soon as the door shut behind him, I turned, angrily spewing, “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
He matched my glare. “You need to calm your ass down, Cherry.”
“No! How could you embarrass me like that?”
“With the way he was disrespecting you and staring at your tits, you’re lucky I didn’t put him in the hospital.”
“You’re no better than him! I’ve heard worse out of your mouth!”
Our stares tethered, and for a moment, I saw this vulnerability pass through him.
Stay strong, Paige.
His jaw clenched. “You’ve been a very bad girl, Paige. You need to take off his jacket and face the wall.”
I shook my head, unamused.
“You want this to be over? All you have to do is say you’re sorry. It’s that simple. Apologize for putting yourself in a shitty situation with a guy you didn’t know.”
“Hello! We were in the library!”
“In a soundproof room.”
“That he didn’t close the door to!”
“Apologize,” he repeated in an eerie tone.
“I will do no such thing! I didn’t do anything wrong. You need to say you’re sorry.”
He didn’t hesitate in replying, “I’m sorry.”
My eyes widened, surprised it was that easy.
I thought I won, but I should have known better.
He stepped toward me. “I’m sorry I didn’t beat the living shit out of him.”
I walked back.
“I’m sorry I have more respect for you than to let that motherfucker speak to you like you’re just another groupie who’s going to suck his cock.”
Another step back, another forward.
“I’m sorry you’re so fucking beautiful he couldn’t help himself by trying to fuck you.”
I slammed into the wall behind me.
“But most of all—” he leaned in close to my lips “—I’m sorry for the lesson I’m about to teach you for being a very bad girl.”
I never expected what happened next. In one fluid motion, he spun me to face the wall and stripped the jacket off me.
“Adri—”
He yanked the tie out of my hair, securing it around my wrists before gripping onto my arms and holding them above my head.
“What are you doing?” I gasped, stunned by the turn of events. “Adrian, what the fu—”
Whack.
He spanked my ass, hard. Making me stand on my tippy toes.
“That’s for not telling me that you were tutoring him.” He spanked me again. “That was for your flirting.” He spanked me two more times and I thrashed around, trying to break free, but his hold was too strong. “And that’s for wearing his pussy boy letterman jacket.”
“Oh my God!”
He smacked my ass raw.