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She hurt herself, all to get away from me. I didn’t understand why—I’d told her I wasn’t going to hurt her. Keeping her in my room, away from Sawyer, was her punishment. I’d only hurt her if she asked to be hurt…
“I told you,” I said. The sun was starting to set, illuminating the sky in a reddish-orange color.
“Why did you attack Declan?” Ash hissed, glaring at me with those beautiful, entrancing grey eyes. “Was it because you thought he was getting too close to me? Let me tell you something, Travis.” She took a step toward me, standing less than a foot away from me. Her blonde and pink hair whipped in the wind, and I momentarily lost myself as I gazed down at her.
For such a short girl, she was remarkably feisty, fiery in every way. The very definition of spunk, and I loved it. I loved her. Why couldn’t she see that?
“You might think you’re the baddest shit, but I’m not afraid of you,” she stated, fire burning in her storm grey eyes. “You might think you’re the be all end all, but I’ve seen worse. I’ve dealt with worse, and you know what? I came out alive. You can do whatever the fuck you want to me, but I draw the line when you start to hurt other people. Whatever obsession you have with me is just that: between you and me. No one else.”
The more she spoke, the more I listened to her words. I let her say her peace, and I hooked my fingers through my belt loops, resisting my need to touch her. I had a feeling she would’ve sucker-punched me in the gut if I tried to touch her in any way. “Ash,” I said, staring down into her beautiful, entrancing stare. No other stare had ever affected me so much. “I told you that I would never hurt you, and I meant it. You did that to yourself.” My gaze dropped to the splint on her hand.
My Ash had hurt herself all to get away from me. Truthfully, it only made me respect her more. You truly didn’t know what someone was capable of until they were backed against the wall with nowhere to turn and no help to be seen. There were two types of humans. The ones who shut down in the face of an unseen, unexpected emergency, and the ones who prospered, doing anything to survive. Ash was the latter, which I should’ve known. I never should’ve left her alone in my dorm room that day. None of this would be happening right now.
“And as for Declan,” I said, moving closer to her. I noticed the way she stiffened, but she did not move away. Near the dorm building, William still watched over us, prepared to step in if need be. He wasn’t needed. Ash was safe with me, whether she believed it or not. “I didn’t touch a hair on Declan’s head,” I finished.
Her stare turned into a cold-hearted glare, though her cheeks were still rosy. “Liar,” she accused, trying to get me to admit it.
Admit what? That I hurt Declan? I didn’t, in spite of whatever she thought. Ash might think me a monster, and I was, but I only hurt those who deserved it, who needed to be hurt, and Declan—while intensely annoying—was not on my radar quite like that. If I went around killing everyone who even so much as looked at Ash, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be in jail. Even my family wouldn’t be able to get me out of that one.
No, I didn’t hurt Declan.
And if I did, he’d be dead. I didn’t do things half-assed.
“I’m not lying,” I said. “I’ve been with Sawyer.” When I brought up his name, her expression changed, becoming unreadable. “I would take a look at the videos on your phone, when you have the chance.” I stopped myself from saying what I really wanted to say: you’ll never want to look at Sawyer again after watching those videos. Whatever connection they had would be shattered when she watched him fuck a girl with pink hair.
It was kind of fucked up. Totally my idea, but still fucked up.
Ignoring what I said about the videos, Ash stated, “I don’t believe a word you say, Travis. You’re a liar. You’re manipulative. I know what you’re capable of.” The wind was the only thing between us, less than a foot of space. Her lips parted, and she whispered, “The cops shouldn’t have looked at Declan. They should’ve investigated you. You killed Sabrina, made her write that note.” Not a question, not an accusation, but a statement.
A slow smile spread across my face as I remembered that day. Still, even after all this time, it was burned in my memory as one of the best days of my life. A complete accident, and yet… I knew she had the diary, because no one else had been in my room. By now, she’d had plenty of time to read it, so she knew more about me and Sabrina than I ever wanted her to know.
Still, she had it all wrong, but I wasn’t about to proclaim my innocence like some fucking hero. I wasn’t a good man. I was born in the family, raised to be the opposite of a good man. The things my family did, especially in the basement of our expansive estate, would churn the stomachs of even the most cold-hearted criminals.
No. I was no hero.
I could no longer deny the pull I felt toward her. I lifted a hand slowly, and her eyes flicked to it, but she did not move away, simply watching as I touched her face, trailing my fingers along her jawline. Her eyelids fluttered. “You want me to be the bad guy?” I asked, tilting my head slowly. “Fine. I’ll be your bad guy. I’ll be your villain. I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Ash.”
“That’s not—” She stuttered, stumbling over her words, which was very unlike her. It meant I had her, that she was still caught in my web. She might’ve escaped my dorm room and the chains I had for her, but she was still mine in every way.
I leaned in, my mouth close to her ear as I murmured, “Make me your villain, but know that regardless of what I am, you’re still mine.”
At the side door, William had finally stopped watching. He was in the process of storming over, an angry look on his face, and that was my cue to leave. I pulled away from her after giving her cheek a quick, chaste kiss, and took a few steps back as I met her stare once again.
“I’ll see you around,” I said, giving her a smile before turning on my heels and walking away.
If Ash needed someone to blame, she could blame me. But none of it was my fault. Not Declan, not what happened to her, and not Sabrina.
Well, I took that back. I could’ve saved Sabrina’s life, but I didn’t. Did that make me her killer? Perhaps. The jury was out on that. Still—Ash hadn’t gone to the cops. She hadn’t told anyone of what happened between us, which meant she was mine. It was only a matter of time before Ash threw the other guys aside and became mine completely.
Chapter Eleven – Ash
I couldn’t believe myself. I wanted to smack myself and ask my mind what the hell were you thinking, letting him touch you like that? Letting him near you like that? And that said nothing about how much I’d enjoyed the feeling of his lips on my cheek, how badly I wanted those lips to travel to other parts of me.
Fuck. Even after being chained up in his room, I still had the hots for the guy. Even with a splinted thumb that was still a bit swollen and bruised, I liked him.
What kind of messed up was that? Why did I still look at him and wonder what other tattoos his clothes were hiding? Why did I want to see him naked and do unspeakable things to him? I was so fucked up, it wasn’t even funny.
His words kept replaying in my head, over and over. Make me your villain. Travis wasn’t my villain, but he was bad, that much I knew. I couldn’t let my weakness to him sway me. He thought I needed to be taught a lesson? He thought I needed a punishment for what I did with Sawyer?
