Page 86 of Lessons in Cruelty

She must have leased a place in town while she’s in college. No way she’s driving an hour to get here, and then back, every day.

I should be happy for her finally getting out of the toxic environment she was living in.

But fuck her.

My class timetable is lax. I could have added a bunch of electives, but I already have a job waiting for me after graduation, so what’s the point? My only goal in life was to get the hell out of Agony Hollow, and soon as I’m done with my degree, that shit’s becoming a reality.

I spend the whole of Monday recovering from the weekend, preparing myself in case Haven shows.

By the time Rooke’s Tuesday class rolls around, I’m a new man, ready for anything.

So it shouldn’t catch me off guard when Haven walks into class with a smile, Melissa at her side like they’re suddenly BFFs.

But it does, and I hate her for that.

Into the fire it goes.

That heat is physical, crawling up my neck, down to my cock. It flips a switch inside me, and suddenly I’m glowering at her as I think about all the ways I can make her whimper in pain.

But there’s a spark of admiration deep inside me, too. I’ve forgotten just how easily she dusts herself off.

We’re both resilient like that.

Maybe that’s why we were such good friends when we were kids.

We both knew exactly what we needed to do in order to survive…and we never hesitated.

I pull out my phone and scroll through the photos I’ve been taking of her.

Haven walking to her car.

Haven working at that shitty diner.

Haven reading in the campus gardens.

I’ve been keeping tabs on her ever since the library, and she has no fucking clue.

The power is intoxicating.

Especially watching her sleep in the backseat of her car at Lookout Point.

I took a photo of that too.

Right before I took my cock out and jerked off outside her car window.

There’s probably still some of my cum on her car’s back tire.

Rooke is late again. Second time this semester.

Does that mean the other urban legends about him are bullshit too? Like how he goes through two thousand-dollar bottles of whiskey a weekend and giving a hefty cut of his paycheck to an animal shelter?

My eyes find Haven and latch on, but she’s oblivious as she talks to Melissa.

I smile as I think about the library book sitting on the shelf in my dorm room. Every time I see it, I give it a little pat. It makes my heart sing to know she’s not passing this class because I⁠—

Haven’s attention is still on Melissa as she puts a hand in her tote bag and pulls out a copy of The Lucifer Effect.

Motherfucker.