Page 68 of Wicked Dreams (Fallen Royals 1)

I shove him away from me, my temper flaring. The jerk barely moves.

“That’s nice, Caleb. Be the big, bad control freak while you kiss your girlfriend a-and cheat on her!” I shriek. I’m so glad we’re alone, because I can’t lower my voice. “I’m not a puppet whose strings you can jerk around.”

His face is dark. “I don’t want to pull your strings, love. I want to cut them.”

He goes back to the car, the conversation apparently over. The slight fear of him leaving me here, like he left me at his house, gnaws at me. I get in the car before he can bark at me, and we’re once again entombed in silence.

Finally, I glance over at him. “You can’t just…” I stop, frustrated with myself. With him. What is he trying to do, isolate me?

Yes, that’s probably exactly what he wants.

“I’m not an island that you can fortify,” I murmur. “I’m a person.”

He glowers at me. “You might think so, love, but you’re mine. Stop fucking testing me.”

I don’t have anything to say to that.

Stop fucking testing me. Sure—as soon as he loses the girlfriend. Eh, even then… maybe not. Still, he might throw me out of the car if I argue, and weariness tugs at my bones. He drives me back to school, parking and escorting me to my class like a hulking bodyguard.

I slip into the classroom and into my seat, and no one says a damn word.

17

After school on Friday, my phone buzzes.

Caleb: Come to the game with me.

I grimace. No way. I’d get crucified. It would be worse than the time he carried me out of the party. At least then, people were able to wave it off as a one-time thing.

I’ve been ignoring him. He’s been ignoring Amelie. It’s only been two days, but…

Rumors have been swirling that she’s been duped—and dumped. She sulks behind a wall of cheerleaders, who all send hateful glares in my direction. They’ve extended the same courtesy to Riley, even though Riley walks around like a shadow half of the time.

The girl’s got some serious talent staying under the radar, that’s for sure.

And Caleb? Theo? They’ve all been acting like nothing is wrong. Theo sends an occasional wink my way, and Caleb snarls at him under his breath.

He’s worse than a feral dog.

Caleb: Answer me.

Caleb: I know you’re reading this. You won’t like the alternative.

Me: You’re with Amelie.

I think. Honestly, maybe he did dump her.

Caleb: That didn’t stop us the other night.

He has no boundaries.

Did I make him that way?

I bite my lip as I type out a reply. Sure, this could absolutely backfire on me. He could become worse than he already is. How, I don’t know, but I’m sure he would think of something.

He’s managed to get under my skin, and as much as I try to scrub him free, he isn’t leaving. Hell, I don’t think he ever left.

And he accused me of the same thing.