Page 14

This thing with Roxanne might have started as a way to get her out of my system, to conquer the girl who’d bruised my ego by not fawning over me, but it wasn’t that any more. It was so much more than I could have ever expected. As a man from my family, I had been taught to see as many possible outcomes as possible so the unexpected didn’t happen.

And I’d failed.

Failed to see just how powerful Roxie was. How precious her rare smiles were. How captivating her green eyes felt.

I am fucked.

I’d bullied her. Lied to get what I wanted. And now? Now I wasn’t going to let her go.

Roxie Marquez was mine. Only mine. My girl. My brat with a soft, sweet underbelly I would work tooth and nail to be able to get the privilege of being the one who got to experience it. She was my everything.

I got up from the table I’d been sitting at the moment the clock struck midnight. It’s time. Excitement thrummed heavily in my blood as need throbbed through my body.

I walked over to her, and I knew the second she heard my footsteps by the way she held her body changed. Her back straightened, but she didn’t look up. Her eyes locked on the book in front of her as her hand moved gracefully over the notebook where she was taking notes.

“You said midnight,” she said quietly the moment my shadow loomed over her table.

“It is midnight.” She frowned, still not bothering to cast her green gaze on me as she dug her phone out of her bookbag.

“Damn it,” she huffed under her breath. “I just… I need another chapter.”

“Good girl,” I praised. Her head popped up just like I thought it would. Bright wide grassy green eyes looked up at me, cluelessly giving me yet another image of her I would be jerking off to later. The image was crystal clear, too. My sexy little brat on her knees, looking up at me, waiting for me to tell her to take me out of my pants. The way I would hold her chin and stroke my thumb over her pretty lips before she’d part them to take my digit and suck.

“I’m serious, Fergie,” she said softly. I ran my tongue over my teeth before responding.

“Dave,” I corrected. “And so am I. You asked for what you needed, and that’s what you’re going to get,” I cleared up. “Take however long you need.” I shrugged, moving to take the seat next to her.

“What are you doing?” She frowned, looking around to see if anyone else was around.

“Sitting down. What’s it look like I’m doing?”

“Dave.” She sighed.

“Roxie,” I mimicked dramatically.

“You could sit over there.” She pointed across the table, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“I could.” And maybe before today, I would have. Giving not just her but both of us some space, so that the lines of what this little arrangement was wouldn’t blur. But not anymore. Not when I’d decided there was no fucking way I could live without my sassy girl. Not when the lines blurred indefinitely the moment she sat on my lap and cried, and I swore I’d do anything to make her stop and smile once again.

“But I’m not.” I swung an arm over her chair. She looked at me.

“I can’t study like this,” she complained.

“Why not?”

“You’re staring at me.”

“You like it when I stare.” I leaned forward before she could argue or deny it. “Pretending is over, honey bun.” I kissed her forehead. “Study.” She blinked and then frowned.

“Honey bun?” she asked, and I shrugged.

“Works for you,” I said and meant it. She was my brat but also my honey bun.

“You’re…” She paused, almost like she couldn’t find her words. If I were a true asshole, I would have asked if a cat got her tongue. But I didn’t. I waited for her to fill in the blank, somewhat proud I’d stomped my girl almost speechless. “Annoying,” she finally said. My lips might have twitched, but I didn’t let myself smile.

“And you’re beautiful.” I shrugged, settling back as I reached for one of the discarded books she hadn’t put back in her bookbag. “What are you⁠—“

“This assigned reading?” I asked, staring at the cover with a half-naked muscular guy on the cover.