CHAPTER 15
EVE
I spend my entire day studying. Every time I move my body, I feel where Vincent had been. The reminder heats my blood and makes my heart ache at the same time. I hate the idea of sneaking around. But he’s right about one thing; I’d rather have him this way than not at all. He’s a risk I’m willing to take. I just have to hang on for the rest of the school year, and then he can publicly break it off with Daniela and we can just be normal. The fact that he’s Borignone mafia worries the hell out of me, too. But when he leaves the East Coast, he won’t be in the middle of the fire anymore. I believe him. I can handle it.
I hate that I’ll be lying to Janelle. While we aren’t technically cheating, if anyone else in the world saw us together, they’d assume we were. The idea has my stomach churning. Claire’s warning that Daniela would make my life a living hell pounds in my skull, too.
I move my hand to my neck, pressing his necklace against my throat. He loves me. We’ll be okay because we have to be. Life can’t be so cruel to finally give him to me, and then take him away.
I have an exam in Ancient Philosophy in five days and I need a good grade to do well in the class. I turn back to chapter one, hoping if I read the passages over and over, it’ll all become clear to me.
My phone pings.
Claire: Hey girl! Late dinner tonight?
Me:I’m so screwed for my Ancient Phil test. I don’t know shit!
Claire:Ugh, it’s the hardest class freshman yr. Buckle down!
Me:I’m going to have to pull a few all-nighters studying…
Claire:I wish I could help you but it would be the blind leading the blind. I got a C in that class by the skin of my teeth
Me:I’m not sure what the hell I’m going to do. I got a C- on the last paper and
I need an A on this test if I’m going to pull a decent final grade. Plus, Prof Schlesinger is an a$$hole
Claire:Totally
Claire: OMG! We need to pull a Cher from Clueless and hook him up with some other prof. Maybe if he were getting laid, he wouldn’t be such a fucking dickhead!
Me:LMAO!
Me:But all that shit aside, the test! I’m so screwed….
My night passes quietly. Vincent texted me that he was busy tonight with work, which I guess means family stuff. I hope he’s okay.
The next morning I’m leaving my chemistry lab when I spot Vincent. We see each other, and I watch as his eyes light up. I want to run to him and say hello when Daniela struts out of a different room, walking directly into his arms and placing a slow kiss on his lips for everyone to see. Her back arches, long hair swishing to the side in perfectly curled tendrils. I struggle for breath while students watch the spectacle.
I shouldn’t be dumbfounded, but I am. We’re all stargazers in the show titled: Vincent and Daniela. Finally, as if the kiss was more like five minutes as opposed to a few seconds, she pulls back. Her hands move up his chest and then into his hair as her lips move. Acid burns straight up from my stomach through my throat. I’m having a physical reaction to them together. I want to run away, but my feet feel as though they’re cemented to the floor.
They walk by me.
Vincent ignores my existence.
I drop my head, feeling utterly worthless. I check my cell for the time and notice I’m going to be late for Calculus. I scurry on to my next class, my backpack heavy on my shoulders. I can’t think of him now. I have class to attend.
I knew seeing him with her would be like this, but watching it in real time is more painful than I ever imagined. Now that we’ve had sex, it’s as if everything I felt for him before is amplified. For a moment, I imagine if this is how my mom felt when she was the girl on the side for so many men. But then, I push the thought away. Vincent and I aren’t like that. We aren’t. We really truly aren’t.
I run out of the science center and enter the mathematics building. Thankfully, it’s my last class of the day. I jog up to the third floor and about to turn the corner when an arm snakes out, pulling me into an empty classroom. I want to scream with fear as the door slams shut behind me. But when I turn around, it’s Vincent.
He lifts me up and presses me against the wall. Within minutes, I’m moaning into his mouth, getting lost between his lips and the heat of his body. Pulling back for a second, he stares into my eyes and breathes heavy.
“Hi,” he tells me, nuzzling into my neck. I’m in a fog of bliss, but I know that I need to mention what I saw in the halls. If we’re going to do this, I can’t be afraid to speak up.
“Vincent, I don’t like what I saw.” I push the words out of my mouth before I can second-guess myself.
“What did you see?” His eyebrows are raised teasingly and I can tell he’s trying to play, turn the awkwardness from the hallway into a joke.
“Stop. I’m serious.” He doesn’t respond, but his eyes turn into slits.
“You know what you saw is what’s expected. She needs that public display of affection.” His face reddens as if he’s trying to stay calm.
“All you ever do is what’s expected of you, huh?”
“You’re kidding, right?” He lets out a breath, eyes narrowing at me. I swallow hard. “I don’t fuck her, Eve. I walk around with her like we’re together. That’s all there is,” he replies angrily.
“Put me down!” I say, struggling to be freed from his arms. He slowly lowers me to the floor and then runs his hands through his thick hair, pulling on the ends as he walks away from me to the other end of the classroom.
“You’re unbelievable, Vincent. You’re the one who kisses Daniela around the halls, and I’m the crazy one for being mad? How about I have lunch with Jared today?”
He pivots around and in a blink of an eye, he’s back in front of me. I forgot how fast he is. The look on his face is terrifying, but I’m not afraid of him. “You touch another man and I will fucking end him. Are we clear? We have gone over this already. Daniela and I have to look like a goddamn couple! You can’t get upset every time you see us together. It just won’t work.”
“I can’t stand it. Just—stop touching her!” I stomp my foot on the ground as hysteria rises in my chest.
He lifts me, putting me on a desk and leans into me, his hands on either side of my thighs. “Look at me, Eve. I cannot—under any circumstances—end shit with her right now. I need to keep her happy. This is non-negotiable.”
“I know.” I hear the whine in my voice but can’t help it. I know I’m not being fair but seeing them together guts me.
“Tell me what you want. Talk to me.” He moves his hands around my waist, lifting me up and pulling my butt to the edge of the desk, closer to him.
I put my fingers on his lips. “I don’t want her touching you here. Your mouth is mine.” I move my fingers to his hair. “Or here.” I run my fingers through his dark strands, it’s wild and sexy as hell.
“I need a haircut,” he tells me with smiling eyes.
“No. I love it long like this.”
“Then I won’t cut it.” He presses me to his chest and I let out a long exhale.
I move out of his arms. “Actually, how does Daniela like it?”
“She likes it long too, I think,” he grunts.
“In that case, I want you to shave it all off.” He laughs out loud and I can’t help but giggle. I put my nose into his chest, smelling him. “I love you so much, Vincent. You don’t understand.”
He lifts my head with his hands, forcing eye contact. “I swear I do.” He pulls me against his lips again and I do my best to kiss him with every ounce of myself. “But you can’t keep allowing your insecurities to affect you like this. Promise me you aren’t going to get upset every time you see us together. I love you and only you.”
My eyes inadvertently glance up at the classroom clock. “Oh shit, I’m missing Calculus!”
He shrugs. “Take the skip. You don’t need that class anyway.”
“Don’t be a bad influence on me, Vincent! I need an A.”
“I wouldn’t have taken you out of a class that you were struggling in. You’re going to get an A. And you’re going to get into law school. And all of your dreams will come true.”
We breathe each other in, our mouths so close, but not touching.
He lets out a playful growl. “Lips only belong to you. Hair only belongs to you. Dick only belongs to you…”
I slap him in the chest, laughing. I can’t help the flush that comes into my cheeks. I love this man.
“Come downtown with me tonight at four. We’ll study together.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“I’m doing shitty in Ancient Philosophy. I think you jinxed me that day in the library.” I lift my brows.
“It’s a good thing I wasn’t lying when I said I got an A in that class.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. You have Schlesinger?”
My eyes bug out. “Tell me there is something on this earth you suck at.” I raise my head to the ceiling, looking for God. But when I bring my gaze back down to earth, all I’m met with are Vincent’s laughing eyes.
“Not the way to speak to your new tutor, Eve.”
“Oh hell, no! I’m not letting you tutor me.” I pull my hair back with my hands, tying it back with a black tie from my wrist.
He stares at my lips and smirks. “Why not? I’m a good teacher. I have a paper due tomorrow, but I can get it done easily now that my outline is done.” I give him a face as if nothing sounds worse. “Don’t look too excited, Eve,” he deadpans.
I sigh. “All right. Four o’clock?”
“Four o’clock. Don’t be late.”
“Oh? Or what?” I sass.
“Or you’ll get punished.” He winks before pulling me in for another kiss.