02 Now the Whole School Knows

Harper

Cade's lips were better for kissing than they looked.

That was the only thought left in my head after I pressed mine against them.

At first he didn't move. He went rigid, as if suddenly frozen, and even his grip on my wrist slackened for an instant.

The next second, Cade lowered his head and kissed me back.

It wasn't a gentle kiss.

His teeth grazed my lower lip, his breathing turning ragged. I could almost hear the low growl he was holding back in his chest—the Alpha in him waking from somewhere deep inside.

I still couldn't catch his scent. But in that moment, I clearly felt his wolf.

Inside me, Nova was so thrilled she practically rolled over on the spot. Then Cade abruptly let go and pulled back.

He stared at me, chest rising and falling. The gold hadn't quite faded from those blue eyes. He didn't look like a man who'd just kissed a girl.

He looked more like someone who'd just wrenched himself free from some dangerous loss of control.

"Are you insane?" he asked.

"Is that the first thing you usually say after kissing someone?"

"I didn't kiss you."

I ran my tongue over my slightly numb lower lip.

"Want me to remind you what just happened?"

His gaze followed the movement, then jerked away.

"You threw yourself at me."

"But you kissed back."

"Reflex."

"Then your reflexes are pretty enthusiastic."

His jaw tightened.

So Cade could be provoked after all.

Except he wasn't like Hunter. When Hunter got angry, he slammed doors and cursed, making sure the entire hallway knew he was in a foul mood. Cade just went quiet. The angrier he got, the less his face showed.

Honestly, that made needling him even more fun.

I pushed myself up off the floor.

Cade immediately stood, keeping an excessively polite distance between us.

"Don't do that again."

"Why not?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Of course." I tilted my head up at him. "If it's because I'm a bad kisser, I can always practice a few more times."

"Practice on someone else."

Nova let out an indignant growl inside me.

I wasn't thrilled either. He was the one who'd lost control just now, yet here he was acting like he wanted to disinfect his mouth.

"Are you afraid of me?" I asked.

Cade bent to pick up the kinesiology tape that had fallen to the floor.

"I'm not the one who should be afraid."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He didn't answer.

I watched him return the scattered items to the medical kit one by one. His movements looked steady, but the tension in his jaw and the faint rise and fall of his chest gave him away.

Good. At least the kiss had gotten to him. My plan for revenge was off to a decent start.

"You still haven't answered my question." I stepped closer. "What exactly happened last night?"

Cade's hand paused as he was latching the kit shut.

"Go ask Hunter."

"He won't tell me."

"Then wait until he's ready to."

"So you admit you know."

Cade lifted his eyes.

"I admit I saw him last night. The rest is for Hunter to tell you himself."

"You think that clears you?"

"I don't need to prove anything to you."

Whatever goodwill the kiss had stirred up vanished almost entirely.

I took a step back and looked him over again. Handsome. Arrogant. Cold.

Before his injury, Cade had been the most popular star center on the Blackridge men's hockey team. Word was that after every game, girls would wait outside the locker room for him, and his jersey number had once been the fastest-selling item in the campus store.

But when it came to his admirers, the story that spread widest was never about who he'd dated—it was about how thoroughly he turned everyone down.

Making a man like that fall in love with me wouldn't be easy.

"Cade," I called after him. "We'll be seeing each other again soon."

"I hope not."

"Remember you said that." I gave him a smile. "When you start looking forward to my showing up, I'll remind you."

His brow furrowed.

"What exactly are you after?"

"That's a secret for now."

I turned toward the door.

My hand had just touched the handle when Cade's voice came from behind me.

"Harper."

I looked back.

He stood where he was, blue eyes fixed on me, dark and heavy.

"Next time, don't kiss someone on a whim," he said. "Not unless you mean it."

The mockery was gone from his face now. His tone was serious, as if he knew something I didn't.

I stared at him, baffled.

"Who says I was joking?"

I pulled the door open and walked out.

The moment it shut behind me, there was a muffled thud from inside—like something had been slammed hard against a locker.

At the end of the hall, two men's hockey players spun around fast and pretended to study the fire evacuation map on the wall.

I recognized one of them right away: the freshman who'd been holding his phone outside the rink earlier.

The second he saw me looking, he shoved the phone behind his back.

"What did you take?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Give it here."

"This is private property."

I took a step toward him.

He handed the phone over instantly. On the screen was a photo.

In it, Cade was pinning me down, and I had a fistful of his collar, pulling him toward me.

Our lips were less than an inch apart.

From that angle, it didn't look at all like an accidental tumble during a scuffle. It looked more like I'd pinned down Blackridge's famously unapproachable former hockey star, about to force a kiss on him.

Worse still, the post had already been up for three minutes.

Likes: four hundred and twenty-seven.

Comments: one hundred and nine.

The caption was a single line:

THE BLACKRIDGE BEAST has finally chosen her prey.

The kid gave me a pitying look. "Everyone knows now."

As if to prove it, the phone in my pocket started buzzing frantically.

I didn't need to look to know the photo was tearing through all of Blackridge at an alarming speed.

And that definitely included Hunter's phone.

I tossed the phone back at the kid and walked away.

If the whole school already thought I'd set my sights on Cade, then nothing I did next would look out of place.

Fifteen minutes later, I pushed open the door to my dorm.

Zoey sat cross-legged on her bed, headphones on, a half-empty tub of caramel popcorn in front of her.

She saw me and held up her phone. The photo was on the screen.

"I think you should start by explaining why you were in a locker room having some R-rated wrestling match with Cade."

"That wasn't R-rated wrestling."

"The picture looks pretty R-rated."

"We just fell over."

"And then?"

I was silent for two seconds. "I kissed him."

"What?" Zoey put down the popcorn. "Weren't you going there to beat him up?"

"I changed my mind."

"Because he's too hot?"

"Of course not."

She kept staring at me.

"That's not the main reason," I corrected.

Zoey patted the spot beside her.

"Sit. I want the whole story, and then I'll decide whether to call the campus clinic and book you a brain scan."

I grabbed the popcorn and told her everything, starting from Hunter's injury and ending with me pinning Cade to the floor—okay, fine, him pinning me to the floor.

"That arrogant jerk. I'm going to make him fall in love with me, and then dump him hard."

When I finished, Zoey's expression turned more serious.

"Harper. Have you thought about one thing?"

"What?"

"What if you fall for him first?"

I nearly laughed out loud.

Cade was undeniably handsome—possibly the sexiest man I'd ever seen.

But he was arrogant, cold, and had very likely broken three of my brother's ribs.

I could kiss him, chase him, even pretend to like him.

Actually fall in love with him? Never going to happen.

I was about to answer when my phone buzzed again.

This time it was a message from Hunter.

Just a screenshot and one line.

Come to the medical center. Now.

In the screenshot, a new comment had appeared beneath the locker room photo, posted only moments ago.

From Cade Blackwood.

I slipped.

His comment already had over two hundred replies.

The top-liked one read:

And landed on her mouth?

I stared at the screen for a few seconds, then slowly smiled.

It seemed all of Blackridge was waiting to watch the show.

Then let them watch.

I would make Cade Blackwood fall in love with me.

And then I'd destroy his heart with my own hands.