Remember Me

Chapter 30

“I think you were in such a rush to get out of there that you forgot something,” he tells me. 

I keep my gaze impassive and shrug at him. “Are you going to move anytime soon so that I can leave before someone catches us out here?” I ask him, making my voice come out bored and as if I can’t care less. 

He smirks as his hand reaches down behind me, feeling dangerously close to my a*s, and pulls the handle on my door, opening it. Relief washes over me but only lasts for a millisecond when I realize that instead of leaving and heading back to the school, he’s already on the passenger side of my car and climbing in. My mouth drops open in disbelief and shock. 

“What the f**k do you think you’re doing, Ashford?” I seethe, using the last name that I noticed written on the paper as he did to me and maybe preferring not to be on a first-name basis with this mega asshole. 

He feigns confusion as he looks at me with his cool grey stare. “I thought we were ditching.” 

“We’re not doing anything.” 

“I don’t want to be in this hellhole any more than you do,” he tells me, looking disgusted as he eyes the school. I sigh as I get into my car and close the door to avoid being so obvious out here. “Look, I think we’ve both made it pretty f*****g clear that neither of us likes people and want to be alone. So, why don’t we just stop tormenting each other for no reason and stay away from each other entirely? I’ll get this project done and you won’t have to worry about it and can go back to doing your subpar skateboarding tricks.” 

A deep, lilting laugh bursts out of him, and I watch his big, strong hands go up to the sides of his head, making his muscles tighten and grow before he drops them back down and rubs a hand over his mouth. 

“You know so much about skateboarding now? I seem to remember you watching those subpar tricks and, according to you, finding it worth a fifty-dollar tip, princess. And think about all the fun we’d miss out on if we did that.”  

“You were right in your theory. I just felt sorry for you,” I retort with a cold and taunting voice. 

I immediately see anger flash in his eyes as they grow darker again and he’s moved toward me and has my chin in his firm grip faster than the blink of an eye, his fingers almost digging into me painfully but setting me on fire at the same time. His other hand goes to the back of my neck and pulls me closer to him. His eyes directly in front of mine, noses touching, and lips only separated by a breath.  

“Don’t get too brave, Holloway,” he says, his voice coming out angry, menacing, threatening, and low all at the same time. “And never say things you can’t even make yourself believe.” 

He abruptly lets me go and moves back to his side of the car, slightly shoving me back and away from him. It was enough to let me know he was holding himself back by a f**k ton and not wanting or trying to hurt me. But it was also enough to let me know the man sitting next to me, not a boy at all, wasn’t just putting on a typical bad boy act. He’s at least been the real thing at some point in his life. I finally manage to suck in a breath and gather myself enough to look back over at him, watching him silently for a moment. 

“If I say I’m scared of you, will you get out of my car?” I ask him, making my voice steady and my face impassive. “When we ran into each other, you said you’d make sure to do better next time. That’s clearly what you’re after and I’m getting the sense that you’re not going to stop until you get it.” 

His lips curve up into a soft, intimidating smile. He rests an arm on my center console and slowly leans on it, his body twisted to still face me. He reaches out and grabs a wavy curl of my raven hair and twirls it around his pointer finger like he did just yesterday. I purse my lips, trying to keep my patience and temper under control since meeting his fire with my own doesn’t seem to work at all. 

“I just told you never to say things you can’t even make yourself believe. You don’t know fear, Holloway,” he murmurs, his eyes no longer watching my hair still twirled around his finger but instead focused back on me. He lets my hair go and moves back away from the center console, leaning back into the seat to reach inside his front pocket and pull his phone out. “I spent my first day here learning the campus, the best times and ways to leave, and every possible exit that could be useful in a quick getaway,” he informs me, looking at his phone. 

I raise my eyebrows wondering why he’s telling me all of this. What else would anyone be doing on their first day at a new school? Part of me isn’t even surprised to hear how he spent his first day. 

“Normally,” he continues. “You would have just under a minute to book it out of here. Plenty enough time if you know what you’re doing and move fast,” he says, as he slides his phone back into his front pocket. 

I sigh and my eyes narrow at him. “Normally?” I ask, doing my best to contain my frustration. 

I watch as his eyes glance behind me, laughter dancing in them, and he nods his head toward the parking lot behind me. Even with him basically warning me, I still almost jump out of my skin when a fist raps against my window. I glare at him as he chuckles at me for being startled and his hand goes to the door, getting out of the car. Too late, asshat. 

 I grab my bag and get out of the car, finding Connor nonchalantly leaning over my hood with his arms crossed on top of it and his piercing grey eyes focused on whoever is standing behind me, the laughter that was dancing in his eyes now mixed with mocking and a threat. I turn around and am faced with Colton, my expression goes from relieved to confused. Had I really been so wound up and distracted that I didn’t even register it was his presence when I got out? His gaze moves from glaring behind me to looking down at me. 

“What are you doing out here, Nat?” he asks, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the car and starting back across the parking lot. “More importantly, what the hell are you doing out here with him?”