Kissing the Campus Devil

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The stadium Kiss Cam locked dead onto me, but the guy I had been crushing on for three solid years just turned his head away.

Maisie, I've always just seen you as a little sister.

Blood rushed to my ears.

Driven by sheer adrenaline, I whipped around, grabbed the collar of the guy sitting next to me, and smashed my lips against his.

The entire stadium erupted, the screaming loud enough to blow the roof off.

A heavy hit of dark tobacco invaded my senses, backed by an undeniable, aggressive body heat.

I snapped my eyes open and collided with a stare so dangerous it made my stomach drop.

Oh, shit.

The guy I just forcefully made out with was Silas, the absolute last guy on campus anyone should ever mess with.

Rough fingers snapped out, gripping my chin and tilting my face up with zero hesitation.

"My girl just took off because of that stunt." His voice was a low, gravelly rasp. "You owe me a girlfriend."

My knees turned to liquid. "W-what about me?" I stammered out.

His gaze dragged down my body, a slow, predatory sweep that felt completely physical. A wicked smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Sure. But I don't do vanilla."

Chapter 1

The whole world knew I was in love with Theo. Except him.

The jumbotron's Kiss Cam spotlight hit Theo and me during the game.

My brain flatlined.

The rule was simple: you get caught on the Kiss Cam, you kiss.

The crowd's championship roar morphed into a deafening chant. "Kiss! Kiss!"

I kept my head down, my pulse hammering against my ribs. Three years of waiting, finally culminating in this moment.

But the cheering dissolved into awkward boos. He didn't move a muscle.

"Maisie, I've always just seen you as a little sister."

Sister? The air punched out of my lungs.

So, he texted his sister good morning and good night every single day? Told his sister he missed her? Begged his sister for expensive gifts every holiday?

"I don't want to be your sister." I locked my eyes onto his, but he immediately looked away.

The ugly truth slapped me in the face. It wasn't that he was oblivious to my feelings. He just didn't want me. I spent three years chasing him, while he spent three years worshipping Scarlett.

The guys around us kept nudging him. "Come on, Maisie's hot. You're scoring here."

"Just a quick one, man. The whole stadium is watching."

"Just do it, look at her"

I sat there under the blinding lights, completely stripped of my dignity.

Blood rushed to my ears, drowning out the jeers.

I whipped around, grabbed the guy sitting in the seat next to me, and smashed my lips against his.

The stadium instantly erupted, the screaming loud enough to blow the roof off.

My brain completely blacked out for the next sixty seconds. All I registered was the deafening roar of the crowd and a pair of dark, murderous eyes glaring up at me. And a heavy hit of dark tobacco and an undeniable, aggressive body heat.

"Get off." His voice was a low, lethal rasp.

A shiver shot down my spine.

"Planning to spend the night here?"

"Uh no." I tried to scramble off his lap, but my muscles refused to cooperate. The sheer hostility radiating off him pinned me in place. "My legs aren't working," I mumbled.

He let out a harsh scoff, grabbed my arm with one hand, and effortlessly hauled me back into my own seat. He kicked his plastic chair hard.

He pointed at the shattered plastic before turning to leave. "You're paying for that."

I glanced down. The heavy-duty stadium seat was literally split in half.

"Okay," I choked out.

Oh, shit. I just messed with Silas. I was so dead.

After the game, Theo didn't even bother waiting for me. I finally caught up to him outside the stadium, only for him to round on me.

"Since when do you hang out with trash like him? Kissing him in front of tens of thousands of people? Are you insane?" he snapped.

"He's covered in tattoos, practically lives at the bars, gets into fights. That's what you're into now?"

My jaw tightened. He knew exactly what kind of guy I liked. He just loved pretending he didn't.

"Yeah, sure. Let's just say that's my type." I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets, refusing to let him see my hands shaking.

I just needed him to walk away. If he stayed another second, I was going to lose it.

Theo's face drained of color. Before he could fire back, a group of guys strolled toward us.

The tallest one in the group abruptly stopped, took a few steps back toward us, and delivered a cold, flat statement.

"Who the fuck asked for you to like me?"

My head snapped up. I crashed straight into a pair of cynical, dark eyes.

It was him. The guy I had just assaulted.

Silas had his hands shoved deep into his pockets, an unlit cigarette resting between his lips. The sheer arrogance rolling off his broad shoulders triggered every flight instinct in my body.

I instinctively stepped back, trying to use Theo as a shield.

Theo sidestepped, leaving me completely exposed.

"You were so brave five minutes ago," Theo sneered. "What are you hiding for?"

Chapter 2

I never expected Theo to actually ditch me, leaving me utterly exposed to this pack of guys. Watching his retreating back, a cold, hollow ache carved out my chest.

"Loverboy's gone. Guess it's time to settle our little problem?" A low drawl dragged my attention back.

"D-do we know each other?" A violent shiver wracked my frame. Playing dumb was my only play.

I had seen guys with dyed hair before, but the electric blue streaks in his dark hair screamed absolute danger. The reckless adrenaline from the stadium evaporated, leaving my limbs heavy and useless.

He just stood there. A short, cynical scoff scraped his throat.

The guys flanking him exchanged looks. "Let it go, Silas. You're terrifying the poor girl."

"Yeah, man. Not like it's your first time getting ambushed. Why so serious?"

One of them waved me off. "Just go, little sister. He had way too much whiskey last night. Just ignore him."

They probably saw my eyes burning and decided to play peacemaker. Silas shot them a single, lethal side-eye. They instantly shut their mouths and froze.

"Let it go?" He dragged out the words, a dark amusement lacing his tone. He pulled the unlit cigarette from his mouth and tapped his lips. "How exactly do I wipe this shit off?"

My breath hitched. Smeared across his mouth was a bright, unmistakable stain.

My Dior 999.

My brain stalled for a full second. With badly trembling fingers, I dug into my bag and pulled out a pack of makeup wipes.

"Y-you might need to use these," I stammered.

He didn't take them. He just stared down at me, his gaze so heavy and predatory I felt like I was being swallowed whole.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well? Do it."

"Huh?"

"You expect me to clean up your mess?" His tone was flat, completely devoid of inflection, but the sheer command in it made my heart hammer against my ribs.

I swallowed hard, took a tiny step forward, and reached up.

Up close, the sheer scale of him was overwhelming. The sharp line of his jaw, the straight bridge of his nose, and that red smudge on his lips.

The air between us instantly thickened, charged with a heavy, suffocating heat. As the makeup wipe hovered just millimeters from his skin, a phantom sensation crashed over methe heavy hit of dark tobacco and the aggressive, undeniable heat of his mouth. Heat blasted my cheeks.

My hand hovered. My eyes tracked down to his throat.

His Adam's apple bobbed hard. A heavy, audible swallow.

My hand froze completely.

"Takes you this long to wipe a mouth?" Rough fingers suddenly clamped around my wrist. His grip was scorching. "Forget it."

He shoved the mangled cigarette into my frozen hand. "Throw this away for me."

Before my brain could process the command, he dropped my wrist, turned, and strode off.

The guys trailing after him immediately started up again.

"Dude, why were you so brutal to her?"

"Making her hold your cigarette? That's foul, man."

"Fuck off." Silas's harsh rasp cut through the night air. The guys instantly shut up, their silhouettes vanishing into the darkness.

The massive pressure crushing my chest finally lifted. I looked down at the crumpled cigarette. My palms were slick with cold sweat.

By the next morning, my stunt had blown up on the school's anonymous gossip forum. The original post dragging me was created by an anonymous account claiming to be his girlfriend.

[ Shameless freak assaulting someone else's boyfriend in broad daylight. ]

I stared at the endless scroll of toxic comments, a vicious migraine throbbing at my temples.

My entire dorm had been practically buzzing with adrenaline all night over my public execution.

"You are absolutely insane. Actually grabbing Silas like that?"

"Dude, I heard he is pure filth. He has this massive tattoo right above his waistline. Every time his shirt rides up during a basketball game, the bleachers practically riot."

"Yeah, rumor has it it's a string of English letters. An ex's name."

"Wait, his ex was foreign?"

"Obviously. Look at how wild he is. No basic chick is locking that down."

"No wonder he was so vicious to our Maisie. Guess hes just mad she's not packing double D's."

I lay there, completely numb.

"Maisie, seriously though, that was such a boss move!" one of them squealed. "How did it feel?"

I stared at the ceiling in absolute despair. "If I told you I completely blacked it out, would you believe me?"

My roommates gasped in unison. "That is a tragic waste."

Excuse me?

"But that girl claiming to be his girlfriend is hilarious," another roommate added. "Silas runs through girls so fast, who even knows which one she is."

"True. So what's your game plan?"

"I don't have one." I pulled the duvet aggressively over my head, wanting to disappear.

"Hey, don't just give up. We'll figure something out," they offered, patting the lump that was my body.

"I literally just got my heart shattered by the guy I love," my muffled voice groaned from under the covers. "I have zero mental capacity for this right now."

I was borderline ready to start bawling. What an absolute nightmare.

Chapter 3

"You and Theo he is just not into you, Maisie. We tried telling you, but you never listen."

"If a guy likes you, he does not leave you guessing. You are such an idiot sometimes."

Yeah. I am an idiot.

Theo probably thought so too. Remembering how he completely froze me out yesterday under the Kiss Cam, and then literally abandoned me to a pack of wolves, a sharp, twisting pain clawed at my chest.

I crashed hard after that, waking up to a dark dorm room. The second I opened my eyes, my roommates dropped a bomb: Silas's anonymous girlfriend was officially an ex.

They broke up?

Fuck. This just spiraled totally out of control.

My phone vibrated. iMessage from Theo. He bombarded me with screenshots of the toxic threads dragging me on the campus forum.

[ You are unbelievable. Going after a guy who is taken? Look at these comments. How do you plan on fixing this mess? ]

Staring at the screen, a freezing sensation spread through my veins.

[ You know exactly who I like. Is playing dumb fun for you? ]

Three grey typing dots appeared, then vanished. Finally, he sent a single reply.

[ ]

Those three dots crushed the last pathetic scrap of hope I had left. If he had just typed that we were not a match, I could have swallowed it. But that ellipsis just sat there, a merciless mockery of my three years of pathetic devotion.

A minute later, a second text pinged.

[ Maisie, we don't work. And I never told you to go throw yourself at absolute trash. ]

A suffocating pressure seized my lungs. I slammed my phone face down, shoved off the bed, and bolted out of the dorm.

I tracked Silas down at the campus basketball gym. His crew spotted me the second I walked onto the hardwood.

They nudged each other, dropping their voices into low murmurs. I did not need to guess. I was the freak from the forum.

I forced my legs to keep moving until I reached them. "Is Silas here?"

The chatter instantly died. One of them pointed a thumb toward a heavy metal door. "In there."

"Thanks." My brain was on autopilot.

I shoved the heavy door open without a second thought.

I barely registered the snickers erupting behind me as the door clicked shut. It looked like a deserted locker room. I kept walking past the metal benches. Deeper.

Then, my feet bolted to the floor.

He stepped out from the shower area. Water dripped from his dark, damp hair, sliding down the sharp contours of his chest. A single white towel hung dangerously low on his hips.

Driven by sheer, morbid curiosity, my eyes immediately dropped, scanning for the infamous tattoo.

"Where exactly are you looking?"

The low, dangerous rasp snapped my soul back into my body.

"I, sorry." I squeezed my eyes shut and slapped my hands over my face. Staring down a half-naked guy was crossing a massive line.

A blast of aggressive, humid heat closed in on me.

"What are you hiding from?" His voice vibrated right above my head.

My lungs seized. I pressed my palms harder against my eyes. "This isn't a good idea."

But it was too late. The image was permanently burned into my retinas. The hard, defined ridges of his abs, and the sharp, black ink dipping right below that towel line.

A sudden, intense rush of heat flushed my face. Something thick and wet slid down my upper lip.

"Little sister." The heavy sarcasm coated his deep voice. "Your nose is bleeding."

My hands ripped away from my face to pinch my nose. I tilted my head back, mortification clawing at my throat. It was pouring.

"Do you do you have a tissue?" I choked out, staring at the fluorescent ceiling lights.

"No."

A clean, white t-shirt slammed into my chest.

"It is clean. Use it and trash it."

"Okay."

Five minutes later, I walked out of the locker room clutching a blood-stained white tee to my face. Silas walked out right behind me, fully dressed.

His entire crew froze, their jaws practically hitting the floor.

A second later, cynical smirks broke out across their faces.

"Damn, Silas. You work fast."

"A little too fast. Only took you the length of a wardrobe change."

"Careful on the court later, man. Don't pull a muscle."

I stood there, my toes curling so hard in my sneakers I could have cracked the soles.

Silas snatched a basketball off the rack and hurled it straight at the closest guy's chest. "Shut the fuck up."

The sheer violence in his tone made me flinch.

He did not even look at me. He just shoved past his friends, heading for the exit.

The adrenaline finally kicked back in. I remembered why I came here.

I sprinted after him. "Silas!"

Chapter 4

The group stopped. Silas did not even bother looking back. "What else?" he demanded, pure irritation scraping his voice.

"About that day I it was just a misunderstanding. I feel terrible that it caused you and your girlfriend to break up" I mumbled the apology I had painstakingly rehearsed in my head.

Before I could even finish, he turned his head slightly. "Break up? Which one?"

"I don't know, the one from the club last time?" a friend offered.

"Nah, they broke up ages ago. Probably the influencer"

"My bet is on the yoga instructor."

"Shut the fuck up!" Silas, clearly annoyed by the mental gymnastics, fully turned to face me.

"Yeah. Got it. A misunderstanding." He dragged out the syllables. "So, how are you going to make it up to me?"

I nodded frantically.

A low chuckle vibrated in his throat. The guys around him started laughing too. "Interesting."

"Little sister, you planning on giving him a new girlfriend?" one of his friends threw out.

Lose one, replace one? My brain stalled. Oh my god, how was I supposed to do that? Where was I going to find a whole person?

"You are a girl. I think you will do just fine."

"Me?"

The whole pack stared at me, highly amused, waiting for an answer. My scalp tingled with nervous heat. I took a shot in the dark. "Do you do you think I would work?"

A chorus of cynical laughter erupted around me.

"Sure." Silas's gaze dragged over my body, a slow, predatory sweep. "But I don't do vanilla."

"What does that mean?" My brain flatlined.

His long, rough fingers gripped a plastic keycard. He stepped into my space, slipping the card smoothly into the back pocket of my jeans. The heat of his knuckles burned through the denim.

He leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. "Come to room 208. I will take my time showing you exactly what it means."

Then, the pack walked off.

I pulled the card from my pocket. It was a keycard for a five-star hotel.

A hotel keycard?

Static filled my head.

Back in the dorm room.

"Why do you have a guy's t-shirt? And is that blood?" my roommate asked.

"I want to die." I slumped face-first onto my desk. "My nose bled. Someone threw it at me and told me to trash it when I was done."

This was the first time in my life I had gotten a nosebleed from looking at a guy.

"Trash it?" My roommate picked up the fabric in disbelief. "This is a Gucci couples tee. He told you to trash it?"

"It is a limited edition too. Does he have a thing for you?"

Wait, what?

"How much is this?" I stared at the shirt, horrified.

"Thousands, at least."

Thousands?

Numbness washed over me. I shot up from the desk, grabbed the shirt, and scrubbed it clean in the sink. After running it through the dorm's dryer, I stuffed it into a bag and headed straight for the hotel. I kept repeating the same mantra in my head the entire way. Just returning a shirt. Drop it off and leave.

The universe had other plans. The second I stepped into the hotel elevator, I ran straight into Theo.

When our eyes locked, my immediate instinct was to shrink back. Guilt spiked in my chest. What was he doing here?

"What are you doing here?" he demanded first.

I used to wait all day just to hear him speak. Now, his voice just grated on my nerves.

"Looking for someone." I looked up at him. It had only been a few days, but the distance between us felt terrifyingly vast. "You?"

"Picking up a friend." His tone was rushed, his eyes darting away from mine.

My gut twisted. This friend was not just a friend.

After thirty agonizing seconds of silence, we both stepped off the elevator and stopped dead in front of room 208.

"Who exactly are you looking for?" he interrogated me.

Panic flared in my chest. Because Theo despised people like Silas, a ridiculous fear of him finding out I was here gripped me.

"I" I shoved the bag behind my back. Lying felt useless at this point.

I severely regretted coming here.

Before I could force out a word, the heavy door clicked open. We both snapped our heads toward it.

A girl in a designer slip dress stepped out of the room. Her eyes were rimmed red, like she had just finished crying.

My feet cemented to the floor.

Because that girl was Scarlett. Theo's goddess.

I refused to think about what had just happened inside that room. My vision tunneled straight to Theo. His entire posture softened, a sickeningly gentle look washing over his face that he had never, not once, shown me.

Chapter 5

"It's freezing out here. Put this on." His voice and movements were so devastatingly gentle it felt like a physical blow to my chest.

"I'm so sorry for the trouble. Thank you," Scarlett choked out, throwing herself directly into Theo's arms.

I stood paralyzed. It wasn't until they were halfway down the hall that my brain rebooted. Theo must have suddenly remembered I existed. He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder.

The sickeningly soft look was entirely gone, replaced by a hard, judgmental glare, like I was some pathetic disappointment. Then he turned the corner and vanished.

A dry, hollow laugh scraped my throat. So, Theo was here to pick her up.

"What was your name again? Who are you looking for?" A voice broke through the silence. I snapped my head up. A guy was leaning against the doorframe of room 208. The adrenaline crash left me completely drained.

"Is Silas here?"

"Oh!" He let out a loud, exaggerated hoot, pushing the heavy door wide open. He yelled into the room, "Got another one with a death wish over here!"

My sneakers cemented to the carpet. I debated just turning around and sprinting for the stairs, but that meant risking running into Theo again. No way. I clamped my jaw shut and forced myself to step inside.

The air inside was thick with smoke. Four guys were huddled around a green-felt poker table, tossing chips. Slumped on the oversized leather sofa next to the table was a familiar figure. Dark hair fell over his eyes, leaving only the sharp bridge of his nose and the lingering red smudge on his lips visible.

"Silas hey, man. Wake up." The guy from the door walked over and kicked the sofa.

"Another one's here. Try not to be so brutal this time, yeah? Don't make this one run out crying too."

Silas slowly cracked his eyes open. Through the messy strands of his hair, a dark, lethal glare locked onto me.

My body acted on pure instinct, taking a hard step back. He didn't say a single word. A heavy, irritated sigh left his chest as he shut his eyes and turned his face into the cushions.

"He's wasted," the guy offered, trying to cut through the suffocating tension. "His temper is absolute trash right now, so just avoid poking the bear. Come hang over here." He pulled up an empty chair at the poker table.

"I just came to drop something off. I'm leaving." I refused to move closer.

"Whoa, don't leave yet. Perfect timing." Another guy at the table abruptly stood up, waving his ringing phone.

"I gotta take this. Play my hand for a sec, I'll be right back."

"I I don't know how to play poker." I stared at him, panicked.

"Doesn't matter. Just throw whatever. Put all the losses on Silas's tab."

Before my brain could even process the words, the door clicked shut behind him. The remaining three guys all turned and stared at me expectantly.

The pressure was suffocating. I had zero choice. I stiffly walked over and sat down.

His 'be right back' turned into thirty agonizing minutes. I sat there frantically Googling Texas Hold'em hands under the table while blindly tossing chips.

My massive stack dwindled down to almost nothing. Cold sweat slicked my palms. I was completely screwed.

I panicked and turned my head to check if Silas was still passed out on the sofa.

A blast of aggressive, dark heat slammed into my side.

A harsh, humid breath ghosted directly over the shell of my ear. A large, heavily veined hand holding a lit cigarette reached past my cheek, close enough that the heat of the cherry singed the air near my skin. The rough fingers tapped my cards, effortlessly pushing my last stack of chips all-in.

My spine snapped rigidly straight. I jerked my face to the side to see who it was.

My lips stopped exactly one millimeter away from his.

Silas.

His dark eyes locked onto mine, completely feral and dripping with absolute arrogance. He didn't pull back a single fraction of an inch. The negative space between us practically hummed with electricity. My nerves shredded after two seconds of the standoff. I tried to wrench my head forward.

Just as I moved, he exhaled. A thick cloud of white smoke hit my face directly, the dark tobacco invading my lungs.

I instantly broke into a violent coughing fit. Heat blasted my cheeks, a chaotic mix of intense humiliation and sheer panic.

"Silas, you're up?" one of the guys at the table laughed. "Dial it back, man. You're giving the poor girl a heart attack."

"This scares you?" His voice was a low, vibrating rasp. He slowly arched an eyebrow, his broad frame sinking lazily into the empty chair beside me. One hand rested on the table, still holding the cigarette. His other arm draped casually over the back of my chair. The heavy, suffocating cage of his body heat completely enveloped me.

"If you're this terrified," he murmured, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips, "how did you actually dare to walk into room 208?"

Every single micro-expression on his face screamed absolute danger. I shoved my chair back and bolted to my feet.

"I just came to return your shirt."

"Return a shirt? Sounds like a tragic excuse to hit on Silas," one of the guys jeered. The entire table erupted into cynical laughter.

Chapter 6

"No." I waved my hands frantically, my face burning.

"Don't be shy. You're not the first to try this move," one of them smirked. "But you are the only one who hasn't been kicked out yet." The table erupted in laughter again.

I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.

I turned my head and looked straight at Silas. "I'm leaving now."

"Can't let you do that. You leave, the game's dead," another guy chimed in.

"He's awake now. Let him play." I darted my eyes toward Silas.

Silas just took another slow drag of his cigarette, completely silent, watching me struggle like it was prime entertainment.

Seeing my absolute panic, he finally threw me a glance. "You play."

"Why?" I didn't get it.

"Because" He exhaled a long stream of smoke, his voice dangerously soft. "I don't want to."

Are you kidding me?

"Come on, gorgeous. Just cover for a few more minutes? He's coming right back."

"Yeah, you've lost so much already. Win some back. Let Silas coach you."

"I really have to go I'm going to get locked out of my dorm." I stood up, desperate to escape.

"Curfew passed." Silas's voice cut through the noise, completely calm. His dark eyes locked onto mine, unreadable and heavy.

My heart plummeted. I snatched my phone up from the table.

11:00 PM!

Fuck. I had been sweating over those stupid cards so hard I completely lost track of time.

"Just play a few more hands. Silas will get you a room next door, don't worry about it" The guys tried to pacify me.

I looked at Silas. He was leaning back, completely relaxed, just listening to them talk without offering a single word of his own.

He looked exactly like a wolf waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

I hesitated for a few agonizing seconds. I was completely out of options. I slowly sank back into the chair, deciding to just finish this hand and go book my own room.

The second I turned back, I caught Silas staring at me again.

A heavy jolt went through my chest.

I was pretty sure his eyes hadn't left me this entire time. The intensity of his stare was suffocating.

"Could you not look at me like that?" I mumbled under my breath while the guy across from me was drawing a card.

"Hmm?" He held my gaze, like he was waiting for the punchline.

The heat of his stare was making my skin prickle.

"When you look at me like that, it feels like you're trying to eat me alive," I whispered, keeping my voice low enough so the others wouldn't hear.

The hard line of his mouth twitched, a wicked smirk almost breaking through before he instantly forced his expression back to neutral. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping into a dangerous rasp. "Yeah? Is that allowed?"

My brain completely short-circuited.

Did he just say what I thought he said?

Panic seized my chest. I jerked my head away, completely terrified to say another word to him.

My hands were visibly shaking for the rest of the game. That one sentenceIs that allowed?kept looping in my head, completely scrambling my thoughts.

Two hands later, my eyelids were dragging. I tossed my last chip into the center of the table and stretched my arms over my head like I had just finished a marathon.

"Can I stop playing now?" I asked quietly.

"Just a bit longer."

"I'm tired."

Looking at their wide-awake faces, I was completely dead inside.

"Tired? As in, sleep?" One of the guys looked at me, then shot a loaded glance at Silas. He swallowed whatever he was about to say next. "Yeah, yeah, of course"

The remaining guys immediately shoved their chairs back and stood up.

My eyes went wide.

They definitely had the wrong idea.

"No you're misunderstanding."

"We get it, we totally get it"

I was on the verge of tears. I twisted around to look at Silas. His expression was completely flat, a mask of absolute indifference. He clearly had zero intention of clearing my name.

"If you get it, then get the fuck out."

"Alright, alright. Bros over hoes, man." The guys scrambled for the door, not even bothering to grab their jackets.

"When are you wiring us the money?" one of them asked, apparently possessing a death wish.

"When exactly was I playing tonight? Why are you asking me for money?" A dark chuckle left Silas's chest.

"Silas, come on, man. You really expect us to collect from the girl?"

The amusement vanished from Silas's face. He slowly pushed himself up from the chair. Before he could even say a word, the guys scrambled out into the hallway.

The heavy door slammed shut.

Chapter 7

He shut the door softly, leaning his tall frame against the wood, just watching me.

"How much was it? Maybe I should just pay?" I was practically choking on my own stupidity. I never should have bought that "put it on Silas's tab" bullshit.

"Yeah. You pay." A lazy smirk crossed his face.

"Is it a lot?" My stomach tied into knots.

"Manageable." He sounded incredibly patient, which only made my eyes burn.

"Can I pay in installments?" I felt like I'd walked straight into a trap.

He went silent, pulling out a lighter to spark another cigarette. "I tell you to play, and you actually play. Are you stupid? You're terrible at it."

Excuse me? I could accept being called terrible, but I had literally checked with him before dropping almost every single card. He hadn't stopped me once!

"Wait. Do you actually know how to play?" The realization hit me like a truck. He did this on purpose. He let me lose.

His smirk deepened into a full, dark smile. "If I play, they leave this room in tears."

"Then why didn't you play yourself! Why make me do it!" I was absolutely fuming. What kind of psychopath does that?

"To teach you a lesson." He crushed the cigarette out. In one fluid, explosive motion, he crossed the room, his heavy hand clamping around my waist, slamming my back against the heavy wooden door.

The air vanished from my lungs. He leaned down, his dark gaze locking onto my mouth as his face dropped dangerously close.

A cold sweat broke across my neck. I jerked my head to the side at the very last second