His Trouble Maker

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

GRAYSON

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” | snarl, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. The taste of

Aria’s cheap lip gloss makeswant to vomit. | shove her away hard enough that she stumbles back, hitting

the ground with a satisfying thud. “Whore!”

Her eyes widen, fear flickering across her face. Good. She should be afraid. I'm only accompanying her because |

pissed my father last night but she went ahead and kiss me.

The other students are starting to notice the commotion and I'll be damned seeing her almost crying. Shit. She

fucking deserves it. Where the hell is Jess

anyway?

“Get up,” | hiss. “You're embarrassing yourself.”

My phone buzzes. Logan. Finally. | glance at the screen, annoyed at the interruption but relieved | can ditch this

pathetic scene. The urge to kick Aria while she’s down is almost overwhelming, but | resist. Too many witnesses.

“Clean yourself up,” | mutter, turning away. “And if you ever touchagain, I'll make sure everyone in this

school knows exactly what kind of girl you really are.”

| storm away from Aria, my blood boiling under my skin. Stupid bitch. My phone buzzes with Logan's message,

and something intightens with anticipation. Jess crying? This day might not be a total waste after all.

Behind the building, | spot them immediately. Logan leaning against the wall, looking bored, while Jess sits on

the ground, knees pulled to her chest, mascara running down her cheeks. Beautiful.

“Took you long enough,” Logan mutters,

Tignore him, focusing on Jess. “Why are you crying?” | ask, though I couldn't care less about the answer. What |

care about is the delicious sight of her

tears.

Jess looks up, and something infreezes. The hell? Her hair- | almost don’t recognize her. Blonde. She dyed

her fucking hair blonde.

“What the fuck did you do to yourself?” The words leave my mouth before | can stop them.

She stands up, wiping her face, suddenly defiant. This isn't the reaction | wanted. She’s supposed to be broken,

begging forto take her back.

“Get away from me,” she says, her voice stronger than it should be. She stands, tugging at the hem of a skirt

that barely covers anything.

“What is this?” | gesture at her transformation, disgust and fascination warring inside me. “Skind of post-

breakup meltdown?”

Logan leans against the wall, watching us with that stupid smirk. “Told you she went crazy.”

“Not crazy,” Jess says, lifting her chin. “Free.”

Something dark twists in my gut. Free? From me? The audacity makes my fingers itch to close around her throat.

“You look ridiculous,” | say instead, keeping my voice low, controlled. “Chere. Let's fucking get you home.”

Damn it. The plan backfired at me. I lied. She doesn’t look ridiculous. She looks so fucking hot.

Jess's eyes narrow, her gaze sliding fromto Logan. Her face transforms-realization dawning like a fucking

sunrise.

“You texted Grayson?” The betrayal in her voice almost makessmile. She spins toward Logan, who suddenly

looks less smug. “You called him?”

Logan tried to reach for her. “Jess, look at yourself... I'm just so worried about you-"

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Chapter 62

“Bullshit!” She slaps his hand away. “You just couldn't stand that | was finally having fun without either of you

controlling me

| watch her rage bloom, savoring it. This fury-this is the Jess I've been cultivating. The one who's learning to bite

back.

“You don’t get to decide when I'm ‘too much,” she spits at Logan, then turns those flashing eyes on me. “And

you don’t ownanymore.

The word “anymore” implies | once did. She remembers correctly.

“That's where you're wrong, baby,” | say softly, stepping closer until | can smell her perfume-different, cheaper

than what | bought her. “Sthings don’t end just because you say they do.”

Her pulse jumps visibly in her throat. Fear? Excitement? With Jess, it's always been deliciously hard to tell the

difference.

| fucking miss her. If she didn’t only beg forto break up with her, | would've probably pinned her in bed now.

Her mascara starts to run. Black tears-like her soul leaking out. Fucking poetic. | feel bad for her. | do. However,

it’s tfor us to baby her in this world.

I laugh softly. “What exactly did you think would happen, Jess? That you'd play dress-up and suddenly become

someone else?”

“You don’t knowanymore,” she whispers.

I move closer, my fingers finding her wrist. Her pulse races under my touch. “I know every part of you. Even the

parts you're trying to hide under this...” let my gaze travel slowly down her body, “...pathetic disguise.”

She tries to pull away, but | tighten my grip just enough. Just how she used to like it.

“Let her go, man,” Logan says, suddenly growing a conscience.

I ignore him, leaning closer to Jess's ear. “That break-up hurts like hell Jessica. Then you're here destroying

yourself?”

| know I'm being harsh on her but 72 hours of her not contactingafter tearing my heart hurts my fucking ego

too. She can do that? | can’t even breath waiting for her message or calls. That's unfair. But right. | think | love

her more. And I'm okay with that.

Jess, my so ever brave Jess look up with so much rage in her eyes. “Well, how badly it hurts you're sucking Aria’s

tongue in the morning?” she snarls, tears gleaming in her eyes. “Fuck you, Grayson.”

So that’s it. She saw us. | feel nothing but satisfaction knowing she’s been watching, hurting, burning with

jealousy.

“Is that why you're crying, Jess?” | whisper, tracing a finger down her cheek, collecting a tear. “Because you miss

my tongue?”

She tries to slap me. | catch her wrist mid-air. Logan tried to step probably to save his bestfriend but I don’t him

anymore. One look at him and he’s gone. He knows | won't hurt Jess. | hope Jess knows that too but well, she’s a

very stubborn woman so | might've to fuck that thought inside her womb.

“Let go of me,” she hisses, trembling. “Logan! Damn it. Cback here, you idiot!”

“Did it hurt, Jess?” | ask, voice deceptively gentle. “Seeingwith someone else?”

“Fuck you.” Her hands ball into fists, nails digging crescents into her palms. “You didn’t even wait a day before-"

“Before what?” | step closer, eliminating the space between us. “Before showing you exactly what you threw

away?”

She tries to shoveback, but | only pull us closer. Goddess, I'm so stupid making her cry. | will go to hell for

this.

“You think | care?” she snarls, but her voice catches. “You think I give a shit who you fuck?”

“I think,” | say, lowering my voice to that register that always made her melt, “that you broke up withto

punish me. To see if I'd ccrawling back.” | lean in, lips nearly touching her ear. “But that’s not how this

works, princess. | don’t crawl. | hunt.”

Her breathing hitches. “I broke up with you because you're toxic.”

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Chapter 62

“Funny,” | whisper, “you never complained about my toxicity when it was making you scream my name.

Her eyes flash, and she wrenches one hand free to slap me. | let her-the sting is worth it to see that raw

emotion, that pure, unfiltered Jess that onl/1 can bring out,

“I hate what you do to me,” she whispers, and there it is-the admission I've been waiting for.

| hate what you do totoo, baby. | hate how much you're willing to breakjust so you can achieve your

dreams. Theo is a dead man. Jessica doesn’t know it yet but she’s an open book to me.

Her thoughts leak into my mind like blood through gauze. Always have. Messy little fragments that betray her

every time. Right now, she’s wondering why | can’t just let her go and chose the easy route. Why is she

wondering that? Doesn't she know she’s the only option?

Her mind is chaotic-memories flashing of her meeting Theo in the woods. Then her naked on his bed. The

fucking blackmail. Her crying in her room.

Fucking hell. Ifreeze, not believing what she’s allowingto read inside her mind.

My vision blurs red. My hands twitch with the need to wrap around his throat. | can already feel his pulse

stuttering beneath my thumbs.

“He’s blackmailing you,” | say.

Her eyes widen, pupils dilating with terror. “How could you possibly=""

I'm such a fucking idiot.

“You think | haven't always known what goes on in that pretty little head of yours?” | step closer, watching her

breath catch. “Since we were kids, Jess. Every thought. Every secret. Every lie.”

Her face drains of color. “That's not-"

“Possible?” | laugh, the sound hollow even to my own ears. “I already told you you're my mate Jess but even that

you think is a lie.”

She's backing away now, her mind screaming. Memories surfacing of other moments-times when | knew things |

shouldn't have. Times when she’d thought something and I'd responded as if she’d spoken aloud.

“The photos he has,” | whisper, pulling the darkest parts from her mind like drawing poison from a wound. “How

did he get them?”

A tear slides down her cheek. “You don’t understand! | was protecting you!”

“Do | look like a man that needs your damn protection Jessica?”

Her thoughts spiral wildly-not just Theo. The Council. The entire fucking Alpha Council knows about us. About

what we are. What we've done.

“It’s bigger than Theo,” | say, chest tightening as | follow the thread through her mind. “He’s working for them,

isn’t he?”

The blood drains from her face. “How are you doing this? You're in my head-stop it!”

“You're my mate,” | snarl, gripping her shoulders. “Your thoughts have always been mine to read. Did you think

that was normal? Did you think everyone had what we have?”

Her mind floods with realization-all the times she’d thought | was just perceptive. All the times she'd convinced

herself it was coincidence.

“Theo is a dead man to me, baby,” | say, thinking of million ways to kill a man. Each method more satisfying

than the last. Slower. More pair. dead man to me. You hear me?”

She’s shaking her head, but | can see it in her mind-the relief mixed with horror. She knows I'm serious. She

knows what i'm capable of.

And deep down, in that dark place she tries to hide even from herself, she wantsto do it.

‘sa

Chapter 63

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