RageBait…

Knox.

It was mid-afternoon the next day.

The air in the rink bit at the exposed skin of my neck even through the layers of gear but the real chill came from the way June’s voice sliced through the steady hum of skates and sticks.

“Knox!”

It was a razor sharp and trembling with an emotion that was worse than anger. Wrath.

I flicked my gaze up from the puck I’d just wired into the boards and found her at the very top row of the bleachers, fists clenched at her sides with her chest rising and falling with every breath she took.

Despite myself, my stomach gave an unfamiliar tug.

Coach’s whistle pierced the air. “Ashford! What the hell is this circus?” then to her, “what devil must have possessed you to interrupt my practice?”

I wiped sweat from her brow with the back of my glove and forced a lazy grin. “It must be personal business, Coach. Give me two minutes.”

“Make it one,” he growled but still gave me a pass anyway.

The team slowed, watching as I moved towards her until Coach’s voice put everyone in check. I skated to the boards and stepped onto the rubber mat, climbing the concrete steps without taking my eyes off her.

If this was under different circumstances, I would have taken a moment to appreciate how beautiful she really looked.

By the time I reached the top row, she was vibrating. Every line of her body seemed to scream ‘don’t come any closer’ even as her gaze locked on mine and refused to look away.

I stopped just inside her personal space, close enough that I could smell the faint vanilla of her shampoo despite the cold rink air. “You’ve got some nerve showing up here to disrupt the team’s practice. Really bold.”

Her throat worked to swallow. She was nervous. Good.

Then her words came out hushed but furious. “Why did you kick Julian off the team? After I—” she swallowed hard, the memory flashing between us. “After I did exactly what you wanted. On my knees. In that disgusting classroom, I gave you everything you asked for.”

I let the silence stretch so she can hear how small her voice sounded against the distant shouts of the boys practicing amd Coach’s barked orders. Then I leaned in just enough that my lips brushed her ears.

“I lied.”

Her eyes widened.

“Your brother has been slipping for weeks. Giving soft passes and soft feet. He’s dead weight and so I figured I was gonna cut him. You just gave me the perfect excuse to do it.”

The lie tasted like ash on my tongue. Julian was better than fine on most nights. But watching the color bleach from June’s face was worth every syllable.

“That’s a lie. You told him you cut him off because of me! You are unbelievable. I humiliated myself for nothing. I let you–” then like she could not bear to look at me, her teary eyes darted to the side. “I hate you.”

I tilted my head, doing extra to force the smirk back into place. “Yeah? Didn’t look like hate when you were swallowing every inch of my cock like you were starving for it.”

Her hand flew before I could dodge out of the way. The crack of her palm against my cheek rang out. My head snapped to the side and the sting did not waste a second before it bloomed.

For one suspended heartbeat, the entire place went as still as nothingness and now, every pair of eyes were on us.

She lifted her chin in a defiant pose even as tears clung unto her lashes. “You have already done your worst. I owe you nothing from this point forward and I hope you die miserably.”

Her words hurt me more than I cared to admit. “You sure about that?”

As she turned to leave, I pulled my phone from the pocket of my warm-up of my warm-up jacket and tapped the screen awake. The video showed her silver-blonde head bowed, her lips stretched around me and her eyes fluttering shut in what could only be read as pleasure.

I held it up and she froze mid-step.

“Look at you, taking my cock so eagerly and enjoying it like a perfect little slut. Who knew?”

Her face crumpled in shock, shame and raw panic all twisted into one. She reached for the phone and I lifted it higher.

“Not a chance. As long as this lives on my phone, I own you. You do what I say, when I say it. Or I send this to Julian. Or even Mae. maybe the entire senior group chat needs to see this. Let them see exactly what their straight-A, goody-two shoes classmate does when no one is watching. Sucking cocks in her spare time.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she hissed, eyes pinned on the phone.

I stepped closer, crowding her against the railing. ‘I can do a lot of things, June. Don’t push me.”

The tears she had been fighting spilled over now like twin fountains. They tracked silently down her cheeks. She looked so small and fragile and furious and still so fucking beautiful it made my chest ache in a way I could not name.

“What do you want?” she whispered.

You. I almost said.

Instead, “tomorrow night at my house. My family is hosting a party and you have to show up as my date. You only have to smile, dance with and keep up the appearance. Let everyone see you on my arm. That’s all.”

“Over my dead body,” she hissed. Then she shoved past me, storming down the steps without looking back.

I watched her go, but something else changed. My heart was hammering too fast for someone who was supposed to be in control.

*_*_*_*

JUNE

I barely made it home before the tears came in earnest. I locked myself in my room and sank onto the edge of the bed, pressing my hands over my mouth to muffle the ugly sounds spilling from my throat.

My palm still ached from that hard slap I’d given him but it was nothing compared to the sick feeling twisting in my stomach.

My worst nightmare was manifesting right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to save myself if it didn’t involve bowing to the whims of the very person who was the architect of those nightmares.

My phone buzzed with Mae’s name lighting up the screen. I wiped my face with the sleeve of my hoodie and plastered on my face the brightest smile I could manage before picking.

It was a facetime call.

“Hey,” I managed, forcing brightness into my voice. “What’s up?”

Mae’s face appeared. Poker-faced and eyes narrowed. She didn’t dabble with hi’s or hello’s. Just straight to the point.

“Some random number just sent me a video of you giving head to someone,” she said flatly.

Ice the size of a dozen hundred needles flooded my veins.

“What? That’s insane. Can I see it?”

She shared her screen without a word and there I was again, kneeling and eager, lost in what I was doing.

The angle even caught the exact second my lashes fluttered close and hollowed my cheeks like a desperate little whore dying to please him.

I stared at the footage until my vision blurred. “I have no idea when that was taken. I’ve never even–God, Mae, I swear I’ve never seen a guy like that up close. This has to be fake. Or Knox. You know how they’ve been screwing with me,” I lied.

Her expression hardened. “It doesn’t look fake. And if it’s real, why not report this to the principal or–”

I quickly cut her off. “It’s not. I learned my lesson after Caid and I’m not reporting anyone for something that never even happened. It only makes things worse. Please, just delete it. Ignore it. It’ll go away.”

She studied me for a long beat. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Then I changed the subject to something that revolved more around homework, the upcoming chem test. Anything at all.

When the call ended, I dropped the phone. Less than thirty seconds again, it rang again. This time, it was an unknown caller.

I answered with shaking fingers.

“Enjoy the little gift I left in Mae’s inbox?”

Fucking Knox. “Delete it right now.”

“Only when you agree to tomorrow. Be my date and smile for the guests. Let everyone see how well you follow orders. Or I hit send and the whole school learns what a greedy little cock-sucker the perfect June Montgomery really is.”

Rage and terror alongside something else that still remembered the feel of him on my tongue and the praise in his voice, crashed together until I couldn’t breathe.

“You’re a monster,” I whispered.

“And you’re mine until I say otherwise. See you tomorrow, baby girl.”

The line went dead.

I curled into myself and let the sobs come endlessly.

He had me. And the worst part? Some broken part of me still wanted to be had.