บททั้งหมดของ My Arch Nemesis in my Bed: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

The confession hit me like a lightning bolt. “What?”“I’ve liked you since we were kids, Lily. All this time, all the fighting and the arguing and the pushing each other away—it was just because I didn’t know how to deal with feeling this way about you.”“Luca—”“I figured if I could make you hate me, maybe I could convince myself I didn’t want you.”“Did it work?”“What do you think?”I stared at him, my mind reeling. “How long?”“How long what?”“How long have you felt this way?”He was quiet for a long moment. “Remember when we were fourteen and you got sick with that stomach bug?”“Vaguely.”“I sat outside your door for three days. Just listening to make sure you were okay.” His voice was barely a whisper. “Your mom had to bring me food because I wouldn’t leave.”“You did? I didn’t know that.”“You weren’t supposed to. But that’s when I knew.”“Knew what?”“That I was screwed.”The words hung between us like a bridge I could either cross or burn down. My heart was beating so hard

When it was over, we collapsed together, both of us shaking and breathing hard. I felt completely undone, like every nerve ending was still singing. There was a sticky wetness between my thighs, and I felt sore but satisfied in a way I’d never imagined.I felt like I’d been turned inside out. “That was…” I started, then gave up, not having words for what I was feeling.“Incredible,” he finished, carefully pulling out and dealing with the condom before pulling me back into his arms. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”“A little. At first. But then…” I felt my cheeks heat even though we’d just done the most intimate thing possible. “Then it was perfect.”“Is it always like that?”“How would I know?” I pressed my face into his neck, breathing him in. “You’re supposed to be the expert here.”He laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest. “Right.”“We did pretty good though.“Pretty good?” His eyebrow quirked up. “Just pretty good?”I grinned. “Okay, fine. Mind-blowing. Earth-shattering. Pi

Everything hurt. My throat, my chest, my head from the screaming I couldn’t stop.Wait. I was screaming.When had I started screaming?The sound kept tearing out of me like it had a life of its own. I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think past the image of those red eyes and Luca’s bloody fangs.Warm fur pressed against my face.I jerked back, hands pushing at the massive black wolf trying to get close to me. “No. No, get away.”But he didn’t listen. He pushed closer, his big head nudging under my chin, trying to calm me down, forcing me to look at him instead of the corpse. His fur was soft and warm, nothing like the diseased thing lying dead a few feet away. But all I could see was the blood on his muzzle.“I can’t—get away from me.”I shoved at him harder, but it was like pushing against a wall. He whined and pressed his nose to my neck, breathing me in.The air around us started to shimmer.His bones cracked and reformed with sounds that made my stomach turn. Fur disappe

“I need to go,” Luca said again. I didn’t answer him right away because if I opened my mouth, I was going to say something humiliating. Something like please don’t leave me or I can’t do this without you or I thought we had more time. Luca didn’t answer. He just stared down at his hands, knuckles white, fingers curling into his palms like he was trying to hold something in or maybe crush it entirely. His brows were drawn tight, jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscles ticking. “Luca.” My voice wavered. I took a shaky step closer. “You want to leave?” “I have to,” he said quietly. “No,” I whispered. “You don’t.” “I do.” “No, you don’t,” I repeated, louder now, stepping fully in front of him. “You’re panicking. That’s what this is.” “I’m being realistic.” “No,” I snapped, fists clenched at my sides. “You’re being a coward.” That got his attention. His head jerked up, eyes blazing. “A coward?” “Yeah,” I said, voice shaking but sure. “The second things get messy,

The DJ started with slow songs, which felt like deliberate torture. Riley asked Naomi to dance and she said she had a headache. He offered to get her some punch and she said she wasn’t thirsty. He complimented her hair and she mumbled thanks without making eye contact.I watched this painful exchange and wanted to shake both of them. Riley was sweet and funny and genuinely nice, and Naomi was being deliberately cruel because she was hurt. Meanwhile, I was sitting there in my pretty dress, scanning the ballroom for any sign of Luca.I found him near the DJ booth, surrounded by a group of girls from our graduating class. He looked politely interested in whatever they were saying.One of the girls put her hand on his arm while she laughed at something he’d said.It made me want to march over there and mark my territory in the most obvious way possible.Instead, I stayed in my seat and tried to look like I was having fun at prom with my friend-date while the boy I loved entertained other