20

Scarlett could barely wait to drag Riley away from Adrian. She felt naughty doing it, but the feeling of wrongdoing only made her more excited. The situation gave her Romeo and Juliet vibes, and for now, she was only focused on the all-consuming love part of the story, ignoring the inevitable tragedy at the end.

As the pair walked up the brightly lit corridor, flooded with natural light from the giant windows, Riley placed an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. The roughness of the act made her cry out in shock.

She looked up at him questioningly.

"You mind?" he asked, glancing down at her with an almost angry frown.

Scarlett smiled as she looked down and shook her head, walking as one with their hips swinging in time. It felt so right.

When they reached the cafeteria Riley pulled out his wallet and sighed. "I have no cash."

"I'll get you something," Scarlett blurted with far too much enthusiasm.

He looked away, glancing out at the playing fields beyond the carpark. The look on his face suggested he didn't like having stuff bought for him, especially in a situation like this one.

'It feels like a date,' Scarlett realised.

"You can pay next time," she said in a voice as casual as she could muster.

"Next time, eh?" Riley chuckled. "I don't think Adrian will let us have a next time."

"Why does he get to decide what we do? We're both adults," Scarlett argued. She hated the thought that Adrian might stand in the way of her getting the only guy she'd wanted since the Tom fiasco.

"He's not just my best friend," Riley said, before glancing around and lowering his voice. "You know what he is to me."

Scarlett wanted to know everything about their relationship and the rules of their pack.

She desperately wanted to know everything. To ask question after question until she knew every detail of his life and facet of his existence. The burning desire to know everything about him prickled at her insides, but the look on his face told her it wasn't the time for a serious discussion.

"Maybe he'll be okay with it," Scarlett said. She didn't tell him that she was going to ask. There wasn't much point in getting their hopes up this early on.

When she passed him his black coffee, she noticed he had fresh grazes on his knuckles.

"Been fighting again?" she asked, mostly to change the subject.

"Yeah," he muttered, rubbing his chin with his thumb.

"What about?" she asked.

"Huh?" Riley asked. He seemed thrown by the question.

"Why were you fighting?" she repeated.

He shrugged. "Just some made-up reason, I guess. Nobody wants to fight me anymore, so I have to pretend they did something to offend me."

"Why?" Scarlett asked, feeling bemused. Why would he beat someone up for no reason? Was that a normal thing to do?

"I like fighting," he said.

'Is it fighting if you don't take a single hit,' Scarlett wondered. She imaged being pinned beneath him as he reigned down punch after punch and felt herself getting turned on by the thought.

'What's wrong with me?' she wondered.

In reality, being beaten probably wouldn't do anything for her. She knew that as well as she knew she would never stay with a man who abused her in any way. Yet, the thought of it was making her wet.

She imagined squirming under his weight, trapped by powerful thighs that did not give an inch, and pleading for mercy.

"What do they do?" she asked.

This question made him narrow his eyes and cock his head. Maybe it was a strange thing to ask, but she wanted to complete her mental image.

"One guy just stood there when he realised I was going to hit him. I told him to at least put a guard up or I'd finish him in one punch and just sort of shrugged and let me punch his face in," Riley said. He smiled, as though the memory amused him.

"Do they ever beg you to stop?" she asked.

"Erm, sometimes. Mostly they apologise even though they haven't actually done whatever I accuse them of. It's funny," he said, snorting with laughter.

"Oh," he added, waving his finger. "There was this one guy who properly begged on his knees just like you did to Adrian when I first saw you. He seemed like he thought I was going to actually kill him or something."

Scarlett flushed at the memory, feeling stupid for how neurotic she'd been over the whole situation.

"So did you still hit that guy?" she asked.

"No." Riley shook his head.

He blew his hair from his eyes and took a sip of his coffee.

"I kicked him instead," Riley said and shrugged. "He was closer to my feet at that point."

Scarlett let out a burst of laughter so loud she attracted the attention of the customers at the next table. She covered her mouth with her hands, trying to stifle her laughter, but failed.

"That's not funny," she gasped between breaths. "Why am I laughing?"

"Don't ask me." Riley shrugged and joined in with her laughter. "Crazy bitch."

"Hey... meanie!" she said, playfully swiping at him. He leaned forward and pinched her side, making her recoil so hard she almost knocked her drink off the table as her elbow slammed down. She wasn't anywhere near as strong as him but was still stronger than your average fully human girl. Her elbow left a dent in the table--luckily not a noticeable one.

"You're so little and cute," he said. "I just want to pick you up and rag you about."

When the lad at the next table flashed him a surprised look Riley noticed, turning to the lad with a dark glare. "Fuck's your problem?"

The poor guy looked like he was about to crap his pants. He said nothing, just blinked a few times and returned to his conversation with his friends.

Scarlett felt a rush of panic as Riley scraped his chair legs back, about to get up from the table.

"Oh, no don't, please don't," she whispered, shaking her head. "Please?"