Her lips pulled back from her teeth. “I already won and you cheated! You — Goddamn it!” She rested her head back against the wall, eyes closed for a moment as she panted. “Why don’t you admit it? I got you. Why don’t you…I wish…”

She opened her eyes again. Those green irises stared into mine, full of confusion and sincerity and something so strange I didn’t dare put a word to it.

“You wish what?” I said. “That I’d play fair? Because I don’t fucking play that way, sweetheart.”

She was still pushing back against me, but I could tell she was wearing out, her arms beginning to shake. Thank God for that, because I didn’t know how much more energy I had left to try to fight her.

“I wish you didn’t hate me,” she said, and it felt as if my entire world ground to a halt.

“Hate you?” I said. “You think…you think I hate you?”

Her nails dug into my wrists as she nodded. She looked so angry, so…hurt. Fuck.

I moved my hand up, from gripping her throat to gripping her chin. She was so strong it stunned me. Every time I moved her, I had to fight for it. We were close enough to breathe the same air, and I didn’t want any more space between us.

“I wish I hated you,” I said. Her face tensed, tightened — contorted with confusion. “Everything would be so much fucking easier if I hated you.”

There was a long moment where we merely looked at each other. Her eyes roamed over my face, uncertain, disbelieving.

“You don’t?” she said softly, and her words shook as if the answer meant everything to her. But why should it? Why would she care? I was a fucking loser and she was…

I couldn’t be sure which of us went for the kiss first. She grabbed me, using all her strength to pull me closer, but I was already surging against her as if I could melt into her. Her kiss was wild, almost rabid as she raked her nails down my arms. She bit my lip. I crushed her against the wall until she moaned.

But that moan broke me. God, I couldn’t get enough. I couldn’t breathe without her. I was tugging her shirt over her head and she was pulling at the button on my jeans, finally yanking it open and squeezing my bulge.

There were still rows of desks in this old classroom, and I pushed Jess over one of them. Bent over, legs splayed, I wrapped her ponytail around my hand and held her there, giving her beautifully round ass a hard smack.

“Goddamn it, Lucas…” She groaned as I pulled her pants down. She was wearing a thong underneath, and I paused for a moment as I noticed the scabbed cut on her right cheek.