“I wasn’t given much of a choice about this.” I tip my head back to Sebastian behind me.

“Little bird, you practically begged me to sit on my dick,” he laughs, his tone the warm, amiable one he uses with everyone except me.

“Are you kidding me?” I bark. “You threatened me.”

“Baby, you’re so dramatic,” he laughs again, releasing his hold on my waist for the first time since he dragged me in here.

Making the most of the opportunity, I jump up from his lap and scoot around into the seat beside Court, letting her act as a buffer between the two of us. Risking a glance at Sebastian, I’m not at all surprised to find the cordiality he’s been showing Court completely gone, replaced by a dark anger that has fear skittering along my skin.

This beautiful boy has two completely different faces, the one he shows to his parents, his friends, and the kids who worship him at GAA is confident, calm, kind and nice. Then there’s the one he only seems to show to me. That face is angry, consumed, obsessed and I don’t know which is the real him.

“Starling, are you listening to me?” Court asks, tugging on my uniform and forcing my attention to her. “Stop staring at your hot boyfriend and listen.”

“Oh, er, I wasn’t.”

“You were totally staring at him, but that’s okay if I had a boyfriend as hot as him, I’d stare too,” she giggles.

For the next five minutes, Court talks at me in between talking at Sebastian, Clay, Evan and Hunter. She single-handedly keeps the conversation going as Sebastian watches me with an intensity that has all the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention.

When my cell phone buzzes with a text, I ignore it, the only people who text me are Court and my dad. Court’s talking with her hands so it’s not her and if it’s my dad, it’ll be because he’s lost something and thinks I might know where it is.

When it buzzes again, I reluctantly pull it from my blazer and check it.

Bastian: Your friend talks too much

I don’t want to chat with him, so I slide my cell back into my pocket, only to have it buzz again almost immediately. I pull it back out, inhaling slowly as I read the messages.

Bastian: It’s rude to ignore me

Bastian: Come and sit back in my lap.

Unable to resist I type out a reply.

Me: It’s rude to get people fired and kidnap them.

His reply is instantaneous.

Bastian: You having a job was unacceptable. And it hardly classes as kidnapping when I took care of you when you were sick, had you checked by a doctor and then contacted your mother and invited her to come and check on you.

Me: I wouldn’t have been sick if you hadn’t been there getting me fired from the job I need.

Bastian: My lap…