9. Bait

9

Bait

Teal

I’m smart enough to know that one night changes nothing. One kiss means nothing. One moment can’t redeem evil.

Declan Pierce has been, and forever will be, a ruthless bully. And I’m thankful he reminds me of that fact with his demanding, egotistical text message.

Unknown : Party at Sigma House, Friday at ten. My girlfriend is expected.

I refuse to respond to him. I refuse to even add his name to the contacts in my phone. This is a temporary thing, and I don’t appreciate that he’s using it to pull strings just like my father did.

I should have never let our kiss happen.

The second our lips met, we blurred the lines we drew when we made this arrangement. Not that I can be surprised either. I made a deal with the devil. He was bound to come for my soul eventually.

Except, ever since that kiss, Declan probably thinks I’ve given in to this. That I’ll submit to his whims, and he’s in complete control.

Never.

If anything, he’s handed me a reason to prove just how wrong he is, thinking he can manipulate me and get away with it. Which is why I will accept his invitation to the party tonight without telling him and use it to remind him who is in control here.

He might have my secrets, but he doesn’t have me. He never will.

Declan Pierce won’t break me.

I’m going to break him.

“Someone’s extra quiet tonight.” Violet nudges my arm.

She’s propped on the bathroom counter next to Mila, who’s adding another layer of eyeshadow to her lid. I’m leaning on the edge of the tub, scrolling through my phone.

“I’m just thinking.” I close my text messages after reading Declan’s for the hundredth time.

“Well, stop thinking and get ready.” Mila rolls her eyes, flipping her brown hair behind one shoulder. “It’s one thing to be fashionably late. It’s another to show up when everyone’s already too wasted to notice or care.”

Mila tugs down the hem of her neon-pink tank top, showing off even more of her cleavage. The fabric is already practically oil with how it hugs her chest, but she manages to make it even more provocative .

If there’s one thing Mila has in spades, it’s confidence.

She smooths her hands down her hips, which are the perfect hourglass many girls dream of. The lighting in the bathroom draws out the hint of red in her hair, and her cheeks are rosy without having to apply anything.

I glance in the mirror and catch my own reflection. It’s not nearly as presentable, but the difference between me and Mila is that I don’t care what people think when they look at me.

“I am ready.” I lock my screen and lift off the bathtub.

“No.” Mila shakes her head.

Even Violet looks a little disappointed as she scans my outfit.

While Violet isn’t as perfectly polished as Mila, she’ll fit in without a problem at Sigma House. Her straight black hair is down and perfectly ironed. Her white T-shirt shows off a sliver of her stomach, and she’s borrowed one of Mila’s plaid skirts to go with it, giving her the schoolgirl vibe I’m sure Kole will appreciate.

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

My paint-covered overalls do nothing for my figure, and my shirt is caked in a layer of more paint. But if I try at all, Declan will think it’s for him, and I can’t have that.

“If you refuse to acknowledge that this is an unacceptable outfit for the grocery store, much less a Sigma Sin party, then we’re no longer friends.” Mila crosses her arms over her chest. “Come on, Teal. Try for once. Because this isn’t it.”

I roll my eyes, not arguing because I know she’s right .

“Exactly.” Mila storms up to me and grabs my hand, dragging me into her bedroom.

Mila, Violet, Patience, and I all share a dorm. There’s one bathroom that sits between my and Mila’s room and another that is between Patience’s and Violet’s rooms.

It works out, seeing as Mila takes up two-thirds of our bathroom, and my side is bare.

“I’m not wearing one of your dresses.” I drop down onto Mila’s bed while she disappears into her closet.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t need that kind of attention.”

Especially from the one person who is probably sitting around concocting ways to torture me tonight.

Mila steps back out of the closet, holding a scrap of black fabric in front of her and glaring at me. “Taking pride in how you look isn’t always about getting attention from other people.”

She tosses the dress at me, and I catch it.

“Then what is it about?”

“Caring about yourself , Teal.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I get that all you want to do is hide in your studio and paint, but it’s not good for you to be locked in a room alone twenty-four seven. Sometimes, you have to actually live your life. You have to be seen by the world. You have to exist.”

I hold the dress up, and it’s so short it might not even cover my ass. “And this is existing?”

“This”—Mila stops in front of me, pulling me to stand and spinning me to the mirror to drape the dress in front of my body—“is you pretending to give a shit. ”

“Who says I want to pretend?”

Mila frowns over my shoulder. “Just try for me— your friend . Let’s celebrate you getting into the summer art program in Paris and pretend you know how to socialize before you’re shipped overseas to torture hot French men.”

I shake my head, fighting back a laugh at her comment. “I’m not going to Paris for the guys.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Mila rolls her eyes. “I know. You’re going for the paint. But just think, mixing the two could be an awfully fun time.”

Mila winks, and my mind immediately trails to Declan going with me this summer. The one person I can never seem to escape, whether he’s pinning me against a canvas in my studio or sticking his tongue down my throat at my parents’ house, he’s everywhere.

I don’t know what I hate more—that he’s the devil or that I can’t seem to resist him once he gets his hands on me.

I’m ending this tonight if it’s the last thing I do.

Holding the dress to my body, I try to imagine myself in it. It’s solid black, with thick bandage fabric that hugs like a corset.

“No.” I shake my head.

“Oh, come on…” Mila whines.

I toss the dress on the bed and walk over to her closet. She’s not going to let this go, so the least I can do is find something I’m willing to be seen in.

It takes a few minutes of digging, but I finally find an outfit that feels like me .

Stepping out of the closet, I hold a sleek sapphire tank top to my chest and black leather pants against my legs. It’s simple, but hopefully, it’s enough to get Mila off my back.

She looks me up and down. “Pair it with heels, and you’ll knock all those Sigma Sin boys on their asses.”

There’s only one Sigma Sin guy I’m interested in knocking down, and it won’t be for the reasons Mila is thinking.

“No heels, but I’ll consider flats.”

It might not seem like a concession to most, but since I live in sneakers, I can tell she’s considering it.

“Deal.” Mila claps her hands. “I have just the ones. Now, get changed. We leave in twenty minutes, and I still have to drag Patience off the couch and make sense of your hair.”

“Thanks.” I roll my eyes.

Mila shrugs, not apologizing.

I can’t really fault her for trying, especially when I know enough about her past to understand why she’s so adamant about always putting her most perfect self forward.

Mila leaves me alone in her room, and I strip out of my clothes. There are a few flecks of paint on my arms that I have to peel off as I slip into my new outfit. And when I turn to the mirror, I don’t hate what I look like, even if the outfit is skintight and a little obvious.

The tank top hugs my chest, and I’ve ditched my bra on purpose. My ass is nicely shaped by the leather pants, and even without my hair and makeup done, there’s no denying the outfit does wonders for my nonexistent curves. Whatever version of me Declan is expecting tonight, this girl in the mirror isn’t her.

Not that this is for him.

Or… maybe it is… a little.

I want to reel him in, and this outfit is the perfect bait.

Declan Pierce might think he’s in control, but I’m not the submissive little pet he wants me to be. He’s going to get what’s coming to him.

For lying to me. For manipulating me. For having the nerve to use my body against me.

Tonight, Declan is going to pay. And I’m going to enjoy it.