Blaine
The stadium is crammed full tonight.
I hate places like this as it feels like I can’t breathe, and yet I was so desperate to get some distance from the academy, I agreed.
Clutching a hot dog in one hand and a large beer in a paper cup in the other, I follow Archer to our seats. I don’t normally drink beer, but this kind of place doesn’t serve scotch. “You guarantee there aren’t any students here, right?”
Arch’s brow raises. “Why does it matter if there is?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You said-”
“I know, but I lied.”
“Fuck,” I murmur, running a hand over the back of my neck. “Miss Vasquez is here, isn’t she?”
He shrugs. “I may have overheard that she’s coming to the game tonight, yes.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you.”
His brow furrows. “Why does it matter to you, anyway?”
It matters because if Adrianna is here, then it’s highly likely Azira will be, too.
We don’t exactly discuss our private lives or what we’re doing in our free time. Our relationship up to now has been purely physical, and that’s how it must stay.
“Because you make out like you just want a night out and it’s all bullshit. You want to sink your hooks into a girl, and that’s the only reason we’re here.”
He smirks. “I’m pretty sure my hooks are already firmly in place.”
“Are you telling me you’ve already fucked her?”
He shrugs. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
I sigh heavily and shuffle past some people to get to our seat. And then I feel a shock zap through me at the sight of Azira sitting in the seat in front of me with Rizzo Bianchi. He has his arm draped over her shoulders as if they are together.
Rage slams into me as I clench my fists so hard I squish my hotdog and spill my beer on the floor and my shoes as the paper cup crushes.
“Bly, what the fuck?” Archer asks, staring at me as if I’ve gone insane.
Adrianna is also not alone, sitting next to Azira with Nikolai Krushev. On the other side of Rizzo, Alex and Natalya are sitting there, as well as Rosa and Aleks.
“It looks like your hooks aren’t as deep as you thought,” I say, nodding toward her.
His eyes narrow when he sees her. “Motherfucker.”
I lean forward and tap Azira on the shoulder. “May I ask what you are doing here, Miss Sidorov?”
Her body turns rigid at the sound of my voice.
Rizzo’s arm slides off her shoulders as he turns to face me. “Hey professor, we’re just enjoying the game. That’s not against school rules, is it?”
Azira turns to face me and when she looks into my eyes, I can see the fear in them. “Yes, just enjoying the game.”
“And who cleared you to leave school grounds?” I ask.
Archer is glaring right at Adrianna as she smirks back at him.
“Principal Byrne gave us permission,” Adrianna says, digging into her pocket for something and producing a permission slip to hand over to me.
I could kill Oak right about now for this shit, and I’m surprised he approved Adrianna’s slip as she’s clearly trying to get under Archer’s skin, attending with Nik. It’s obvious from the look on her face she planned this and ensured he overhead that she was attending tonight.
“I find that hard to believe that he’d approve an outing for a student who has been constantly in detention lately,” I say, fixing my gaze on Azira.
She shrugs. “My name is on the slip, just like everyone else’s.”
My little masochist is going to get a serious punishment for this stunt. She’ll be lucky if I don’t murder Rizzo for this shit.
“Well then,” I say, glaring at her. “Enjoy the game.”
She nods. “Thanks, you too.”
She doesn’t address me as sir, which also grates on my last nerves. I watch powerlessly as she turns back to face the front, Rizzo’s arm slipping back onto her shoulder. He doesn’t glance her way, though; I notice he looks at Rosa, who quickly looks in the opposite direction.
Arch leans toward me. “Vasquez is playing games with me.”
I smirk. “About time a girl put you in your place.”
He growls at that, fists balled as if he wants to have a punch up with me or anyone in the immediate vicinity. “She’ll regret this, mark my words.”
It’s exactly the same thing I was thinking about Azira as I sit in my seat and take a bite of my squashed hot dog. The punishment I intend to dole out to her for attending anything with any other man is going to be epic. If she believes that she’s seen how sadistic I can get, then she’s wrong on so many levels.
The rage only feeds the darkness. A darkness that has a mind of its own. Since that fated day at the strip club, I haven’t felt it this close to the surface, demanding to break free, which is proof enough that Azira is a danger I should have steered clear of.
I watch as she leans toward Rizzo. “I’m going to head to the bathroom. Do you want another drink while I’m up?”
He turns his head toward her for the first time since I sat down. “Sure, sounds good.” And then he turns his attention back to the game, although steals a quick glance at Rosa first, who appears to be doing everything in her power not to look in his direction.
Azira stands and shimmies her way out of the aisle and the darkness rises inside of me. Run, malishka, because I’m going to hunt you down and find you.
Her second biggest mistake of the day is leaving her seat, as there’s nothing that could stop me from following her and punishing her right here and now. She won’t know what has hit her by the time I’m through with her.