Free Psycho Ex Boyfriend (Standalone New Adult Romance) (The Alpha Brotherhood Book 2) by Ember Chase

kind of rude, especially considering that Lindsay is very quiet and nice. Plus she wears a lot of ponytails. Maybe I should go back.
    “Hi.”
    I round another corner and find myself face to face with Adam, who hasn’t as much as looked at me in the past two weeks. Except for that random outburst last period, which just made everything even more awkward.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “Giving you a place to hide.” With a sly grin, he looks around to see if anyone is looking and pulls a keyring from his pocket. “C’mon.”
    There’s a door in the rear wall between two shelves, which I always assumed was some kind of storage closet, but hoped lead to a network of secret passageways through the walls and perhaps underground to a hidden wizard’s lair.
    Illusion shattered. It’s a storage closet. “How did you get a key for this room?” I ask him.
    “Trade secret,” Adam replies. I put my hands on my hips and stare at him, refusing to take that for an answer. “It’s a master key. I swiped it from the janitor’s closet down by the gym when he wasn’t looking on the second day.”
    “Of course you did.”
    There are piles and piles of books in here. Some stacks have like a hundred copies of the same title, probably for when the entire freshmen class gets the same reading assignment like we do every other week. There’s also a small window that could really use some Windex. Turning my back to Adam, I walk over to it and clean a little patch in the corner so I can look outside, which is where I’d rather be sitting right now.
    “You can’t let them get to you,” he says quietly.
    “I know.”
    “And… Look, I know it’s tempting, but don’t start crying. Your eyes will be swollen. They’ll be able to tell and it will just add fuel to the fire.”
    Crying? “What are you talking about?” I ask, not turning to look at him.
    “I… I don’t know,” Adam stammers. “That ignorant bullshit seemed like it would be overwhelming.”
    “I’m used to being the odd one out.” I can’t help but chuckle. “They’re just curious. Now, the comments that my father’s passive aggressive side of the family make after drinking too much at Thanksgiving? That’s ignorance.”
    I sense a change in the air and my muscles tense. Without spinning around, I know that he’s right behind me. “So you’re alright?” he whispers.
    “Is that why you snuck me in here?” I huff. Even though I know he’s there, I’m still startled by the closeness when I turn. “To see if I’m okay so that you can go back to completely ignoring me? I’m fine. I’m always going to be just fine. So take your guilt or concern or whatever the hell this is and let it go.”
    “I can’t. Not with you.”
    His dark eyes stare into mine as he takes a step even closer, virtually pinning me into the corner. But I’m not afraid, my heart pounding faster and faster as my breathing gets shallow. Tentatively, his hand raises to my face, his fingers gently tracing along my hairline until they’re toying with my puffy, over combed curls. They were so perfect yesterday. Why couldn’t I be rocking that hair for this moment?
    “I knew your hair would be soft,” he murmurs.
    “You’re supposed to ask someone’s permission before you touch them, you know.”
    “I can’t do that either.” Without warning, his lips crash into mine, his hand curling around my neck, leaving just his thumb on my jaw. “Not with you.”
    I don’t get a word in before his mouth is on mine again. My eyes flutter closed as my back presses against the solid wall and Adam runs his tongue across the seam of my lips, coaxing them apart.
    He groans when I wrap my arms around him, withdrawing with a shudder that seems to surprise him as much as it does me. Adam stumbles backwards, grabbing the back of his neck where I touched him like he’s been stung by a bee.
    The light through the window catches his eyes as they fall to the floor. They’re a little glassy.