CHAPTER 46: TWO COULD PLAY THE GAME

Julian’s POV

I left Ethan’s house that night with my sanity hanging by a thread. He and Tessa continuously had sex in loud, shameless ways. It may seem as if they were apparently determined to make the neighbors file a complaint.

Every moan and every creak of the bedframe only made it worse for me because all I could hear in my head was Catherine’s voice and those soft gasps she’d let whenever I touched her.

I slammed Ethan’s door shut behind me and drove home like I was running from my own thoughts.

When I got in, Lucy was in the living room. She looked up and her eyes brightened like she’d been waiting for me.

"Hey," she said softly, moving to stand. "Where were you? You didn’t even text me..."

"Not in the mood, Lucy." I cut her short, still making my way to the staircase.

Her face fell. "Oh."

I didn’t try to explain. I just continued moving.

The next morning, everyone was already at the dining table when I came down. They all looked up when I entered, and for a second, my eyes almost met hers but I wasn’t ready for that.

I turned around and headed straight for the door.

"Julian?" Lucy’s voice trailed after me. "Won’t you have breakfast before heading out?"

I ignored her, walked outside, got into my car and drove off.

At school, though, I couldn’t keep running from it. From her. The silence between us was crawling under my skin.

Was this what obsession felt like?

Just then I spotted her in the hallway, head down, her hair falling forward as she flipped through her notes, and something inside me clicked. Screw this avoidance game. I was done.

"Catherine," I called.

She stopped immediately, then turned, looking at me with that carefully neutral expression that pissed me off more than an insult ever could.

"Julian," she said, like we were two people on perfectly civil terms.

That fake calm of hers was a weapon, and she knew it.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"I have a test coming up," she replied. "I was actually going to study."

"I can help." The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Her brows lifted. "Help me study?"

"Yeah. You don’t have to act so surprised. I can be useful when I want to be."

Her lips curved slightly, like she was fighting a smile or maybe it was mockery. "I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just prefer studying in the library."

"The library’s not exactly a great place to talk," I said.

"Then I guess we won’t talk."

I stared at her, jaw tightening. She was doing this on purpose.

"Fine," I muttered. "Library it is."

She gave me that infuriatingly polite nod and started walking. When we got there, she picked a quiet corner and spread her books out like she planned to stay all day. I sat across from her, watching as she flipped a page, pretending I wasn’t there.

"You sure you don’t need help?" I asked after a while.

She didn’t answer.

"Catherine," I tried calling her again but she still didn’t look up, instead she picked her phone and texted someone while smiling.

Damn it!

I leaned forward slightly. "You really brought me here just to ignore me?"

She raised her eyes to me like she was bored. "You offered to help. I didn’t ask you to."

I forced a calm tone, but it came out rough. "Then why agree to come at all?"

She didn’t answer with words, she just looked up and shrugged her shoulders, that’s when it hit me that she was doing this deliberately.

Fine. I decided to stay silent, with my arms crossed, pretending I didn’t care while she kept writing and not for once did she spare a glance at me. It bruised my ego.

She finally closed her notebook and stood without a word, stacking her books neatly.

"That’s it?" I asked.

She didn’t even look at me. "That’s it." She answered before she turned and walked away.

The chair screeched as I stood, following her out of the library. My patience was done.

Once we were outside, I caught up and grabbed her arm, not roughly, just enough to stop her. "What the hell was that in there?"

She turned, looking at me like I was crazy. "What was what?"

I clenched my jaw. "You ignoring me like that."

Her lips twitched, and then she leaned closer, so close her breath touched my neck. "It was punishment," she whispered.

"For what exactly?" My eyes shot down.

"For not speaking to me for a full day," the way she said it was sweet, and dangerous, it messed with my head.

And wow, I hadn’t expected that reply.

She was toying with me, and damn it, she was good at it.

I was about to reply, to give her a piece of my mind, when she smiled suddenly and said, "Save your breath. My boyfriend’s here to pick me up."

The word boyfriend hit like a slap and just immediately, I heard the bastard’s voice.

"Baby!"

Ugh! Collins now addressed her as "baby"? Weren’t they moving too fast?

She turned toward him with the brightest smile I’d seen from her since today. The sight of it did something to my chest I couldn’t explain. She ran up to him, books tucked against her chest, and when he reached her, he kissed her right there.

It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was enough to make my blood boil, to make my fists clench so tight I felt my knuckles crack. My jaw locked.

I could feel something dark clawing at the inside of my ribs. It wasn’t jealousy. I refused to call it that. It was just ... irritation. The same irritation that had been burning since the day she walked into my life and started flipping everything upside down.

But when she looked over her shoulder, catching my stare for half a second before turning away, I tried to mask my emotions with a smile.

She wanted to punish me? Fine. Two could play that game.