Boarding with the Bad Boy [COMPLETE + BONUS published edition]

Talulah's (Part 3)

Early chapter, because receiving the gifts of your votes and comments this weekend made me want to give a gift to all of you! xxc

---

I don't look back as I step off the patio into the grass of the yard, taking the slight incline at a run. My boots slide in the grass, but I don't slow once I'm on flat ground again. By the time I turn the corner of the huge house and see the long driveway leading to the road, I'm flat out running. The street has just come into view as my boot catches on something in the pavement, and I tuck and roll into a somersault, landing hard on my side. I can tell I've torn my jeans.

"Are you kidding me?" I say to no one as I push myself off the ground and continue at a slightly slower gait.

"Grey!" I don't have to turn to know it's Sam, and I'm not slowing down either. I ignore him. The driveway hadn't seemed this long on our way in.

Sam calls my name again and I can hear a thickness in his voice, like his mouth is swollen. Well, good. He deserves to take a couple hits for talking shit about me all over school when all I ever did was try to make the roommate thing easy on him.

I can hear him catching up to me, but I can see my truck too. I unlock it and just as he's about to catch me, I kick into high gear, running full-throttle toward it.

"Grey, stop!"

"Stay away from me!" I cry, spinning. He's right on my tail and I turn on him so fast his momentum almost sends him into me. "Don't you get that I don't want to be around you?" My voice is shrill in the night; I don't sound like me.

"I'm taking you back to school," Sam says.

"No, you're not. You're not taking me anywhere. You're turning around and going back into that party with Brandon and Miranda Foley, and when you get back to MacMillan I promise I'll be gone and we'll never have to put up with each other again." A sob rises in my throat and I fight to keep it down, blinking rapidly against the tears forming without permission.

I can't see Sam's eyes in the dark, but I can tell by the set of his jaw that he's not backing down so easily. "Jesus Christ, Grey. You're so fucking blind."

"Yeah, I got that. Also stupid, pathetic, a bitch, and a slut. And, right now, I'm teetering on the brink of going completely fucking insane. So get the hell away from me."

I turn back to my truck and yank the handle, pulling the door open. Sam pushes it shut from behind me, his body coming up too close, crowding me in.

"I said 'get away from me.'" I spin against him and press my back to the car door for leverage. My hands go to his chest, head, and shoulders as I strike out at him. I'm coming undone, and Sam is caging me in, making it worse. He brings his hands up to cover my fists, bringing them together and lowering them away from him. I buck against the door of the truck and thrust my body into his, hoping to knock him off balance enough that I can get in and slam the door before he has a chance to stop me again. When he doesn't budge, I let out a low growl of desperation and wrench my hands from his, lifting them to strike out again.

"Logan—"

"Don't call me that." I hate the way my voice sounds.

"Logan." He emphasizes it. "Stop fighting me."

"Stop making me fight you. Walk away."

"You're not driving anywhere like this."