Be Mine, Always

Chapter Two

Xander’s POV Eight Years Ago

        She was the sweetest girl I had ever seen. The moment she stepped into the classroom, a bookbag hung low down her back, book clutched to her chest, I knew she was too sweet for the likes of me. But I had to have her. 

        She took a seat and the only empty one was right behind me. 

        I turned and smiled at her, resting my back against the concrete wall. "Hey." I studied her, blonde hair frizzy and coarse, the strands in a state between wavy and straight. The book she had looked like a romance. 

        She raised one fair eyebrow. "Hi?" The cadence of her voice was like a warm blanket around my nerves and soothed my perpetual need to be moving, my ever bouncing leg stilled. 

        “I am Xander and one day you’ll be mine.” I had to say the words. There was nothing more that I wanted her to know that she would be mine, that from the second she stepped through the threshold of the classroom she belonged to me. 

        An adorable flush crept over her pale features and male satisfaction gripped me in a chokehold as I knew the reason for the discoloration on her skin. “That’s presumptuous of you,” she said, tucking strands of her hair behind her ear. 

        I shrugged. “It’s true.” 

        She rolled her sparkling green eyes and turned her attention to the teacher explaining a worksheet and telling us to partner up. Lucky for me, I am someone people in class don’t fuck with and when they even glance at the new girl, I give one glare and the thought of taking her from me is gone. 

        She sighed as she signed her name at the top of the worksheet, her handwriting a beautiful looping scrawl of cursive. Melody, a beautiful name for the breathtaking girl in front of me. She peeked at me beneath her lashes. “I prefer to work alone,” she said. 

        “You haven't read the material yet and I am more than happy to help you, beautiful.” 

        Red splotches took over her face and I chuckled beneath my breath as I leaned my forearms against her desk. “What book are you reading, Melody?” I asked, reaching for her book. 

        Quickly, she swatted my hand and yanked the novel into her lap and out of my reach. “None of your business,” she gritted between clenched teeth. 

        Amused, I took her pen and rolled the warm metal between my fingers. “Is it a sexy book?” 

        Sucking in a harsh breath she clutched the book, knuckles turning white. “Of course not.” She hissed, glancing at the other students around us, so absorbed in themselves they didn't notice her tomato red face. 

        I chuckled. “It is, isn’t it? You know, it’s the shy quiet ones people have to watch out for, they’re the dirtiest of us all.” I winked and the small action had her seething. 

        When the bell rang, she gathered her things so fast and sped from the classroom, but it didn’t take much to find her in the lunchroom, alone. 

        Oh this was too much fun. 

        I grabbed lunch from the line, a long pizza with square pepperonis, milk and a healthy side of corn. My friends sat back and watched as I approached Melody, the girl’s face tucked in a book with a shirtless man. Her situational awareness was abysmal, if she had been paying attention she would have sensed my presence at her back, reading over her shoulder. I kept my breathing quiet and almost at a stand still so she wouldn’t feel it against her hair.