Extra Credit | Complete

23

"Now," I said. "If you'll excuse me, I have to pee."

"Do you want me to come with?" Ella offered. Her hand grazed my wrist before I could move out of the crowded living room.

I waved her off, shouting a quick, "don't worry about it" as I headed towards the stairs.

The line outside the washroom was short. I guess most people found other, more creative places, to relieve themselves instead of having to wait. When it was my turn, I took my time, using the facilities before fixing my makeup in the mirror. I relished in the amount of personal space I had now that I was locked away from the rest of the party-goers. It was nice not having sweaty bodies brushing up against mine, even if it was only for a little while.

Taking in a breath, I opened the bathroom door and prepared myself to re-enter the chaos. Once the door clicked shut behind me, I silently wished I had stayed there.

"Well hello again."

The foul smell of rum caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise. I straighten my posture, trying to seem unphased by the body millimetres from mine. His chest was puffed in bravado, his head a few inches above mine.

"Didn't I just tell you to leave me alone?"

He hummed, tapping a finger to his chin. "I don't recall."

There was a slight slur to his words and a glint in his eye. It was enough to cause warning bells to go off in my mind. I side stepped, moving into the middle of the hallway so that my back was no longer pressed against the door.

"Really? Because if I remember correctly, my friend told you to crawl back under the rock you came from." I attempted to move around him and into an area of the house with more people around.

He mirrored me, blocking my path. His blue eyes sparked at my words. "Ahh, yes. You're friends with the rude cunt." He placed a hand over the white wife beater he was wearing. "She really hurt my feelings."

"That's really unfortunate," I murmured, trying to move around him again.

"Maybe you can make it up to me."

I couldn't fight the panic that was rising in my chest. "No, I have friends waiting for me downsta—"

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes."

Without hesitation his calloused hand snaked around my wrist. No one would be able to hear me over the music, but was he drunk enough that I could fight him off long enough to get away? Until someone else came up to use the bathroom? Maybe I could slip his bandana down enough to cover his eyes and run back down the stairs to safety?

I drew in a shuddering breath, preparing to put some sort of half-baked plan in motion.

"She said no," a rough voice emitted from behind me.

The guy in the criminal costume leered over my head before he brought his glossy gaze back down to me. "How many bodyguards do you have?"

I took a step back, tugging my wrist out of the stranger's grasp. It was weird to say, but I felt Lincoln's presence before he uttered a word in that dimly lit hallway. There was something about him that my body recognized. A buzz of energy that was indescribable. I took another step back, moving closer to him on instinct. His hard chest brushed up against my back. My body flashed with heat at his proximity.

"Why don't you fuck off?" The guy in front of me growled, spit landing on my face. "We're busy."

"Like hell you are Silva," Lincoln bit back, positioning me behind him.

"You're such a fucking bore. We were just going to have some fun."

Lincoln didn't respond, but his shoulders were tense. His hands scrunched into tight fists before releasing.

"Come on Pierce. How about this..." Silva started, a scummy smile breaking out across his face. "Let me have a go at her, then I'll leave you two alone and you can have your turn."

Lincoln barrelled towards him, ramming Silva against the wall next to the bathroom door. The wall cracked under the pressure, a fracture line appearing behind his head. Lincoln's hand white-knuckled around Silva's throat. Despite his face turning a sickening shade of red, Silva smiled. It was a sickly grin that made me consider his sanity.

"Lincoln!"

If he heard me, he didn't react. Instead his hard gaze bore into Silva's. "Don't—not for one second—think that I'm anything like you."

"I think we're more alike than you care to believe," Silva sputtered, still grinning.

Silva's back was stretched straight to meet Lincoln's stormy gaze. The two were in a deadbolt. Lincoln held on for a tormenting moment longer. Then released Silva's throat, but stayed rooted to his spot. Silva greedily sucked in the stale air of the sorority house. His hand rubbed at his neck. The pair were still chest to chest, continuing their stare-down.

The tension in the narrow hall was too much. I held my own breath, hoping that nothing would escalate further.

Thankfully, I didn't have to hold on much longer.

"I'll see you around." Silva shoved at Lincoln's chest, creating a sliver more of space between them. The pair kept eye contact until he descended down the stairs. From the railing, I watched as Silva snaked through the group of people at the bottom before leaving the house all together.

I drew in a calming breath. Adrenaline caused slight tremors to rack my body. Lincoln remained where he was. His eyes trained on the fresh crack in the wall.

A pregnant moment passed. The two of us standing alone in the dim hallway. "Lincoln?"

I was about to approach him, thank him for helping me, but before I could say anything further he was walking away.

* * * * *

author's note:

Silva's back and messing things up already.

I hope this chapter made up for the two short ones before it! Let me know what you're thinking and if you liked this update of Extra Credit. We're almost at 10k reads! I'm so excited about that. To celebrate reaching the halfway point of this story I'll be hosting a AMA over on my Instagram  next Friday! I can't believe we're already almost halfway there. If you would like to ask me a question about this story (or anything!) go and follow me over on Instagram @luisadituriauthor and keep an eye out for the AMA post in my story.

It's a rollercoaster from here on out.

Have an amazing weekend!