Perfect Opposite by Zoya Tessi Read Free Book Online

just a second before he got to it and brought the palm of his hand down with a thud. Backing away, I eventually felt the edge of the bed behind my legs and collapsed in a heap.
    You idiot, who knows how many people he’s killed just for looking at him the wrong way, and here you’ve just bitten the guy.
    “Tomorrow morning, Princess...” I heard Alex’s voice from the other side of the door, “...we’re going straight to the pet store to buy you a nice muzzle.”
    “Hah! Very funny!”
    “We'll choose a pink one. It’ll match your outfit.”
    “Get lost!” I took a pillow from the bed and launched it at the door with all my strength.
    Given the way things were going, I decided it was best to stay locked in my room, so I stretched out and reached over for my laptop. I started going over the some essay that was due the next week, when the sound of Beth giggling came through from the living room. For a while I tried in vain to concentrate, but then I squeezed the laptop shut, changed into an old shirt of Tyler’s and went to sleep on an empty stomach.

Chapter 3 - An Important Lesson
     
    The alarm had been ringing for a full five minutes when I finally reached out a hand, felt around for the phone and tossed it across the bed. It was time to face another day in hell.
    Sliding out from under the quilt, I dragged myself to the bathroom, turned on the shower and stepped in. Slowly turning the faucet from hot over to cold and letting the water flow over me, I felt myself growing more alert.
    Oh, it would be so good to imagine all my problems somehow disappearing with the water.
    Riding this wave of optimism , I remembered that once there would have been three goons following me, but now there was only Alex.
    I mean, how much mess could one person actually make? I’ll just pretend that he’s not even there. He’ll be gone soon, anyway.
    Lifted by these positive thoughts on leaving the bathroom and heading down the hall, I’ve almost convinced myself that things might soon go back to normal. That bubble burst the second I entered the kitchen.
    Reality hit me in form of a huge tattooed guy dressed only in baggy cargo pants, kicking back in my home, drinking my coffee and, it seemed from his face, planning new ways of disrupting my life. Looking like he’d really made himself at home, Alex was sitting at the kitchen table, flicking through a newspaper. Though the room was actually pretty big, he seemed to fill it, and the once familiar space felt suddenly cramped and hostile. It was obvious he’d heard me enter when he turned his cold gray eyes in my direction.
    It seemed so strange that someone could make you want to hot tail it and run just by glancing over, while at the same time part of you felt like jumping right into his lap. That was really annoying feeling.
    Maybe you should stop staring at his chest, like you’ve never seen shirtless man before!
    I quickly looked over at a box of cereal on the counter, but then only shook my head and poured some milk into a glass. Even though I’d felt like I could eat a horse a few minutes earlier, my appetite was suddenly gone.
    “Is that what you call breakfast?”
    ”You have a problem with that?” I turned and found Alex studying me over the top of his newspaper
    “You can’t just have milk for breakfast. Make a sandwich or eat some fruit.”
    “And when did I hire you as my nutritionist?”
    Hands on hips, I lowered my eyebrows and gave him a seriously dark look. Ignoring the sarcasm in my voice, he only shrugged and went back to reading the news.
    “You're not getting out of here till you eat some real food.”
    “Really? Just watch me.”
    I brought the glass down on the counter with a bang and turned to leave, but Alex was too fast and in two strides he filled the doorway, barring my way with both hands on the frame.
    “Get out of my way or you'll regret it,” I hissed, remotely aware of how dumb it must sound.
    When he only shook his head and gestured