Rooming With The Enemy Alpha

4. What Hurts The Most

(Danielle)

Mr. Boston looked like he had an agenda. What the hell? Why did he even care that we fought? I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out what his game was.

“Why do I have to?” I blurted, even though I knew I should’ve just shut up.

“Because I said so,” Mr. Boston replied, looking smug as hell. Aaron muttered something under his breath, eyes burning like wildfire.

“The one you have, Mr. McCarter, is your first experiment. Ms. Landon, you have the second. Partner up. Don’t mess it up—this will go on your record. I expect results when you’re done.” He didn’t wait for a response before turning on his heel and walking away, leaving me in a confused haze, leaving me all alone with the enemy.

How the hell did he expect me to do this without burning the entire school down? And then I’d go to prison. Or worse.

“The man really hates me. What is he even thinking?” I grumbled under my breath.

“Don’t mess this up, Dani,” Rexi huffed inside my head, rolling her eyes. “I can’t spend another evening trapped in here. I need my time to run.”

I slumped in my seat, defeated, while Aaron confidently strode up to the table and started sorting through the materials.

Know-it-all. Smug bastard.

He gave me one last look before he carefully proceeded to do his experiment.

I silently prayed he’d take pity and just finish the second experiment himself. But no. Of course not. This was going to be revenge—I could feel it in my bones.

"Why are you still sitting there like a lost monkey?" Aaron called out without even looking at me, his tone as smug as ever. "Come here and do your experiment. Or maybe don’t. Stay here another year—get a real feel for failure."

He enjoyed this. He lived for this.

I gritted my teeth, snatched the binder, and walked over with as much dignity as I could muster. I stood next to him, trying to ignore how he smelled like cedar and heat and absolute trouble.

He glanced up just as I leaned forward, and his gaze flicked lower before he quickly looked back at the table.

"He looks too hot doing that," Rexi gasped. "Look at that body."

I stiffened. Nope. Not doing this.

I frowned quickly and pulled my goggles down over my eyes.

"Bent over... in those tight jeans? Girl, if I were him, I’d have combusted already.”

"Rexi, you are an i***t," I hissed, shaking my head with a frown. "Shut up. Not the time. You are not helping."

“I’m just saying what Millie said. We hate him, sure, but he’s still hot as f**k. You can hate someone and want to climb them like a tree.”

"Do not put these thoughts in my head, you stupid, hormonal wolf,” I said with a wince, trying hard not to take another look at his tight ass.

“Oh, please. It’s not like you weren’t already thinking it. I know your thoughts, Dani. I know everything. I know those dreams... too...”

My body burned in humiliation. At least, only she knew these dirty secrets.

I forced myself to tune her out and walked over to the shelf to grab the next reagent. Just as I reached for a container, Aaron snapped his fingers and waved at me like I was some kind of misbehaving child.

“Don’t touch that.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t want you starting a fire. Wait until I finish mixing this. And do not touch anything unless I tell you.”

I crossed my arms. “Thank God you’re not as stupid as you look,” I muttered under my breath, but loud enough for him to hear.

His jaw clenched. I heard his teeth grinding together.

Such a pleasurable sound.

“That’s rich coming from someone who almost drank acetone last week.”

“That was one time.”

“One time too many,” he shot back, carefully swirling the liquid in the beaker. "You're an i***t, Danielle."

“Oh, shut up. My ears hurt."

“Come here,” he finally said, sighing. “This one’s ready. You’ll need to add the HCl slowly while I stir. Don’t screw it up this time, or I will make you drink that damn acid.”

I walked back to him, stopping just a little too close, mostly just to annoy him. “Try not to look so excited, Aaron. People might think you actually like working with me. We wouldn't want that, would we?”

He glanced at me from the side with a frown, one brow arching. “People might think you like working with me.”

We stared at each other for a beat too long—something slow and electric flickering between us—before I broke it with a scoff. I grabbed the beaker from the tray, mumbling, “Let’s just finish this before I stab you with a glass stir rod.”

“Homicidal maniac,” he muttered, not quite under his breath. His eyes narrowed, but the corners of his mouth curved faintly.

“Well, what do you expect?”

“From you? Nothing," he said with a frown, his eyes throwing daggers.

“Good.”

I gripped the small bottle of hydrochloric acid and moved toward next to him. My palms were sweaty, my heart thudding from adrenaline and… okay, maybe from proximity too. I couldn't stop thinking about what Rexi said, and it was becoming harder to breathe now. I wished... I wish I didn't have these awful feelings left over for him. Still. Even after all these years, even after pain and hatred and hurt.

Aaron leaned slightly over the counter, stirring the contents of the first beaker with practiced ease.

I tried to focus, lifting the HCl bottle carefully over the lip of the second beaker, trying hard not to breathe in his scent. My fingers shook much to my displeasure.

“You need to be steady,” he said quietly, his voice calm but firm, like he was trying not to piss me off more than I already was.

"I am trying,” I bit out, focusing hard as I opened the bottle of hydrochloric acid and measured it with a graduated cylinder before pouring it into the beaker. He gave me a curt nod.

“That's it for now. Measure another five ml," he said to me before turning to do what he did best.

I took a steadying breath and began to pour the hydrochloric acid from the graduated cylinder, slow and focused, careful not to burn myself.

My hands were tense but holding. I didn’t blink. I didn’t breathe.

Then—

Something skittered across my leg.

It was fast. Cold. Furry?

Fuck.

Startled, I jumped instinctively with a gasp, eyes snapping down to see a f*****g spider with a wince.

The cylinder tilted too far. The acid sloshed over the rim, splashing across the back of my glove and trailing up to my exposed wrist.

“Oh. s**t! Son of a gun!” I hissed as my skin burned like they were on fire.

“Danielle!” Aaron said, alarmed.

I staggered back, dropping the cylinder into the sink with a clatter and clutching my wrist.

“It’s burning—f**k. Oh.”

Why does things like this always happen to me?

Aaron was already there. His hand wrapped around my arm firmly but not harshly, guiding me toward the emergency rinse station like he’d done this before.

“Gloves off. Now.” His voice was all command, no hesitation.

“I—I’m fine, I just—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. I was not fine. “I can do it—” I protested weakly.

“Don’t argue,” he snapped, turning on the water with one hand and guiding mine under the freezing stream with the other.

I stripped the glove with trembling fingers, hissing as the cool air hit the reddened skin.

He turned on the tap and angled my wrist beneath it, holding it there with both hands as the water poured over the chemical burn.

His touch was strangely gentle, and my stomach clenched.

“You okay?” he asked, jaw tight, eyes scanning my face like he was checking for something worse.

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know what stunned me more—the pain or the way he looked at me like I mattered.

“I told you to be steady,” he muttered, but there was no venom in it. Just concern.

“That spider was out for blood,” I breathed out, still shaking.

Aaron blinked, then glanced down at the floor with a frown. “You spilled acid because of a bug?”

“It touched me!” I snapped, water dripping from my fingers.

He let out a short breath—something between a laugh and a sigh. Then his hand brushed a strand of hair away from my cheek.

“You’re such a menace,” he whispered, but his eyes betrayed him—soft, intense, burning like he hated how much he cared.

He was standing so close, head bent beside mine, hair falling over his brow as he checked the skin around the burn.

The silence stretched between us. His jaw was tight, his expression unreadable—but there was something in his eyes. Something real.

“You okay?” he asked, voice low, rougher than usual.

I shrugged, pulling my hand away from him. If I stood there another second, I might do something stupid.

"You need go see Nurse Lilly."

"I will," I said, turning away from him.

"Wait, I will come."

"No. I can go by myself. You finish the experiment," I bit out, blinking back my tears.

When he was being an asshole, it was easy to hate him back, hurt him back, pretend like his words couldn't hurt me, but now...

"Danielle..."

“Aaron, you don’t have to keep pretending you care. You wanted me hurt, didn’t you? Well… here I am. Hurt, just like you wanted.”

“I—”

I didn’t let him finish. With a breath that felt like it might crack my ribs, I turned and walked out.

I had had enough of Aaron McCarter for a day!

___