AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Felicia was slower to leave this time with a lingering look at Rowdy like she hoped he’d be overcome with lust and bend her over the table.
I’d only ever seen him lose his composure like that with me.
Even while out of his comfort zone and not knowing how to behave on a date, Rowdy wisely pretended to be oblivious. I guess me trying to cave his skull in with a golf club taught him not to play with me.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you something,” he said after taking a sip of his drink.
“Keep it brief,” I said, throwing his words back at him.
“Funny.” He licked his lips, drawing my attention to them. “Why did you need a break from school?”
My heart stopped as he patiently waited for what he probably assumed was a simple answer but was secretly laced with pain. “What do you mean?”
“Most girls your age are in college chasing some bullshit degree, studying abroad, or partying with their little friends. Why aren’t you?”
I stared at the clean white tablecloth so that he wouldn’t see me mentally struggling to keep the lid on the box holding all the memories of my father and shrugged. “Just some stuff.”
“Like what, baby?” I could tell it was an effort for him to remain patient while making it clear he wasn’t letting me hide anymore. I’d unknowingly traded my secrets when I agreed to this date with him.
“Well, you already know I, um, I caught my best friend and boyfriend together.”
Rowdy’s gaze searched my face, and I could tell it wasn’t what he expected me to say. My gut told me Roc had ratted me out to Rowdy. By now, I was sure all the Kings knew my father was dead. “They were fucking?”
A tear slipped free as I nodded, but I knew it wasn’t for Sutton and Sienna. Their betrayal was just another reminder of how alone I’d been before Idlewild and the Kings.
“I was already living my worst nightmare when I walked in on them. They were all I had left, and theyknew it, but they still—” I drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “They still did that to me.” I guess Sutton’s and Sienna’s feelings for each other were stronger than their care for me. “I couldn’t handle seeing them around campus together, smiling, happy, and in love like they hadn’t stepped all over me to get there, and I knew no one would miss me if I just disappeared, so that’s what I did. I dropped my classes, hopped in my car, and drove…here.”
It was the truth—if only part of it.
I didn’t mention the letter that had led me straight into the heart of their den. I’d gotten it the same day my eyes were opened to Sutton and Sienna’s betrayal. I’d rushed to the dorm I shared with Sienna to ask her advice and walked in on my best friend since third grade, moaning and bouncing all over my high school sweetheart’s dick like there was no tomorrow. In all the years since Sutton had taken my virginity, I had never ridden his stubby little dick with that much enthusiasm.
I remembered standing there in disbelief as I watched them fuck each other inmybed but not much else.
One moment, I was standing in the doorway, that damn letter falling to the floor forgotten, and the next, I had a fist full of Sienna’s quick weave as I yanked her off my bed and my man. I must have dragged her naked body out into the hall where I beat her ass in front of the entire co-ed dorm because that was where I was when the haze lifted, and I realized I’d been pinned to the wall by my RA and two other girls from my floor while my boyfriend of four years cradled Sienna’s naked body protectively.
I remembered his lips moving as he yelled something at me, but not what he said. I remembered Sienna sobbing like she was the goddamn victim and everyone who had witnessed the fight eyeing me like I was crazy.
I didn’t, however, remember being escorted to the associate director of housing conduct’s office. I didn’t remember the conversation that ended with me being banned from campus living for violating the school’s no-nonsense policy on violence or having three days to pack my things before returning to the desolate husk that used to be my parents’ home.
It was as if my rage and sorrow had me checking in and out to protect me from the parts that hurt too much to bear.
I guess I should have been grateful that I hadn’t been expelled altogether, but I dropped all my classes anyway, so fuck your silver linings.
Sutton and Sienna could have each other.
Somehow, I knew Rowdy wouldn’t judge me or look at me differently, so I laid it all out for him, every sordid detail, and when I was done, he didn’t say a word. He just pulled me into his lap in front of the entire restaurant and kissed away my tears.
“Why was it the worst time of your life?”
I sniffled and absently traced the black and gold medusa on his expensive crew knit sweater. The top of a white button-up was peeking out the collar, making him look like the kind of guy you’d take home to meet your father. Except I never could. “Huh?”
“Before, you said you were already living your worst nightmare. Why?”
“Oh.” I kept my gaze on his chest so the depth of my pain stayed locked inside where it couldn’t destroy me. “My dad died.” A little bitterly, I added, “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Dream.” I shook my head, already knowing what he wanted. “Look at me.”
“I can’t.” I sobbed before throwing my arms around his neck and hiding my face there. “I miss him so much.”
