“I think you’re right, Nancy Drew”.
SIXTEEN
ASHER
Have you ever gazed at someone and been hit with emotions that are in complete contradiction to each other?
Because that’s what I feel every time I lay eyes on her.
On one hand Ruella makes my heart race, sets fire to my blood and fills me with an intense need to be in her presence. I want to have her scent stuck to me like it was last weekend after that night in the billiards room. I want to feel her skin on mine, and most sickeningly, I want to know what she looks like when the morning sun shines through my bedroom window and casts a warm glow around her.
But then there’s the other side, the side that hates everything she represents, the side that wants to break her until the façade dissolves and the truth oozes out. Because I know all she offers is lies, and no matter how hard I try to unravel her secrets, they are locked up tight.
I have never met a problem I can’t solve. I am a Vander after all. But with her… It is like I am constantly flailing around for the missing piece of the puzzle.
I have come to learn that Ruella Griffith is both a complete stranger and what feels like the other half to my soul living outside of my body. And she will either be the making of me or my ruin.
Like now, while I watch her from my usual spot in the dining hall, as she laughs with Corden and Deena. I have the intense need to make my way over to her and I have no reason to. I have so much on my plate,assignments, lacrosse, the business. And yet, I still find myself wanting to sit with her and chat utter shit like the other night. Even after the awkward kiss, I still left feeling lighter than I have felt in a long time, and that had everything to do with Ruella.
I say awkward kiss, but I don’t mean the kiss itself. That was phenomenal.
I’m not much of a man to take pleasure from just kissing, it has always been the appetiser to the main event. But with my little vixen, my world has forever been changed. As soon as she gave back as much as I put into her, I felt…
I shake my head and snort to myself.
What the fuck am I thinking.
I need to shake this feeling like she clearly has. She has been avoiding me and I am not this sad sappy git who pines after a girl after one fucking kiss.
I run my hand through my hair as Daylan pushes his now empty plate to the side. Jacob sits next to him, his Russian accent low but cutting as he talks on the phone.
“What’s going on Ash?” Daylan asks while resting his elbows on the dark wooden table.
“Nothing. Why?” I take a sip of my water before resting back in my chair.
“You have been distracted all week. We need you clear headed for the game tonight,”
He’s not wrong, I have been distracted, and it has shown at every practice this week. Between my parents, Ruella and how she somehow turned into an investigator, and then trying to locate Bronwyn in the states, since that’s where her shitty parents say she ran off too. Bishop has been unable to find any evidence that she ever left the country, andknowing what I know, there is only one plausible explanation. My chest constricts as the images flash through my mind. Then comes the regret followed by utter fury. I thought I had ended this. Turns out it was a bigger operation than I first thought.
“ASH,” I startle at Jacobs voice.
“Yeah?”
“Where did you go?” His bushy brows are furrowed.
“Sorry,” I run my hands down my face. “I’ve had shitty week,”
“More like a shitty term,” Daylan grunts.
“You can say that again,” I huff. “Was that your uncle?” I ask Jacob to try and get back to what is important.
“Yeah,” He sighs. “He says there’s an auction coming up, but the details haven’t been released yet,” Fury flashes through me at the thought of it.
“But other than that,” Jacob continues. “He doesn’t know who is working from here,”
“And his undercover guy?”
“Still nothing from him yet but he will let us know if anything changes,”
