It was only yesterday when I finally decided to track Sable down to find Rev and showed up at her hotel. It took everything in me to give her space for those eight days. Campus was a fucking circus, between the nosy-ass students whispering and staring and reporters bombarding me every chance they got. So, I let her go, deciding to spare her from the worst of it until the next scandal took over the internet.
But fuck, there were no words for how pissed I was when I realized she ran away and then fucking blocked me. The moment I saw my messages were going undelivered, it was a horse kick to the chest.
Part of me isstillpissed.
After I left her in the hotel room, it took her all of ten minutes to text me a picture flipping off the camera, her eyes half lidded and sensual, those pink lips wrapped around a finger glistening with her arousal, a trail leading down the back of her hand. I damn near crashed my fucking car, and my dick hardened into solid diamond, as if I didn't just come in her pussy.
I've had too many women send me unsolicited nudes, but that was by far the sexiest picture I've ever seen, and I couldn't even see the imprint of her nipple through the T-shirt she still wore.
It was clearly her way of showing me she unblocked me, but it didn't completely soothe the sting.
Which is why I left her like I did at the hotel, and when she came back to my dorm later that day, regarding me like she didn’t know how to handle me, I still didn’t touch her. Even when she hesitantly curled up against my side last night and fell asleep with her head on my shoulder.
My insides burn just thinking about it, continuing to war with myself, trading between fury, lust, and—fuck, I don’t even know what else. Half of me still hates her, but the other half needs her so fucking viscerally, it makes me sick.
“I assume it started with Lionel getting out,” Mark says, bringing my attention back to him.
I nod.
He was pissed when I told him Reverie stole the letter informing me about Lionel’s release. He thought I read it and knew throughout those three weeks of him checking in on me, that I just wasn’t ready when I kept telling him I was fine and didn’t need to talk. He doesn’t like to text regarding sensitive info, so he never mentioned the release specifically, and figured I’d call or stop by to visit when I was ready.
“She kissed some dickhead on the football team to prove a point, and I just… lost my mind and ended up kissing her. Then, things just kept progressing, and we—” I wave my hand, imitating Mark when he couldn’t say the word.
He purses his lips and nods, processing that. “And now you’re in lov?—”
“No,” I snap, cutting him off before he can even get the word out. My stomach twists from the mere thought of being in love with her.
He just raises his brows, either not impressed by my interruptionor not convinced.
I don’t care to figure out which one.
“No,” I repeat, softer this time, offering a silent apology with a glance.
Mark’s quiet for a few moments, taking in my every microexpression. Then, he taps his fingers against the table, signaling that he’s done asking questions.
“Okay. Well, if you need to talk about it, you know I’m here for you, bud.”
I nod and get up from the chair, feeling like I’m coming down from an adrenaline rush.
“Until then, stay out of trouble and don’t star in another damn tape, you hear me?” he lectures, pointing a thick finger at me. “You’re responsible for every single one of my white hairs.”
I grin. “I’m pretty sure your wife and five daughters have a couple hairs with their names on them.”
He scoffs, giving me a wide-eyed look that says,You have no fucking idea.
“Women, man. They’re just—” He bites his bottom lip and holds out both hands like he’s holding an invisible ball and shakes them aggressively.
I chuckle. “I know exactly what you fucking mean.”
“Baby, would youpleaselisten t?—”
“Donotcall me baby, Severen Fox. I’m giving that privilege to someone else now.”
I hear the voices the second I step out of Elizabeth Magie Hall, where my marketing lecture just finished. I look over to see Octavia shoving a finger in Severen’s face as she spits the words out at him. Her cheeks are almost as red as her hair, but their vibrancy is nothing compared to the flames in her robin's egg blue eyes.
Severen’s head jerks back, staring at her like she slapped him in the face. Then, his head tips back with a dangerous laugh, and when he drops his chin again, there's an insidious energy radiating from him that I know all too well.
It's also my cue to leave.
