In fact, I despise the entire exchange. I might even consider it the worst thing I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading.
Frowning, I turn back to my food, though it appears nothing short of lackluster.
Part of me is almost disappointed. He or Rogue would’ve been the simple explanation, and I wouldn’t have to stress so hard that Lionel is behind Mindy’s disappearance and murdering girls on my campus now.
Something we should know soon regardless. Barry sent an officer to Dread’s room to take the eyeballs and note the same night it hit the window. For reasons I cannot even begin to grasp, I didn’t tell Barry about suspecting it was Dread. I don’t know if it’s because a stupid part of me is still trying to protect him or what, but I hate it. He doesn’t deserve it.
Regardless, Barry said it might take a little while, but it’s only been four days, and it feels like my anxiety has eaten through my stomach lining already.
That fucks me up even more, because when did the possibility of Dread betraying me become as wretched as my serial killer father stalking me? As much as I want to believe the deliveries haven’t been from him, I also want it to be more than anything.
“You’re a lot like Octavia,” Severen says with a groan. “So fucking stubborn and impossible to convince once you’ve set your mind onsomething.”
“Doesn’t sound like me at all,” I say dryly, tossing the lettuce with my fork.
Whatever little appetite I had is gone.
“Just another stubborn woman refusing to talk to the love of her life, I’m afraid,” he sighs woefully. “You can’t give Dread the silent treatment forever.”
I hold up a finger. “First of all, Dread is not the love of my life, and I should stab you with my plastic fork for even saying that. You would be wise to remember it’s not biodegradable.” He smirks, not appearing the slightest bit threatened. He also doesn’t look very convinced of my declaration, but I refuse to acknowledge that. “Second… Yes, I can.”
I turn back to my Cobb salad, though it feels like it’s souring my stomach now.
“He didn’t do it.”
I arch a brow. “You’re seriously pleading his case for him? He didn’t even do that for himself last time we spoke.”
Severen settles a wry look on me. “Because he's well aware it's his fault you feel that way, and he knows you wouldn't have believed him, anyway. You don’t even believe the texts you just saw.”
Exhaling heavily, I drop my fork and push my salad away, giving up on eating.
“And you're not going to believe this, either, but I think you kinda broke his heart when you accused him.”
My eyes round, and my mouth pops open with incredulity.
“Why are you acting likeI'mthe bad guy here?” I snap defensively. He raises his hands up in surrender, tightening his lips into a firm line. “From experience, this isexactlythe kind of shit Dread likes to pull. And you can’t deny you and Rogue have already proven yourselves capable of breaking into my dorm and trashing it or slipping a note in my backpack when I’m not looking.”
“And since when have any of us ever denied it?” Severen volleys back, his brows rising in challenge. “Out of all the pranks we’ve pulled on you, we’ve owned up to every single one. Why would we stop now?”
My stomach twists over the possibility that’s been plaguing my brain since he admitted his feelings for me. “Because he wants me to fall in love with him so he can break my heart and stomp it into dust.”
Severen blinks at me. “Do you see why he’s not even tryingto reason with you right now?”
I scoff, my anger spiking. “Can you blame me? Why amIthe villain for having very reasonable doubt? I wouldn’t feel this way if it wasn’t forhim. He wants to throw a pity party because I don’t believe him. Well, guess what? He made me this way, and now, he has to live with it.”
I go to reach for my backpack at my feet to leave, but Severen’s hand covers mine, stopping me. I stare at it, shocked and a little wary. My gaze bounces between his hand and face, revering him as a snake promising not to bite me.
“You’re right. I won’t sit here and argue with you about how we’ve all given you a really good reason not to trust us.” He pulls away, satisfied I’m not leaving yet. Sincerity radiates from his amber eyes, and it’s such a weird sight, it’s almost disconcerting. “But this wasn’t him, Rev. And while I wouldn’t normally get any more involved in your relationship than I already have, we’re dealing with a serial killer here. I don’t want to see either of you get hurt because you were looking at the wrong person.”
I let out a short laugh. “Since when do you care about me getting hurt?”
His expression slackens, and he looks upward, as if he’ll find his patience somewhere in the cracks in the ceiling, before dropping it back down to me. “Look, you may be one hundred and ten percent at fault for the biggest heartbreak of my life—” Eye roll. “—but I’d like to think we’re friends now, and I don’t want to see you dead. I also don’t want to see my best friend lose his fucking mind when he finds you dead. I seriously think it’s Roxi.”
The more I've sat with Roxi being in on this, whether she's the copycat or just a lovestruck idiot helping her boyfriend terrorize his daughter, it just doesn't feel right.
“I don't think it's her,” I say, resting my chin on a propped hand with a heavy sigh. “It seems like she truly believes he’s innocent, and having her carry out all these acts would shatter that illusion. I think she’s more valuable to him as a believer of his innocence. She’s also too much of a liability. If Lionel is going to trust someone to carry out crimes on his behalf, it wouldn't be with some college girl he’s known for only two years. He's too paranoid for that.”
He shrugs and then rips off the straw glued to the back of the juice box, spears it out of the plastic, and pops it in the box’s top. “Somepeople are really good at convincing people to trust them,” he says simply before taking a large pull of apple juice.
