Page 68 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

“Pancakes sound great.”

THIRTY-TWO

The gentle pitter-patter of rain tapped on her dorm window as she lay awake in the dark hours of late evening. A perfect kind of peace blanketed the room, not silent or still, but a swell that steadily coursed through her veins.

Every second away from her black knight had stretched into an eternity, but somehow, the sun still rose as scheduled for the rest of the week. The snow had begun to melt, and as she counted the hours until Friday night rolled into Saturday, her thoughts churned over what tomorrow might bring.

Adrian agreed to pick her up at ten for the surprise. Of course, they’d first have to go over rules and expectations or have a general conversation—however that would go. Honesty, she was excited no matter what form it took. He couldn’t say much that would deter her at this point.

For herself, she hoped he didn’t mind being her mentor. She’d been too scared to surf the web when it came to kink, and she’d rather learn in person anyway. As for the basic stuff, the stuff regular people did in everyday relationships and not in so-called arrangements, she really only wanted one thing—him.

She wanted to be by his side day and night, to be trusted in and outside the bedroom. They’d come so far, from strangers to friends and now this, and she didn’t want to lose any of that progress because they got more involved. If she was Adrian’s woman, then whatever other label came with that would be okay with her. No secrets and no pretense. Just her black knight, exactly the way he was.

If he could agree to that, then she’d be happier than she ever thought possible.

In the morning, she went over everything again while eating breakfast in the cafeteria and couldn’t stop smiling as she walked back to her room. The halls were quiet as usual on the weekends. Most students slept in or went home, and the shuffle of her fuzzy slippers was the only sound as she padded toward her dorm. She hadn’t picked out what to wear yet and purposely left herself nearly an hour to tear apart her closet.

“Hey Ivory, can I have a minute?”

She stopped at the open door next to her room, mood shifting in an instant. It had been months since she’d seen Serena at the dorms instead of Beta Rho. Jitters crawled up her spine at the thought of Jace, but he was nowhere in sight.

Out of habit, she put on a polite smile and turned to face Serena. “If it’s about what happened with Jace, you should know I don’t have anything else to say.”

She knew why Adrian had done what he did, but that had nothing to do with Serena or Jewelle. It made her more annoyed that Jace had acted so wounded when she knew Adrian purposely pulled his punches.

Serena’s trademark bright expression fell. “Actually, I wanted to ask if you were okay. I felt bad about how Jay treated you. I only wanted to ask about what happened, but he took it too far.”

Ivory rubbed her arm over the place he’d grabbed her. A small bruise appeared after a day, but it hardly hurt anymore and had already faded. “Yeah, he did. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want anything to do with him.”

She hoped Jace hadn’t made good on his threat and told Serena what happened between them, but even if he did, it didn’t matter. Nothing would make her bend to his scheming, and he was delusional to think otherwise.

“I understand. He’s been…different lately.” Serena’s brown eyes clouded, but she squared her shoulders and flipped a strand of blonde hair over her shoulder. “Even though Jewelle told me it was a setup, after how you reacted, I realized you might not have been involved. So I’m—” She looked away, then back again. “I’m sorry.”

Empathy squeezed Ivory’s heart. Serena had trusted the wrong people, but she wasn’t a bad person. “It’s not your fault. How about you, though? I’ve hardly seen you around this semester.”

“That’s cause I moved most of my stuff to Beta Rho.” Serena motioned to the inside of her dorm, which looked almost as bare as when they moved in. “But it didn’t all fit, and sometimes a girl needs to sleep in her own bed, you know?”

Ivory nodded. “We all need personal space.”

“Absolutely,” Serena agreed, her energetic nature recovering. “We should hang out more. I’m starting to think you’re the only friend I have left.”

Ivory returned the smile, but Serena’s words struck a dissonant chord. Where were all of her other friends? “Avril started a study group in the library. I can text you the info. It’d be nice to see you there.”

“Okay, I’ll try to peek in if I can.” Serena paused, halfway back inside her dorm. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t hold anything against you or Nia.”

“That’s good to know,” Ivory replied, unsure about what had prompted this change in character. Normally, Serena stood by her opinions no matter what. “I don’t think Nia heard about what you said, but you could always send her a message.”

“Maybe I’ll do that.” She flashed another smile. “Thanks for the chat.” With a final flourish and a wave, she slipped into her room.

Ivory frowned as she walked down the hall and entered her dorm. Earlier, Jace had no reservations about being too rough with her in public…what would he do with Serena behind closed doors?

She wanted to believe Jace wouldn’t target a girl who chose to be with him, but something had gotten Serena down. That was another thing she had to bring up with Adrian. Serena might have jumped to conclusions on more than one occasion, but Ivory didn’t want to see her get hurt, either.

She leaned against the door as it clicked closed, then sighed. Picking out clothes didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore, but she should put something on other than a sweatshirt and leggings.

As much as she’d like to divine the perfect outfit to leave Adrian speechless the moment he saw her, she also didn’t want to wear the wrong thing and ruin his surprise. Considering he only traveled by bike, a cute dress might be out of the question. Probably. She peeked through the blinds and saw the rain had lightened to a slow drizzle. If they were going to be outside, then she’d need something warmer. But she didn’t want too many layers, just in case…

Better to ask.

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