Page 8 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

“I-I’m sorry,” she started, but then a pair of gold eyes shifted to hers, and her voice died.

“We’re leaving anyway,” Adrian muttered. Then he turned and walked off towards the street.

Without her.

But hadn’t he said…

Stunned for the umpteenth time, she rushed after him, abandoning her witch hat and a still-moaning Jace.

Sticking around for more of Jace’s threats would be much worse than stumbling over patches of grass and facing further heart-wrenching rejection. She felt bad enough about her muddled night with Jace without his constant reminders. But clearly he wasn’t ashamed, trying to blackmail her into a threesome she wanted no part in.

“Wait,” she called, tripping over an exposed root and trying to figure out which moving sidewalk was the real one. She couldn’t give up now, not after Adrian defended her like that.

“I’ll be fine,” he replied.

He didn’t sound fine. Even though she was sure this wasn’t his first brawl, that didn’t mean he was okay. She may not be built for throwing punches, but she wasn’t weak.

“I don’t believe you,” she answered, catching up as her feet finally found flat ground. Swaying back and forth, she anchored her gaze on his jacket, and he slowed to a halt.

“Don’t you have a ride coming?” he asked.

Oh, yeah. She should check her messages to see if Avril had replied.

“Wait, don’t go.” She grabbed his arm but dropped her hand as soon as his muscles tensed. “In case Jace comes back,” she whispered.

He turned away, his features far less intimidating without the red party lights. “Trust me, that piece of shit won’t be chasing anyone down for a while. Stay out here, and you’ll be safe.”

“I’m…I’m scared of the dark,” she said in a rush. More like she was scared of the dark leaving—of him leaving.

She stopped herself from reaching for his arm again and stepped to the side to read his expression. He frowned but didn’t move.

Taking out her phone, she tapped the screen to see a message pop up from Caspian, Nia’s ex. What could he want?

Caspian

Nia’s going home with me, she’s drunk. Don’t worry. I’m just keeping an eye on her.

Well, then…that meant Avril hadn’t taken Nia home after all. Hopefully, Nia and Caspian were patching things up, though. She’d been rooting for them from the start, even if they had some big hurdles to overcome.

The small puff of joy vanished as she realized Avril wouldn’t already be in her car after giving Nia a ride back to the dorms. Now it felt more like Avril had been ignoring her text the whole time. She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, trying not to worry. The message had been delivered fifteen minutes ago. Maybe Avril was busy giving Serena a ride.

Something rough and warm tugged her lip free, and she looked up as Adrian’s hand withdrew, two golden rings winking under the light of a distant streetlamp.

Her breath caught. The touch was too brief to relish, but her heart raced, nonetheless.

Too drunk to keep her thoughts in check, she wondered if those rings would be cold or hot when pressed to her neck. If he’d keep them on when he found out she’d take as many or as little fingers as he saw fit to give her.

She shook off the deviant thoughts and noticed a stain across one ring that marred its shine. “You’re bleeding.”

No response.

She flicked her eyes up to his, dark and glittering in the pale light. He’d pulled his hair into a bun, the pink ends hiding under natural brown.

“I knew you weren’t okay.”

What an awful first impression—the one time they actually got to talk ended with a set of bloody knuckles. Maybe he’d been right to want nothing to do with her. He’d already rejected her, so there was no point in feeling bad. Still, she couldn’t push down the small rise of guilt.

“Where’s your ride?” he asked, breaking eye contact to pull out his pack of cigarettes.

---