Page 24 of Theirs to Ruin

Chapter 9

Camille

The next day, after Psych 201, I quickly packed up my stuff. I can’t say I learned much if anything in class. All I could think about was what had gone down at The Roost and Devil’s Engine. Both incidents had been replaying in mind.

Well, the incidents along with other things.

After leaving Bianca with theconciliantis,I’d locked myself in my room. I’d filled out my request to switch roommates and sent it in. Then I’d taken out my vibrator, and gotten off to the dirtiest fantasies I’d ever had, ones that featuredbothKage and Dante.

I left the classroom. Pushing through the crowded hallway, I suddenly felt as if I was being watched. Frowning, I turned around, my gaze landing on a group of guys. In the center was Kage.

He didn’t look away when our eyes met.

Next to Kage stood Alex Wiley. Alex’s family were major players in offshore finance schemes. Joseph Samir was also there, son of the most well-known opium dealer in Burma.

“Come on, fess up,” Alex said, nudging Kage. “What happened to the girl from last weekend? The one who wouldn’t stop texting you?

His eyes still on me, Kage answered Alex. “What do you think happened?”

“I’m sure sheblew youaway with her many talents,” Alex said.

I rolled my eyes. Kage grinned.

Alex looked over at me—probably curious who Kage was looking at. God, what was wrong with me, staring at Kage like that for anyone to see? What happened to him being Medusa? The last thing I wanted was for anyone to think I wanted him, even if it was the cold hard truth.

"Yo, Bianca’s sister.” Alex waved at me and raised his voice. “Any idea where she is? I've got a proposition for her. And trust me, it's abigdeal," he added, motioning to his groin area.

"Wow, so original,” I called back. “You might as well just go and beat off thinking about her, Wiley. It’s as close as you’ll get to her.”

Alex scowled, but Kage and Samir laughed.

“God, that girl is such a freak,” Alex muttered, glaring at me. “One second she’s trying to blend into the woodwork and the next she’s all sass.”

Kage opened his mouth to reply but I missed it when I spotted a cheerful bounce in my periphery. A burst of energy, an effervescent joy—it could only be Simone.

"Cami!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me.

Simone was a bright daisy in a field of roses; unique, fresh, and undeniably vibrant. You’d never know she was the daughter of drug addicts who were killed in a heroine deal gone bad. After that, she was raised by her grandfather, an oil tycoon who was a master at money laundering.

Her long black hair, a gift from her second-generation Vietnamese mother, swung about her shoulders as she bumped me with an amply padded hip. She waved at the group of guys as if dismissing them, then turned me by the shoulders and walked us down the hall.

Once we were out of earshot, she leaned in close. “Looked like Alex wanted to eat you alive, and not in a good way. Thought you needed an assist.”

“Thanks,” I said, more than a little bit relieved she had rescued me, not from Alex but from my own preoccupation with Kage.

“Kage looked like he wanted to eat you alive, too,” she said with a grin. “I’m telling you, that boy is hungry for you, lucky girl.”

"Ha, you know anymore funny jokes?” I deadpanned. “Trust me, Kage is only into Kage.”

“You keep telling yourself that. I know he’s just biding his time. He’s going to make his move soon, and then you won’t be able to hide.”

“I’ll pass. The last thing I need is the heir to the Irish mafia setting his sights on me.” I wasn’t sure why, but I hadn’t told Simone what had happened between Kage and me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her—I totally did. Maybe I was afraid she might judge me. Maybe telling her would make it feel more real.

“Why not hook up with him? He’s already made his way through the junior and senior girls, so he’s super experienced,” Simone urged me. “As a sophomore, you could be next. I say enjoy him for a while then move on.”

“Right. Then I’d beenjoyingthe STD he gave me for the rest of my life.”

“Oh my God,” a female voice came from behind me.

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