Page 146 of Theirs to Ruin

“Please, Kage, promise me?” I tried pleading with him again since it had kind of worked before.

He laughed and threw his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in for a hug. “Fucking adorable.”

I remembered when he’d called me cute. How annoyed I’d been. So why was it, when he called me adorable, it was as if he’d called me the most beautiful girl in the world? Why did making him laugh make me feel so damn happy?

But I knew. Just like I knew why nothing would have stopped me from getting to him last night.

I didn’t just love him.

He’d become critical to me.

Gravity. Air. Water. Sun.

Nothing made me come alive the way Kage did.

Chapter 59

Camille

When it was time for me to leave for class, Kage walked me to the door and kissed me. “Thanks again for what you did.”

I stared up at him, his taste lingering on my lips, and said, “I’d say anytime, but I’d rather you didn’t get into another fight.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he murmured.

I left, smiling as I walked down the driveway.

“Camille.”

At the sound of Callum’s voice, I stopped. He leaned against one of the trees to the side of the chateau, a cigarette in his hand. When he spoke again, there was an unexpected gentleness in his voice. “Enjoy your time with Kage, but don’t get too attached. I’m not being mean, I swear,” he continued, “but Kage is going to be the Captain of the Irish Mafia.”

“Kage has been clear we don’t have a future,” I said.

“Good.” Callum took another drag of his cigarette, stubbed it out on the tree, then walked inside the house. He shut the door quietly.

His words followed me the entire way to campus, lingering like ghosts in the early morning silence.

Later, when I had a break between classes, I texted Kage to see how he was feeling.

Missing you and wanting to strangle Callum because he keeps telling me to go take a nap, but otherwise fine.Your day been good?

No, I’m sad because of what your brother said to me,I thought.But Callum had only been being honest.

Been missing you, too,I wrote.

Me or a certain part of me?

I rolled my eyes and laughed as I put away my phone. I didn’t need to answer that. After I’d told him I’d slept in his bed last night, he knew how much I craved all of him. Callum’s reminder that I was only with Kage for the short haul made me want to make the most of our time together.

I was ready to lose my virginity to Kage O’Hare.

He'd never said, but I wondered if he’d been with a virgin before.

I hated the thought of Kage with someone else so much. When we were over, would I have to see him with other girls, or would he be discreet out of consideration for my feelings? Maybe it wouldn’t be that hard. Hell, Ava had been my roommate; she’d been hooking up with someone and I’d had no idea.

My mind went back to my day in Manhattan with Kage. Our visit to the yarn shop hadn’t given us much information, just that Ava had been seeing someone at school, but we’d already suspected that. Kage had mentioned Dante as a possibility, but I still didn’t buy it, and we had to consider every male student and faculty member, not just the ones with blatant arrows pointing at them.

Would Ava and her mystery man have wandered into town to avoid being seen on campus together? If so, maybe someone had seen them.

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