Page 51 of Deceit

“Liam, don’t consort with the trash,” Asher sneers as he looks down at me.

“You’re engaged to trash? What does that make you?” I scoff.

Asher’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything for a moment.

“Go back to the girls. Felicity wants you to fuck her before your next class,” Asher says coolly, clearly speaking to Liam but keeping his eyes on me.

“Aw, c’mon, Ash. I want to stay over here with the pretty girls,” Liam whines, in a way that tells me he’s back to being himself.

“The girls over there are the pretty ones, only the best for us, brother. Go, now,” he finishes, with a sharp look at Liam that has his tail tucked between his legs.

I watch as Liam slides off the table, swaggering back over to their fan club, like Asher’s little yes man. It honestly makes me lose a lot of respect for him, how he cowers to him like that.

Asher and I remain in a tense staring contest. Once he finally breaks, his eyes land on my naked ring finger before practically growling at me.

“Put your fucking ring on and keep it on. It’s non-negotiable.”

With that, he turns on his heel and stomps away like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Rolling my eyes, I turn to see Maggie watching me with wide eyes.

“Uhm, what was all of that?”

I let out a humorless laugh as I shake my head.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you.”

Chapter Nineteen

Skyla

Iwrap my cardigan tightly around myself as the midafternoon breeze intensifies. One person seeing my hickey is bad enough. I contemplated covering it with makeup, but something tells me Ronan wouldn’t like that very much. I can’t help but bite back a smile at the thought of him getting upset that I would cover his mark or being proud that I didn’t. Either way, I’m ridiculous. It’s just a bunch of broken blood vessels, there shouldn’t be anything sexy or exciting about it….and yet.

Moving through a group of students leaving the pool building, I slip through the door and down the hallway before pushing open the pool door. The comforting scent of chlorine hits me instantly, wrapping me up like a hug as I make my way to Ronan’s office. Glancing around the room, I double check that no one is watching before I open the door.

My smile drops instantly when I see a gorgeous leggy brunette, in her late twenties or so, on top of his desk. She’s facing him in his chair, her skirt ridden up and legs spread wide. Both of their eyes swing to me in unison, one filled with irritation and the other with panic.

I don’t need to tell you whose is whose.

A numb feeling begins tingling across my skin as I take a faltering step backwards, then another before I turn and run. I run so fast I don’t even remember going through the two doors needed to get outside. I run so fast that getting back to my dorm is practically a blur, so fast that I managed to outrun Ronan to the elevator of my dorm building. He narrowly misses the closing door and beats it with a single fist, before he begins shouting out for me to ‘let him explain’.

Yeah, I’ll pass.

My throat begins to tighten, and tears prick my eyes as the elevator whirs up to my floor. As soon as I step inside my room though, all bets are off. My throat isn’t just tight, it’s practically closed off, hot and scratchy from the tears that are now free falling down my face.

I feel stupid. So fucking stupid.

Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed that if we were…whatever we were, that I would be the only woman with that kind of special treatment. Maybe that was naïve or ignorant of me. As painful as it is to learn that lesson now, I guess it’s better that I have all of the information now as opposed to months down the road. Where I’d, no doubt, be so in love with the man that I couldn’t see straight. Guess he’s a lot more like his nephew than he lets on.

I feel my phone begin to vibrate in my pocket and I pull it out to reveal Ronan’s number. I couldn’t decline it any faster if I tried, honestly. Unfortunately, it starts right back up again, and I hit the red button just as fast as before.

He tries calling me again and again. Eventually, I just have to turn my phone off. I don’t want to hear what he has to say, and I don’t want to be treated like the silly little girl I clearly am. I should have listened to him from the start. He clearly told me we could never be more than ‘this’. I just didn’t understand that‘this’ was code for hooking up occasionally, while he pursued other women, more age-appropriate women. More beautiful women because god, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more stunning woman than the one who was sprawled across his desk like his next meal.

Eventually, I turn my phone on and only partially regret it when it begins buzzing like crazy. Notifications of voicemails and text after text keep coming through. I don’t bother looking at a single one as I scroll through my contacts. I click on Maggie and it only rings twice before she answers.

“Hey babe! What’s up?”

I try to speak but nothing comes out. Just a choppy gasping breath as I try to compose myself. Apparently, that was all Maggie needed to hear, though.

“I’m on my way. Dorm room?” she asks.

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