Page 62 of Deceit

Reaching for my door, I grab the handle and push it open as I slip out of the car. When I shut it, the window rolls down and Liam is leaning over so he can look at me through it.

“I’ll see you soon, babygirl.”

I give him a small smile, as he gives me a wink that sends my stomach flipping. The car fires up and he takes off in the next minute, drifting out of the parking lot like the show-off he is. I can’t help but chuckle to myself as I walk towards my dorm.

A figure catches my attention to my right. It’s so dark out and the lighting isn’t great, so it takes me a minute to figure out who is watching me. The dark sulking person is easily identifiable, though.

Vincent stares at me as if I were an insect under a microscope. The only part of him that moves are his eyes as they track mesteadily. From where he is standing, it’s obvious that he was watching me and Liam. I’m not sure if he was passing by, saw us and decided to people-watch for a bit, or if he’s out here for more sinister reasons. Either way, I want nothing to do with the grumpy creep.

Turning away from him like there is nothing to see, I continue towards the front door, banking around the corner and thankfully, disappearing from Vincent’s watchful eye. I slip inside quickly, before the elevator opens for me.

I’m already replaying tonight over and over again in my head. The adrenaline rush I got from Liam racing, the excitement, the fun. It was something so completely out of my comfort zone, yet so amazing. Though, I’m not sure if that was from the activity or the company.

God. Do I like Liam? The flirtatious womanizer, who is best friends with Satan himself?

Yes.

The answer comes immediately because, with me at least, he’s not just those things. He’s so much more complex than anyone gives him credit for. More complex than he gives himself credit for.

When I get to my room, I wave the keycard over the pad allowing the door to whir open. When I do, I’m only inside for a moment before I freeze. The door shuts behind me, but I’m trapped in place. There in front of me, Ronan is sitting on the edge of my bed, head hanging between his shoulders, fingers dug into the back of his hair. As soon as he hears me though, his head shoots up.

Deep dark circles encase his normally bright blue eyes, which now appear more dull and lifeless than I’ve ever seen. His gaze flicks over me, from head to toe, before he shoots to his feet and crosses the distance between us. I stumble back a foot or two and he doesn’t miss the attempt to keep space between us. Hewinces, like me doing that physically hurts him, before he stops moving and speaks.

“Baby, I was so worried. It’s so late. I didn’t know where you were or who you were with. Are you okay?”

“What are you doing here?” I ask stiffly, he of all people does not get to barge in here and demand answers.

His frown increases as he takes half a step towards me again.

“I need you to hear me out. I need to explain and when I’m done, if you never want to speak to me again I’ll leave you alone. I promise. I just want to explain, baby.”

“Skyla,” I correct coldly.

He swallows and nods. “Please, Skyla. Five minutes.”

Despite how weak it sounds, I want to hear him out. I want to hear his excuses, no matter how inconsequential they will be. For closure’s sake, I think I need this.

I nod my head once, not saying a word as I gesture for him to get on with it.

“What you saw the other day, I swear to god it wasn’t what it looked like. Her name is Annie Williams. Her father is…close friends with my brother,” he explains, faltering for only a moment as he continues. “They are close family friends of ours and my brother has been trying to set me up with Annie for a while. I’m not interested in her—”

“But she is in you,” I finish for him, because no woman sits on a man’s desk with a skirt that high up or looks up at him like he hung the moon as they walk through the courtyard if she isn’t interested.”

He doesn’t immediately agree but, when I raise an eyebrow challenging him to lie to me, he concedes. Nodding his head as he continues.

“She showed up to my office that day unexpectedly. When there was a knock at the door I thought it was you. I tried to gether to leave, I didn’t want you to walk in and get the wrong idea. That blew up in my face,” he laughs bitterly.

“What about the other day? You guys looked pretty chummy walking through campus, practically hand in hand,” I bite out. I can’t even mask my tone for anything less than anger.

He frowns for a moment before realization hits him. Clearly he didn’t see me, but I saw him.

“She dropped by again. Wanted to go to lunch. I told her no.”

“Convenient,” I mutter.

Ronan runs a hand through his hair before dropping it at his side.

“I don’t know how to explain this, Skyla. Annie is being pushed towards me like you are being pushed towards Asher. That doesn’t mean I want her, the opposite. I can’t stand her. There is only one woman I want, and currently, she’s effectively evaded me at every attempt to explain.”

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