Page 40 of Cruel Legacy

He was outside the science building when I came out this afternoon and left the cafeteria at the same time I did at dinner. Now here he is on the path to my dorm. I try to think nothing of it, since this is a college campus and we all live here, but it still puts me on edge having people behind me for extended periods of time. I’m not sure if I’ll ever learn to let my guard down on an empty street.

I hurry into the lobby of Vale Tower, finally able to breathe, and slip into the only elevator that goes all the way to the top floor. I enter my access code and wait for the doors to slide closed.

The reject band member, which one is he again? Finley something roman numeral? He gets in too, and moves to put the wall at his back, much like I’m doing across from him.

I shift my body to the left so I’m standing in the corner where the two walls meet. I hate blind spots and having any of my sides exposed. “Why are you following me?”

He looks up from his phone and tugs one of his earbuds out. “Excuse me?”

“You’ve beenbehindme for thirty minutes, and now you’re in my dorm. Why are you following me?”

“I haven’t been behind you.” His gaze drops down to my feet, making a slow return to my face. “But we could definitely talk about that happening.”

“I’m not imaging things. You’ve been following me all day. I’m gonna call security.”

“Relax, Pet. No need to call the useless security force, unless you just feel like paying the fee for an unmerited call. I live here.”

LJ mentioned that, but I thought she was mistaken. I’ve been here for almost three weeks, and I’ve never seen him before. Not that I think I’ve seen everyone who lives here, but he would stand out.

I take in his dark brown hair. The ends curling along his forehead, sweeping his brows, and those ice-blue eyes. I imagine he could restart the ice age with that stare. And then, of course, there’s the part where he’s a card-carrying member of the asshole coalition. Yup, I’d definitely remember seeing him here.

Maybe he spends his time in another dorm, with a hot young co-ed he’s giving it to, and only comes here occasionally to pick up laundry and condom refills.

The car stops on the second floor. More people get on. It stops again on the third floor. There must be something happening in the dorm this evening, because they all get off on the fourth floor, leaving us alone in the elevator again.

He doesn’t have on workout clothes or a bag of laundry in his hands. There are only three more floors he could live on. I close my eyes for a second, finding my peace. The keypad beeps.

I crack an eye open. “What are you doing? Stop pushing buttons before you get us stuck between floors.”

“I’m putting the car in private mode to take us all the way to the top. Or do you prefer to stop on every floor?”

Okay, so first off I didn’tknowit had a private mode, and two… “That’s stupid, since you need to get off on the sixth or seventh floor.”

“What makes you think that’s my destination?”

“Because there are no living spaces on the eighth and ninth floors. You don’t have laundry with you and you’re not dressed for the pool or gym.”

He smiles, making my stomach flip. He’s boyishly cute, but when he smiles, it’s sexy and disarming. A combination of sweet and seductive. Devil and angel. His smile hints of a secret. The promise ofsomething.I know what he’s going to say before he even opens his mouth. “I don’t do bottom or middle, Pet. I was born to be on top.”

The elevator dings, depositing us on the tenth floor. The doors slide open, filling me with a sense of dread. I hurry toward my door, groaning on the inside every step of the way, praying we don’t share a wall. Something tells me he’s an obnoxious neighbor. Or maybe he’s bullshitting me. Three weeks is a long time not to have seen him. Maybe he’s visiting someone, and he’s hijacked my code to get up here. What if it’s a girl that ghosted him? Oh well, not my problem.

Still, I find myself asking, “If this is your floor, how come I’ve never seen you?”

“Because I was having some work done in my room and temporarily relocated. It’s all finished, so I’m back home now.”

He presses his key fob to the door of Suite B, which is directly across from mine, and flings it open. “You can come over and try out my new toys, if you want.”

“What, like your GI Joe and race track? I’ll pass.”

“I put away kid toys when I learned there are adult games that are much more interesting.”

“I definitely don’t wanna see your sex toys.”

He gives me that stomach flipping smile again. He really needs to stop doing that. “I never said what kind of toys, but it’s interestingthat’swhat you’re conjuring up when you think of me.”

“I don’t think of you.”

“No?” He pouts. “That’s hurtful, Pet. “Now I rescind my offer to let you hang out with us.”

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