Page 25 of Cruel Devotion

What is happening?

Why is he here?

I glanced around, suspicious and on edge.

“She got a C on her last paper in sociology.” He grinned, not looking at me but at the table full of gossiping girls. “Isn’t that right, Haley?”

“What…” I furrowed my brow, scoping the food court and trying to determine why he was sitting here or even talking to me. Or for me. It had to be a prank. Someone had to be videoing this for fun.

“We got a C on our paper and Haley seems okay with it.” He ate his Chinese takeout, as though he had not a care in the world. Mr. Popular often had that air about him. Cool, at ease, like nothing could go wrong in his charming world.

“No. I’mnotokay with it,” I muttered to him.

“Yeah, but she’s, like, perfect. Always top of the class. Always acing every test,” one of the girls said. “That’s totally sus.”

“Sus,” the others said.

“The only way anyone can be that good atalltheir classes is if they’re fucking the prof,” the loudest one said.

I clenched my teeth, struggling with the urge to defend myself against this baseless accusation. This was the kind of stuff that ruined students’ prospects. All it took was one person to hear this and tell someone in charge and that was it. The rumor would spread. No one would believe me. And my reputation would be ruined, destroyed more than the already shitty reputation I had from the association with my family members.

“I’m not?—”

Eli cut me off, speaking louder. “Wait, are youjealousof her, Amber?”

“What?” She grimaced. “Jealous ofHaley? No.”

“Then shut up and back off,” he warned, serious and gruff.

“Damn, Eli.” Another girl at that table smirked. “Amber’s just telling it like it is. Haley clearly is just another ho like her mom and sister.”

“If you try to say that one more time, I’ll make sure no one on campus wants to get near you.”

One girl scoffed. “Oh, yeah, right.”

Eli looked up, locking his stare on her. “Try me.”

I blinked, taken aback by his tone. And that he was… he was…

Is he standing up for me?

Did he come here to defend me?

Lowering my face, I turned slightly to whisper, “What the hell are you doing?”

He shrugged, hearing me but not facing me. “What does it look like?”

I lifted my head to narrow my eyes at him. “It looks like you’re trying to trick me into thinking you give a shit about me. It looks like you’re pretending to stand up for me.”

He glanced at me, mischief evident in his cocky smile and deep-blue eyes. “I am.”

“Youaretricking me into thinking that?” I asked, needing the confirmation.

Rolling his eyes, he sat back and sighed. “No. I am standing up for you.”

I scrunched my face. “No, you’re not.”

“Uh, yeah, I am.” He smiled again, like I was just being silly now.

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