Page 61 of Cruel Devotion

ELI

Skipping classes on Monday was the right thing to do. It meant I could spend the whole day with Haley, and that was what I needed more than anything else.

It wasn’t just for sex.

It was her company. Knowing she really got me and that she knew therealme from long ago. She was the only person I wanted to spend this fluke day off with. No assignments were due today, and one of my professors actually ended up canceling at the last minute, too. If there were ever a day to skip and take off, this was an ideal one to take advantage like that.

There was something restorative about being with Haley and just… being. We talked. We made food. We cuddled. And yeah, we made love again. For as fast as this relationship was going, we were hurtling along into something really serious.

Finn came to pick me up before Aunt Cindy would be back, though, and it wasn’t easy leaving Haley. I’d see her tomorrow on campus, but that absence was already too much to bear.

“Well?” I asked him as I buckled.

“Yeah.” He winced.

With this being the first full day of offices open and campus running as usual, I counted on something happening from the Wests. I hadn’t stayed with Haley all day with my phone off as a way to avoid having to face reality. I stayed because it soothed my soul to be with her. Now, itwastime to face the music.

“Go on. Tell me.”

Finn drew a deep breath. “Your parents came to the dorm room. Scott had to call security to get them to leave because they were trying to get into the room when it was locked.”

I rubbed my brow at the fact that the guy in the room next to ours had to deal with them. “What the fuck for? What did they think they could do?”

“Scott said they wanted to come in and wait for you to return so they could speak with you.”

I laughed once, bitterly. “Not fucking happening.” I had already planned to accept that this was the final straw. They wouldn’t forgive me for fucking up with my college education. And they wouldn’t offer me help to deal with it. In a way, it was freeing to be done with them now.

“Preston told his dad about the car,” he added. “People were talking about it. Posts were being shared about the car from that party. Like… everyone knows.”

I nodded. “I still say he was going to tell his dad anyway. That dare was just a way to mess with me. He never intended for me to avoid punishment for that car.” I’d grudgingly accepted that I was at fault, for at least half of it. I had gotten in the driver’s seat at Drake’s insistence, but I didn’t put the car into gear. It was still his damn fault, but there was no way he’d take the blame at all.

“Probably,” Finn agreed. “So, yeah. Lots of emails came in for you.”

He had my password, and he told me yesterday when he dropped me off that he’d keep an eye on any news so I could focus on Haley.

“Multiple offices. The scholarship board. They are all requesting meetings with you.”

I nodded again. “As I expected.”

“But maybe you can salvage the situation. Or drag it out and delay anyone making actual decisions.”

I scowled. “No one’s going to talk West out of revoking my scholarship.” That was a fact.

“Probably not. But I mean about graduating at all. If they don’t expel you before the end of the semester, you could still graduate then look for a decent job to be able to pay back the money.”

That was what I was hoping for.

All night, I dove into seeing whether that was possible. I spent hours reading through the emails, calling and leaving messages where I could with the offices that had contacted me, and then looking for jobs. I’d still need to double down and focus on keeping my grades up to be done here, but I had to do all this legwork first.

“I’ll go grab us some food,” I told Finn later that night. My back ached from sitting so long, and this tension headache that set in from the stress was aggravating me more. All that peace I felt with Haley in my arms was gone. Every second of that forbidden bliss of her crying out in pain and pleasure from my cock deep inside her had vanished.

“No, I’m good. I ate too much Chipotle at lunch,” he said, waving me off.

I got my coat on and headed out to get something in the cafeteria.

On the way there, I realized my parents weren’t giving up that easily. They’d come back. Standing up from a couple of chairs in the lobby of the dorms, they crossed their arms and scowled at me.

For fuck’s sake.

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