Page 35 of Burn With Me

Already knows,my mind supplies. I don’t answer Shep. I don’t even let him finish. I just hang up and answer my father’s call, sitting back to wait for the verbal beating that’s guaranteed to precede a physical one the second I see him again.

Fuck my life, and fuck bratty little fighters like Aurora Summers.

16

RORI

“Well, your little plan worked.” Hel’s statement makes me smile, but her lack of enthusiasm is a bit of a damper on my improved mood.

“It’s what he deserves,” Selene says with a sniff as the three of us make our way across campus to the final class of the week. It’s been several days since the whole incident went down and I haven’t seen Isaac in any of our shared classes since.

“I don’t know, something feels off,” Hel says.

I glance her way, but she keeps her gaze trained ahead of her. “What feels off to you?” I ask.

“The fact that he hasn’t been in class for the entire last week,” she says, cutting a look my way.

“He’s just embarrassed,” Selene says with a shrug.

But no, Hel’s right. Itisweird that he hasn’t been in class. Isaac doesn’t strike me as the type of man to give a fuck about gossip. If I can take this level of bullshit, then I know he can. I know as well as anyone else that this kind of shit is different for men and women, too. I’ve been so relieved by his lack of presence in the last week that it hadn’t even occurred to me. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in class. He wouldn’t have had the same hard time as I would have if people knew the girl in that video was me. I bite down on my lower lip, thinking.

“He hasn’t bothered me all week,” I admit absently. I’d just assumed that my little ace had done its job.Had I been too cocky?I thought I’d shown him that fucking with me wouldn’t be as easy as he so obviously assumed, but what if it’s something else?

Almost as soon as that idea crosses my mind, my phone rings. I jump and reach into my bag, pulling it free and glancing at the screen. I pause and wave at the two of them. “You guys go on without me,” I say. “I gotta take this.”

Hel finally looks at me. “You sure?” she asks. Leave it to her to pick up on my practically nonexistent nerves. Or maybe I’m not as good at hiding my anxieties as I think. Maybe just being around Selene and her obliviousness has tricked me into thinking I’m way sneakier than I actually am.

I force a smile nonetheless. “Yeah, it’s fine,” I say. “Go on. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Selene is the first to respond. She latches onto Hel’s arm and waves goodbye before dragging her away, and I’ve never felt more relieved for her blind, ignorant interference than I am right now. Once they’re well out of earshot, I answer the call.

“Hello.”

“Darling!” my mother’s bright, cheery voice shrieks into my ear like a siren. “I’m just calling to tell you that we’re back in town. What are you doing right now? I’m near your campus. We should grab lunch and catch up. I can’t wait to tell you all about—”

I’m almost stunned stupid by the volume of her voice and the fast pace of her words. Even if I wanted to, I know I can’t get a word in edgewise. But it’s always like this. She disappears for days, weeks, sometimes months at a time and when she pops back in, she pretends that we’re closer than ever before. Normally, I wouldn’t even bother. I’d answer her call—because I know if I don’t, she’ll show up wherever I am whether I want her to or not—and then I’d politely decline.

The only reason I don’t now is because she’s got something I want.Information.“Actually, I just got out of class,” I tell her. “I was going to grab lunch anyway, so if you’re close, we can meet up.”

There’s a brief pause on the other end of the line as if she’s surprised by my sudden agreement, but when she speaks, there’s nothing but excitement in her tone. “That’s wonderful,” she gushes. “Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”

“I’m on campus,” I say and then give her a more exact location.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she says, and before I can tell her to take her time, she ends the call.

It doesn’t take her ten minutes to get to me. In fact, it barely takes her five. The reason for that is obvious as a small, red sports car comes careening around the corner at breakneck speed, slamming to a halt a few inches from the curb I’m currently standing on.

“Hey darling!” she cries from the driver’s seat. She pulls down the massive shades covering her eyes and smiles up at me. “Hop in.”

Even here, on a campus full of rich people, seeing someone dressed to kill and driving like a professional racecar driver is out of the norm. People are staring, but I ignore their curious looks, step off the curb, and get in. Seconds later, I barely have my seatbelt buckled when she slams her foot on the gas and the car rips itself away from the curb, sliding right back onto the road and into traffic. I close my eyes, praying for either safety or a quick death—honestly, whichever hurts less.

Immediately my mother begins chattering away. Her words come at such a breakneck speed, that I can’t even hear or decipher them until the wind roaring in my ears dies down and we’re pulling into the parking lot of a high-class restaurant off a strip.

“—beautiful sites, and Damien was so attentive the entire time. I really think you’ll like him if you spend a little time with him. He’s just so—oh, here you go.” She pauses just long enough to hand her keys to a valet. With shaky legs, I exit the vehicle and trail behind her into the building.

“Mom,” I finally manage to get the word out as we’re seated at a bistro table along the patio with breezy bohemian curtains fluttering in the wind around us.

She picks up her menu and directs her gaze to it. “Yes? What is it?”

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