Page 71 of Vendetta

Bexley grabbed a glass from a passing waiter, handing it to me as I downed it in one go.

“Cash reached out to the owner of the shelter a few weeks ago, and he had Bexley send him the presentation that you made for midterms and never got to present. Guess he felt kindabad about it,” Olivia winked, and I felt about ready to collapse into a puddle on the ground. Cashton had set this up?

“We all knew how important this was to you,” Bexley added, her voice soft and reassuring as she assessed me. “We told him that we would help in any way we could. It’s completely up to you, but we have your BSL presentation loaded up and ready to go on the projector. You say the word, and we’ll get everyone’s focus. You’re the keynote speaker for the event, after all.”

I felt like I was going to pass out. But in a good way, if that was possible. This was beyond anything I could have ever asked for. I had been so excited to present in front of a class full of students that I had never stopped to imagine just how far of a reach I could have if I only tried.

“Okay,” I nodded, excitement flooding through me.

Handing my empty glass to Bexley, they led me to the small stage set up in the center of the sprawling yard. I didn’t meet Cashton’s eyes until I found myself in front of the podium, the large white screen behind me displaying the first slide of my school presentation as Bexley messed with the projector. He stood out in the crowd, his all-black tuxedo matching Kaptan’s and Zayn’s, as they turned to give me their full attention, TJ clinking his glass next to them until the entire party went silent. There had to be easily over a hundred people here.

Beginning the presentation was the hardest, my voice slightly shaky as the nerves took over. It didn’t take more than a few slides for my words to flow more naturally. All eyes remained on me the entire time, all of these people genuinely listening to what I had to say.

Once I was done speaking, applause surrounded me as I made my way down the steps. It all felt like a dream as I courteously acknowledged everyone that came up to me, before finding my way to my best friends and jumping in their arms, letting their congratulations wash over me.

TJ was the next to walk up and congratulate me, offering me a quick hug before moving over to his girlfriend and letting Zayn come up next.

“You killed it, honey,” he offered before wrapping me in a tight embrace and lifting me off the ground, only stepping back to light a cigarette as Nate came forward to do the same.

As he lifted me up, I locked eyes with Cashton over his shoulder, his hands in the pockets of his suit as he made no move to come any closer.

I brushed my hair back out of my face, stumbling for words as I tried to figure out a way to thank him for all of this. Tomahawk provided a welcome distraction, his black and white form racing up to me and falling to his back at my feet as he begged for attention.

“Tomahawk, what are you doing out here silly?” I laughed, offering him belly rubs as I looked around to try to find which enclosure he might have escaped from. “Let’s get you back to where you need to be, buddy.”

“By all means, princess. If you want to help me accompany him back to my bedroom, all you need to do is ask. I figured I would let him run around and enjoy the attention for a bit, though.”

“What?” I asked, confusion racing through me.

A smirk played on Cashton’s lips, the rest of the group around us dispersing to give us some space.

“As of this morning, Tomahawk lives here.”

My mind spun in circles, his words bringing my brain to a complete halt. I took in the new leather collar around the dog’s neck along with the shiny metal nameplate stitched into the side, my mind disbelieving.

“You adopted him?”

Cashton’s lips tugged up in the corner, a dimple forming in his right cheek as I continued to give belly rubs to Tomahawk.

“Why?”

“Someone once told me that he was the best cuddler. Figured I would put that to the test.”

“And you set up this adoption event?”

“Figured that I had a lot to make amends for, starting with a Communications project that you never got to present. The only difference is that instead of presenting it to a classroom full of students, these are some of the most influential families in the area. I called in a few favors. Oh, and I took the liberty of borrowing Deborah’s number from your phone. Hope you don’t mind. I wasn’t about to break in and kidnap a bunch of innocent animals.”

I took a look around the space, noticing kids of all ages with their parents, the dogs getting more attention than ever, and tears burned at the back of my eyes. This was the most thoughtful thing anyone could have done. Cashton noticed my loss for words and decided to continue.

“Look, Landry…” his confident façade eluded him briefly as he looked down at his feet, sticking his hands in his pockets like he didn’t know what to do with them.

“I know that I’ve already said this, but I need you to know how sorry I am. For everything. I know this doesn’t evencome close to making up for any of it. But I just figured it could be a starting point.”

He cleared his throat, a moment of silence passing between us. The truth was, I didn’t even know how mad I was at Cashton anymore. In some odd way, I could justify why he had done the things he did. I didn’t have any siblings, but I had no doubt in my mind that I would feel the need to avenge them if the roles were reversed. And he had gone above and beyond with the little things he had done these last few weeks.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I forgave him, to let him know that I was ready to move on from all of it. But I wasn’t quite ready just yet.

He continued as if he hadn’t even expected a response, his mood shifting back to his usual self as a dimple appeared on that beautiful face of his.

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