Page 28 of Risk

My eyes widen. Is he actually dumb to this stuff, or is he being for real?

“Are you being fucking serious right now?” I exclaim. “You had sex with me and left me to wake up alone in that hotel room with just a shitty fucking note! I haven’t seen or heard from you since! Then, you came over to me at the party, acting all alpha and ridiculous, sounding offended that I’d brought a date—”

“I didn’t—” he starts, but I lift a hand, silencing him.

“Don’t bullshit me. You didn’t like that I’d brought Aaron with me because it hurt your male pride that I wasn’t still pining over you weeks after we spent one night together! Get over yourself! And then you followed me out here because that dumbpride of yours couldn’t handle the thought of me being with someone else, even though you don’t want me.”

His lips part, but I cut him off again because I don’t want to hear his bullshit.

“Don’t you fucking say that it wasn’t that because we’re both smart enough to know that it was. You thought someone was playing with your toy, and you didn’t like it. Well, guess what, Kaden.” I lift Bun-Bun in example. “I’m not some fucking toy you can pick up and play with, then put back down when it suits you.”

I step up close to him and poke him in the chest with my finger, ignoring how beautiful he looks and how amazing he smells. Instead, I grab a firm hold of my anger and disappointment and lean into it.

“I’m worth more than that. I deserve better than how you treated me. So, now, I’m going to tell you that I don’t accept your half-assed apology. I know you’re my brother’s best friend, so I’m going to be cordial and pleasant to you when I see you at family functions, but aside from that, I want you to leave me alone. And now, I’ve given you the gift of the ending you didn’t give me that night, and I’m going to do one better and give you the gift of you actually getting to see me walk away. Something you didn’t give me.”

I turn, pick up my shoes, then brush past him, and walk away.

And he doesn’t follow.

Just like I knew he wouldn’t.

NINE

I’m in my Abnormal Psychology class. It’s my first class of the day, and I feel like crap. I’m starting to wish I’d stayed in bed instead of dragging myself into school, like I’ve done for the last few days.

But today, I feel the worst I have.

I’ve been feeling crappy since the day after Zeus’s party. I’m putting it down to my confrontation with Kaden.

First, I was mad, then sad, then pissed off. Which are the only emotions I seem to be having when I think of or speak to Kaden.

Which is rare.

Having sex with him was a colossal mistake.

But I think it’s the stress of it all—keeping it a secret from my family and knowing I’m gonna have to keep pretending that everything is okay between me and Kaden when it’s far from it. Maybe, at some point in the future, it will be. But as of right now, it’s not.

So, I’m thinking the stress is presenting itself in my stomach, which has been upset for days. At first, I thought it was because I’d drunk too much and I was hungover.

I used to suffer from an upset stomach when my mother was ill and after she passed. And every time things were tough at home, my stomach would start acting up.

Although I don’t ever remember feeling nauseous before. And today, I feel a bit pukey.

Aaron leans over and whispers, “Are you okay?”

The fact that he’s asking tells me that I look as crappy as I feel. I know I looked shitty when I left my place this morning, and no amount of concealer and foundation fixed it, so I must’ve gotten worse.

“Yeah,” I reply.

Then, I feel my stomach turn, like I’ve just been flipped over in a somersault, and I know I’m going to throw up. I put my hand over my mouth as the first retch comes. I jump to my feet, knowing I’m making a scene, but not having the time to care or politely excuse myself. I push past Aaron and run down the steps, rushing for the door. I know there’s a restroom just a few doors down. I bolt for it, hoping to God that I make it.

I burst through the restroom door and into a stall and make it just in time.

After I’ve finished emptying my stomach, I flush the toilet and sit with my back against the stall wall.

My skin is clammy. I press the back of my hand to my forehead, but can’t tell if I have a fever or not.

“Missy,” I hear Aaron’s voice say, coming from the doorway.

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