Page 95 of Bittersweet Revenge
“Dean would never hurt me.”
He lied to us. He’s not who we thought he was. He used us.
I sit beside her on the edge of my bed. She drops her head against my shoulder, my arm wrapping around her.
“I love you, Ash.”
“I know. And really, it’s easier to blame you than him. Because the truth is, if he cared, he wouldn’t listen to you. If my friendship meant as much to him as it does to me, he wouldn’t stop talking to me just because you told him to.”
Little does she know, it’s not that simple. None of this is fucking simple. Still, I don’t want her to think he didn’t care about her. “He cares about you. He just…won’t cross me. He knows he won’t come out of it well.”
She sighs. “What happened between you? Everything was perfect. Is it Dad? Did he threaten Dean? Oh my God. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re doing this to protect him? What the fuck has Dad done now?”
I tense, not liking the direction of her thoughts. I need to nip this shit in the bud. I walk to the bathroom to shave. “It’s not our father.”
“You’re lying.” She stands in the doorway.
“Leave it alone, Aislin.”
“No. I won’t leave it alone. The two of you—”
“Just stop!” I slam my hands against the countertop. “It wasn’t real, all right? It was a fucking lie! And I fell for it. He didn’t really want me.” The words stick in my throat.
It’s silent around us except for the running water, Aislin looking at me in the mirror, sadness in her expression. She slips behind me, wraps her arms around me, and rests her head against my shoulder. “You really do love him.”
I don’t answer, but I don’t have to. We both know I do.
“I’ll kill him myself for hurting you.”
When I look down, there’s blood in the sink, mixing with the water.
“Oh shit. What did you do?” She opens my hand, the razor there. I was holding it when I hit the counter and didn’t even realize. She pulls me away from the counter, taking the razor and changing the temperature of the water.
I let her hold my hand under the faucet, watching as the blood and water run down the drain in a swirl of pink. “Leave it alone, Ash…the Dean thing. It’s better this way.”
“I don’t like to see you hurt.”
“It’s better this way,” I reiterate.
With a sigh, she nods.
But it doesn’t feel better this way. It doesn’t feel good at all.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Dean
I’ve been skippingthe class I have with Aislin. Tiernan wants me to stay away from her. It’s the least I can do after what I’ve done to him. She’s still been trying to call and text, though. I’ve had to stay out of the café and specific areas around campus to avoid her. I don’t get why Tiernan hasn’t told her yet, why he hasn’t told anyone yet, and I have to assume he hasn’t. If he had, someone would have come for me by now. My mom and I got away from them, and then I came back with the plan to kill Sloan. No way they’ll let me get away with that.
Why hasn’t he told anyone?
Because he’s better than me.
Because he gave a shit about me.
And all I gave him was my betrayal.
The door opens, and I roll over to face the wall.
