Page 111 of The Deception You Weave
"Right, we'll leave you with that. Ready to go in thirty?"
"You got it," I say as they head to the door.
I think they've both gone when the door closes, so Ella's voice startles me.
Glancing over at her, I see her sappy romantic face and internally groan.
"It's okay to want more with him, Let. I know you think it will end in disaster, but there's always the chance it might not. All that you went through, it could have happened as a way to finally bring the two of you together."
My lips part but I find that I don't have any words.
She smiles at me and finally disappears, leaving me to consider her theory.
Up until that twenty-week ultrasound, I believed that everything happened for a reason, or at least I wanted to. But hearing that my baby was no more shattered everything I thought I knew about life.
I pull an oversized sweater from my closet and a pair of leggings. The neck is slashed and is never going to cover all the marks around my throat and collarbone but it's the best I've got.
After a quick shower and swiping on minimal makeup, I head out to grab breakfast and then to walk to class with the girls.
Only, it's not just the girls because all the guys have descended on the kitchen and I'm now something akin to the star attraction at the zoo.
I roll my eyes as I walk toward them all, fighting my need to run back to my room and hide.
"Good night, Miss Scarlett?" West asks with a similar amused smirk to both Brax and even Micah. I thought at least he might be able to cover his enjoyment as I squirm under their watch.
"Yes, thank you. You?" I realize my mistake the second the question rolls off my tongue.
"Oh yeah, hell. It was like a real-life fucking porno. My hand hasn't had that kind of a workout in—ow," he complains as Violet slaps him around the back of his head. "What was that for?" He sulks.
"We don't want to hear about it."
"Oh but it's okay for all of us to hear that?" He waves his hand in my general direction and I pray that the ground will just swallow me up.
"Ugh, you're a dog," she complains, getting up and dumping her plate in the sink.
"Hey, I wasn't the one getting railed last night so loud that it kept us all up."
"I'm leaving," I say, marching toward the door, foregoing breakfast. I don't think I could stomach it anyway.
"Letty, wait," Brax calls before I manage to escape.
"Yes," I hiss, reluctantly turning back toward him.
"Kane looks about as beat up as you do this morning. Good work, girl. You should be proud."
Lifting my hand, I flip both him and West off and all but run from the dorm.
I race down the stairs, my heart thundering in my chest as the realization hits me that Kane showed up to practice looking like he got attacked by a bitch in heat and that Luca will have seen it.
"Argh," I scream as I crash through the main entrance and suck in lungfuls of late summer air.
I hate this feeling that I'm being ripped in two by two completely different guys. I roll my eyes, three if you add Leon in, although he seems to be able to see what's happening in a way that Luca can't. He's able to take a step away and look at the situation with an open mind.
I don't want to hurt Luca, he's been the best friend I could have asked for over the years, but at the same time, I can't be the person he thinks he needs me to be right now. He's deflecting and it's not going to help him in the long run.
Then Kane… I don't even know what to think about what's going on there.
I have no idea if the girls are coming or not, but I don't hang around. The prospect of a silent walk to class to clear my head actually seems like a better option right now anyway.
