Page 185 of The Revenge Plan (Forbidden Descendants 1)

We argued a lot, our personalities constantly clashed, and he expected me to know things I absolutely did not—like what he was f

reaking thinking—so I was beyond ready to escape by the time we finally agreed on some details and wrapped things up for the night.

I blew out of his room, the red-glowing exit sign at the end of the hall in sight, only for what felt like the Tasmanian Devil to plow into me from behind.

“What the—”

Some girl knocked me against the wall—the breasts in my back told me it was a female, anyway—and I had to brace myself to keep from eating concrete.

“Whoa. Are you okay?” I started to turn and check on her, but she was too busy shoving me right back into Elliot’s room.

“Go, go, go!”

I tripped forward and tumbled to the floor, landing on my knees and elbows with her piling on top of me. Rug burns immediately scored my arms.

Over my shoulder, a mass of blonde hair spilled down, clouding my vision and a knee or elbow or something caught me in the kidney, making me wince out the only bit of breath I still had left in me.

And then she was gone, hopping off me and slamming the door before locking us inside the dorm room together.

“Hey!” Elliot cried in outrage. “What’s the meaning of this? I didn’t say you could bring a girl into my room, Henry!”

“Henry?” the girl said in surprised recognition.

Just as I groaned and sat up, turning to focus on her, she spun to look at me too. And we both froze when we realized we knew each other.

God, she was pretty.

Avery pointed at me, her mouth dropping open. “You’re Henry,” she said. “The tuba player.”

“Guilty,” I mumbled, wincing and gripping my side when a sharp pain pierced my ribs.

She surged forward, her eyes wide. “Oh my God. Did I hurt you? Are you okay?”

Momentarily forgetting the pain, I gaped at her as she touched my arm.

Holy shit. Avery was touching my arm. It’d been three years since she’d last touched me in that classroom when we’d bumped into each other, three years since she looked into my eyes with that same concern and asked if I was okay.

So much had changed since then. So much in me had changed. I’d grown and matured and learned a thing or two. I should’ve figured out how to talk to her in all that time. But as I looked into her brown eyes, my mind went blank.

“I… I’m fine,” I fumbled out.

“Oh, thank God.” She tightened her grip on my arm. “Here, let me help you up.”

As we stood, I kept staring into that beautiful face, in awe that I was this close to her again. It took me a moment to realize she looked as if she were in distress.

“Are you okay?” I finally asked.

She heaved out an unsteady breath and her hand started trembling around my arm. “No,” she started. “I don’t think—”

When someone pounded on Elliot’s dorm room door, Avery let out a muted scream and pressed her hands to her heart. “Oh my God,” she gasped, beginning to hyperventilate. “That’s probably him.”

“Avery!” a familiar voice shouted through the door. “I know you’re in there! Goddammit. Open this door so I can explain.”

I glanced at the door, squinted, and turned back to Avery. “Is that Reuben?”

She bobbed her head, visibly shaken. “Yes. Please don’t let him in. I just caught him cheating on me with my roommate. I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t ever want to talk to him again.”

I began to nod, willing to pull out my own heart with my bare fingers and hand it over if she asked for it. But Elliot was already starting for the door.

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