Page 96 of The Revenge Plan (Forbidden Descendants 1)

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, buddy,” the bartender warned him. “Let the lady leave by herself.”

“And I wouldn’t interfere if I were you,” Topher shot back. “You don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about. Just look at her, dressed like that; you know she came out searching for dick. I’m just here to oblige.”

“Oh my God,” some girl at another table cried in horror, having overheard him. She’d been sitting with her own crowd at another table, but she turned to me and said, “Honey, my boyfriend and I can walk

you to your car if you want.”

I glanced at Topher and nodded. “Okay,” I told her. “I’d really appreciate that. Thanks.”

When she instantly stood and waved the guy sitting next to her up as well, Topher laughed harshly and threw his hands in the air. “Are you serious? Jesus, Haven. This is bullshit. You don’t even know those people.”

The girl moved closer. “Would you feel more comfortable if one of your friends over there walked you out instead?”

I glanced toward the girls who’d slept with my boyfriend behind my back. They gaped between Topher and me as if we’d lost our minds. The mindless drones hadn’t once interceded on my behalf, and since they’d been the ones to trick me into coming out tonight in the first place, so I would cross paths with Topher, I just shook my head, unwilling to go anywhere with any of those bitches.

“Absolutely not,” I answered the stranger. “They’re not my friends.”

26

Wick

“So where’s the roommate tonight?”

Concentrating on the screen in front of me and the levers I was shifting on the control unit I held, I waited a moment to answer until I was able to eliminate the enemy in the game that I was facing off with. Then I shot Cannon a harsh glance. “Do you really have to say it like that?”

He shrugged. “So where is she?”

I shrugged too as his character and mine approached another building, side by side with our weapons drawn. “I’m not her keeper.”

With a snort, he kicked in the metal door of the abandoned warehouse we’d just reached and disappeared inside. “You’re seriously trying to tell me you have no idea where she is?”

I went in after him, tempted to just shoot his character in the head because he was beginning to annoy me. “She said she was going out for drinks with some friends.”

Cannon sent me a get-real glance. “And you believed that?”

I shook my head because he was too damn distracted with staring at me to notice that someone had taken aim at him as they appeared from behind a stack of crates. I shot them and snapped, “Will you get your head in the game, asshole? Playing this was your stupid idea. And why wouldn’t I believe her? What would be the point of lying?”

He popped three opponents who charged through a side doorway. “I don’t know. Maybe she was meeting up with Nicholl.”

I sent him a glare because the very idea sent an ice pick right through the center of my chest. Then I just as quickly turned my attention back to the game. “Wouldn’t be any of my business if she did,” I answered, downplaying my feelings as best I could.

My best friend zipped me an incredulous glance. “Are you fucking shitting me?” he accused. “I can’t decide if she’s blinded you with her I’m-so-innocent smile or if you’re just that naïvely stupid?”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I spat back.

“Dude! Has it not even occurred to you that maybe they’re playing you right now?”

Forgetting the game, I gazed at him in absolute confusion. “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Just add up all the coincidences. She ran into you—you of all people—at the exact moment she caught him cheating.” Shaking his head, he tossed down his controller in disgust because we’d both just been killed on the screen. “And then you just happened to have a free room to rent out at the very moment she supposedly needed a place to stay,” he went on snidely. “Well, I’m not buying it. I think their whole fight, or whatever it was, was a staged setup. You were doing too good this year. You were at the absolute top of your game, and everyone’s eyes were on you, talking about how awesome of a football player you were. Not him. Nicholl couldn’t handle that. He’s never been able to handle how well you play. So he concocted this whole clusterfuck of a situation to throw you off your game.”

I blinked at him before sighing. “Dude. Even you can’t deny that’s way too elaborate for his brain.”

He grumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t understand and returned his attention to the screen, logging us back into another round. “Maybe it wasn’t his idea. Maybe it was hers.”

“Oh my God.” I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling. “I’m officially cutting you off from all those true crime thrillers you read. They’ve gone straight to your brain.”

“Just admit it’s possible,” he pressed.

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