Page 69 of Merciless Intents

How fucking rich was Rick? If a guy like Miley’s dad couldn’t secure her a better dorm assignment, how could Rick? Not only were we in better, we were in thebest. It must have been his position. Or maybe he was independently rich before he went into politics—family money or something. It didn’t make sense otherwise. And even still, Harper’s placement made sense because Rick was listed on her paperwork, but me? I had no one listed. I just put “deceased” on there.

Yeah, I’d paid the tuition in full, but that explained nothing.

More and more, things just didn’t add up. It was weird.

Or maybe I just spent way too much time looking into shit, and I spent way too much of my brainpower on being fucking paranoid as hell.

“Tempe, you have fun. I’ll drive. I can drive manual,” Justin said, and I smiled.

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.” For whatever reason, I reached out and hugged him. He’d hugged me a few times, but I’d never initiated. Though it shouldn’t have been a big deal, my body was vocal in telling me otherwise.

Shh! Down, girl!

The three of us made our way to the bar and sat on one of the many open seats. Everyone seemed to be pretty busy out on the dance floor, so there were plenty of places to sit.

“I don’t know much about drinks,” I admitted. “Back in Indiana, I usually just mix a bunch of random shit together that would kill a lesser mortal.” I turned away from the intimidating wall of expensive liquor. No bottom shelf shit here.Everyshelf was the top shelf. I looked at Luna. “What are you getting?”

She waved a hand, and a man who was a bit taller than me with pretty hazel eyes and a nice smile walked over to greet us.

“What can I get you?” he asked.

“I’ll take a Sex on the Beach, he’ll have a Coke, and she’ll take a Jamaican Cowboy,” Luna said.

I playfully hooked my arm through hers as he nodded and went to work. “Thanks for ordering for me, lover.”

She laughed. “You dork—I just know you. You like fruity shit. Your drinks, your snacks, and your kitchen is always full of fruit. I highly doubt you’d like to drink straight whiskey.”

“Damn, you really do know me.”

She nodded. “Mmhmm. I pay attention. This has pineapple juice, orange juice, tequila, and coconut rum among a couple other things. I figured you’d like it.”

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to drop in on the party.”

My eyes closed, and my soul threatened to leap from my body. For two seconds, I’d managed to forget about my problems, but as expected, they came searching for me.

“Hello,Damian,” I said with a shitty tone, not even bothering to turn around.

“What exactly do you want?” Justin asked.

“I just wanted to talk to my favorite girl,” Damian said.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me,” Justin growled as Damian shoved him aside to sit next to me.

“You’re excused,” Damian replied, his eyes never leaving my face.

I continued to stare forward, but I watched him closely out of my peripheral.

“You want me to take care of this, Tempe?” Justin whispered into my ear from my right side. He’d moved over to stand between Luna and me.

I shook my head. “I highly doubt it would do any good, and it would only ruin the evening.” Sighing, I looked over to make eye contact with the demon himself. “What do you want? For real?”

He shrugged. “I was serious. I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Yes, well, by ashockingnon-coincidence, Idon’twant to talk to you. I just want to have a fun night. That’s all. I think after all the shit you’ve put me through, I deserve it.”

“All the shit I’ve put you through? Like getting you off in the hallway? I didn’t hear you complaining about that. Or when I kissed your pu—”

“That’s enough, Damian!” I shouted. “Seriously, fuck off. I’m not in the mood. You know what really pisses me off? It’s the fact that if you got to know me—reallygot to know me—you’d probably like me. You might even be surprised by all the shit we have in common. Instead, youchooseto hate me for no other reason than because you’re a whipped dog for Harper, and shetoldyou to hate me. You want to act like a brat and ruin my life? Fine, but you’ll have to try a lot harder than you have. I’ve suffered far worse than you, and I’ll suffer far worse after you. You’re nothing fucking special, little boy.”

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