Page 61 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

But before I can, he walks away and begins gathering his things.

“Are you free this weekend?” he asks as he switches off the single lamp in the room, plunging the house into darkness.

I swallow past the cotton in my throat. “Yeah. My mom thinks I’m training for a marathon, so I can work in an hour or two Saturday and Sunday.”

He turns to face me, but my eyes haven’t adjusted to the gloom, so I can only see the broad outline of him.

“What about overnight?”

My heart jumps in my chest. “Overnight?”

Is that what he meant bynot tonight? That he wants me for an entire night? Endless hours ofthat? I’m not sure I’d survive it.

Before today, I would have told anyone I was sexually experienced, but now I’m not so sure. It has never felt like that before, and Caleb only used one hand.

I can just make out the curve of his mouth as he pulls his lips to one side and shrugs casually. “There is a camping trip this weekend with Noah and J.C., and I want you to come.”

I blink at him, stunned.

I hope his vision is as obscured as mine because I don’t want him to see how much this offer has thrown me.

I clear my throat and do my best to match his easy tone. “You want me to come with you on a camping trip?”

“For practice,” Caleb adds a bit too quickly. “I don’t want to lose an entire weekend and have to keep up this arrangement any longer than necessary. Besides, Noah and J.C. will be drunk and high most of the time anyway, so we’ll have plenty of time to practice training on uneven terrain and someplace aside from a flat living room. Plus, it will keep up our cover.”

I frown in confusion, and Caleb answers my unspoken question, letting me know he can see much more of my face than I’d like him to. “We’re fuck buddies, remember?”

His words feel like a cup of cold water in my face.

Of course, that’s what we are. My face flushes red with embarrassment at my own naivete. I went into this arrangement knowing exactly who Caleb was, yet I still allowed myself to be swept in. I hadn’t even realized it was happening.

Rather than a conscious decision, the hope that I could be the girl who would change Caleb and soften him settled over me slowly like a sunset.

The light slipped away without my noticing.

Until, suddenly, I’m standing with him in the dark with the ghost of an ache between my legs and shame curled in my chest.

I want to spit at him and storm away. I want to tell him that he can fuck himself from now on.

Except, if I do, doesn’t that mean he has won?

At this point, the only thing I’ve yielded is one glorious orgasm.

While my loss of control is damning, Caleb doesn’t need to know exactly how much of myself I gave him in that moment. He doesn’t need to know that the act was anything more than physical, even for a second.

“Well, considering I’m the only one who has benefitted from our arrangement so far, it seems like you’re my fuck buddy,” I say, calmly reaching down to pull my zipper up and adjust my shorts, shimmying my hips back and forth.

When I look up, Caleb’s eyes have widened, the whites visible in the faint glow coming from the windows behind me. “But I can probably make an overnight work. I won’t be able to leave my house with a tent without my parents pitching a fit, though. So, we’ll have to share. Is that okay with you?”

Caleb is silent for a few beats before he lightly shakes his head and nods. “Yeah, whatever.”

Is it my imagination, or does his voice sound strained? He might be regretting his rejection of my offer to return the favor, but I certainly won’t be offering again.

I leave the house with my resolve set.

Yes, I just lost a battle, but there is still a war to be won.

I intend to be the one who wins it.

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