Page 87 of Cruel Elite (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 3)

When he’s done, he slides out.

I fall onto the floor in a spent heap, a smile on my face.

I sigh and roll onto my back, expecting to see him behind me.

Instead, he has already stood up.

Noah is throwing the condom away in the trash can and grabbing his clothes, roughly shoving his legs in his jeans.

“That was amazing,” I say, feeling self-conscious that I’m still naked with legs too wobbly to stand up.

He pulls his sweater over his head. “It was sex.”

My heart flops in my chest. I can’t breathe.

“What does that mean?”

Noah scratches the back of his head, turning his face away from me. “It means we’re done here. You should go.”

His words are like a knife slashing my emotions into unrecognizable shreds.

I don’t know what’s what anymore.

Is sadness causing the dry feeling at the back of my throat?

Is embarrassment making my face heat?

Or is the hammering in my chest anger?

Disappointed hopes?

Shame?

“I thought—”

“You thought you’d surprise me at home, fuck me, and fix everything between us?” Noah asks, throwing my clothes at me as he walks by. “Nice try, and my cock certainly appreciates the effort, but I’m afraid not. Better luck next time.”

Without another word, Noah walks out of the room and upstairs, leaving me to get dressed and show myself out.

27

Penny

The text from Noah is short and final.

We’re going to the party together. I’ll pick you up.

In another time, I would have seen it as a good sign that he wanted to spend time with me.

Now? I don’t know what to believe.

“When will you be at the party tonight?” Anika pulls out a compact mirror to readjust the bangs she cut over the weekend—a move I would have advised against had I not been so distracted thinking about Noah.

“I don’t know if I’m going.”

Anika and Jennifer both turn to me, mouths open. “What? You have to go.”

“Do I? Where is it written?”

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