Page 94 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

I lift my chin. “Am I?”

“Do you even have parents anymore, or are they just housemates?”

That fucking hurts. A stab, sharp and quick.

“And what about you, Eli? College dropout. Your one relationship in high school was a fucking lie, so—”

He tilts his head, and it’s the confusion more than anything that catches my attention.

“A lie?”

He can’t be serious.

I step back, rubbing my arms to get rid of the feel of his hand on my skin. “Yes. Of course. You were playing me the whole time.”

His expression darkens. “I think you better start from the beginning.”

Sudden fatigue slams into me, and I sag. “No. I’m going back to bed.”

I can’t read the shift on his face, and right now, I don’t want to. We both need to be up early tomorrow—him probably more so than me.

He stands in the center of the room while I climb into bed, lifting the covers back up to my chin.

“I’ll…” He looks around and pulls out my desk chair. He drops into it and leans back, kicking his feet up. “I’ll be here.”

“What, in case someone comes in through the window?”

He’s tried that before, and maybe it was his lack of grace… but he couldn’t manage it.

So I’m hopeful no one else will be able to, either.

“You think those guys will come through the front door?” He rolls his eyes.

“Or maybe the back door. Perhaps you should guard the mud room.”

He groans. “Go to sleep, Riley. Pretend I’m not here.”

“Fat chance of that happening,” I whisper.

“What?”

I push up on my elbow and stare at him. “Can you at least turn off the light?”

He reaches over and clicks it off. All I can see is his outline in the chair.

I roll over, facing the wall, and try not to think about how he’s probably still watching me. Why is he even here? A misguided attempt to right things? Or another way to ruin me?

“Do you remember why we stopped talking?” he asks in a low voice.

He’s closer than he was, but I don’t move.

“Sophomore year?” I ask.

“Yeah.” His breath hits the back of my neck—or maybe I’m just imagining things. “I’m sorry about that.”

He’s never apologized for that. We just kind of glazed over it…

I sigh. I don’t know what to do with it, so I squeeze my eyes shut tighter.

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