Page 54 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

“And the detective talked to me again,” I add, betting that Jake and Liam are on the same page.

“She did?” he demands. “When?”

See? They’re talking behind my back. They know something.

I frown. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“Because…” He groans and tips his head back. “Damn it, Sky. I’m just here to visit. But you shouldn’t be talking to the police without a lawyer… maybe you should call Eli’s dad.”

“Or Riley’s. They’re both lawyers,” I point out.

“Riley’s father is a prosecutor for the district attorney,” he replies hotly. “Josh Black specializes in—”

“Do not say criminal law.” I glower. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

He takes my arm and turns me toward him. “You never know how the police will twist things around. One minute you’re answering little harmless questions. The next you’re in a jail cell.”

I snort. “Dramatics aren’t going to scare me.”

He presses his lips together and doesn’t reply. He doesn’t have to reply—he’s worried about me. As a girl from Ashburn College. As a semi-distant acquaintance of Natalie Eldridge. As someone who’s had something traumatic happen to her.

If Natalie comes back, the version of her we get won’t be the same one who left.

Once we’re seated at the cafe, orders for coffee and waffles placed, he finally relaxes.

“You could come visit me in Connecticut,” he offers. “Maybe you’d like it enough to transfer.”

“Aren’t you making friends?”

While Jake and I are friends, to say we haven’t had our moments of ugliness would be a lie. He barely spoke to me after the video went viral, and we only just got our relationship back on track this summer.

“A few,” he says. “I don’t love the pressure, though. Everyone’s hyper-focused on getting the best grades they can, but that isn’t what life is about.”

I hide my smile behind my hand. “What is life about?”

He shrugs and glances away. “Discovery, maybe. Don’t make fun of me, Skylar.”

“I’m not.”

He seems genuinely disgruntled, so I lean forward and put both my hands on his forearm.

“I’m not making fun of you, Jacob.” I duck my head to the side, trying to get him to look at me. “You’re the best, and I’m the gray-haired emo freak. If anyone should be making fun, it’s you of me.”

That wins me the brief flash of a smile.

“So, you’ve been spending some time with my brother.” An artful topic change.

I retreat, physically and mentally.

The waitress returns with our coffees then, and I’m grateful for something to occupy my hands.

“I wouldn’t so much call it spending time as forced proximity,” I say. “He’s being weird. Almost weirder than you.”

He grunts. “He has a soft spot for you.”

“He broke into my apartment,” I say, setting down my mug. “Accosted me, warned me not to do anything stupid, and installed a freaking alarm system.”

Jake bursts into laughter. “Shut up.”

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