Page 45 of Cerberus

“Can’t argue there,” he grinned.

“Okay, we search Laney’s apartment, then go from there yeah?” Fox asked.

Once we all agreed, the guys made their way back to Hales while I stayed home. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d told them that I needed to regroup before approaching Sutton. I also wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t kill August with my bare hands if I ran into him on campus.

Or Laney.

Or Jennifer.

So much for having the patience of a saint.

Chapter 26

Sutton~

Icouldn’t take it anymore. Maybe that made me stupid, or reckless, or I don’t know what, but I wanted answers.

I wanted to believe Kincaid.

So, my curiosity-or stupidity-was what had me sitting at the Serenity Springs’ public park at eight in the evening. Even though it was dark, and I was alone, meeting in a public place still felt relatively safer than having Ross come to my place or have me go over to his condo. I didn’t trust my body’s response to him enough to have any kind of privacy for our talk.

Plus, if Delta or Toby were home, we wouldn’t have the privacy needed for complete honesty. Granted, it wasn’t like I was expecting him to tell me anything, but better to limit any possible humiliation to just us.

Looking around for the millionth time, I finally saw Ross making his way towards me. I had chosen a bench that was off the trail, but still lit well enough. It wasn’t ideal, but I could hardly be accused of making sound decisions these days.

When he stopped in front of me, he said, “I ought to take you over my fucking knee.”

“Really?” I deadpanned. “That’s how you want to start this off?”

“You chose a park at night,” he replied through clenched teeth. “And if that weren’t enough, you chose a bench way in the fuck over here? Are you looking to get robbed, beaten, or worse?”

“I’m not stupid,” I snapped. “I was keeping an eye out.”

“For what?” he bit out. “Murderers and kidnappers?”

“Because Serenity Springs has a high murder and kidnapping rate?”

Ross ran his hands through his hair, and was muttering a blue streak of curses, but I didn’t care. We weren’t here to discuss my possible murder and kidnapping.

“Are you done?”

He shot me a look that hinted at some possible violence. “Careful, Sutton,” he warned. “My patience is running on empty these days.”

Suddenly, I’d never felt so exhausted. Staring up at this tall, blonde, blue-eyed god, I cursed whatever it was that had put him in my path that night at the party. There were so many other guys at Hales that came with easier instructions.

“Well, if you want to sit down, we can get started,” I grumbled.

Ross sat down, closer than was safe for my lady bits, then said, “Get started?”

“I have some questions,” I told him. “You can answer them, not answer them, lie about them, whatever, but I have some questions and I want…I want to see how much you’re willing to give me, Ross.”

“So, it’s all or nothing?” he asked. “All my secrets for your forgiveness?”

I shook my head. “No,” I replied. “I don’t want you to confess all of your secrets, Ross. In all honestly, you could lay all your secrets bare, but that still doesn’t mean that I’ll forgive you. No matter what your answers are, or how you answer, nothing will take away from the fact that you’ve hurt me twice already.” He was about to defend himself, no doubt, but I put my hand up to stop him. “The first time is on you, but the second time is on me. So, this…this meeting is like…like overtime to determine the game since we’re both tied right now.”

He gave me a terse nod. “Okay,” he replied. “So, ask your questions.”

“What’s going on between you and August Remington?” I asked. “You’ve never mentioned him before that day you told me to stay away from him, so why is he an issue in your life now?”

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