Page 59 of Sinful Desires

“Cut the shit. You wouldn’t be bothering me right now if there wasn’t something you wanted.”

He just smirked in response, and I hated how my thighs clenched because of it. I hated him for being an asshole. I hated him for being friends with Myles. I hated him for being so hot, and I hated him for being honest with me. Couldn’t he have just lied and pretended to like me so that my ego wasn’t completely disintegrated? Lucky for me, I’ve perfected masking my emotions over the years, so I just rolled my eyes like he had zero effect on me whatsoever.

Once we reached the elevator, he let me pull away from him. Thankful to put some space between us, I moved to the far end of the elevator, leaving him near the front.

Right before the doors closed, a girl with honey-blonde hair strode inside. I instantly recognized her as Madison, having seen her once or twice with Collin. Her gaze fixed on the dude in question, and she stormed over to him, the door sliding closed behind her moments later.

“I’ve been texting you,” she hissed in a hushed tone—not that it helped. I could still hear everything she was saying, and I was pretty sure the two girls at the other end could too.

“I’ve been busy,” he said dismissively, barely sparing her a glance.

Her gaze slid over to me. “With her?” she challenged, causing my lips to part in surprise. The two chicks exchanged amused looks before they went back to pretending they weren’t listening in.

“Well, actually—” he started, but paused mid-sentence when she returned her attention to him.

Disbelief washed through me. It wasn’t like I’ve never slept with someone’s boyfriend before, but that was usually out of spite. The fact that he kept me in the dark, fed me these bullshit lies—which I never believed to begin with, and proceeded with the whole ‘hero’ act pissed me off.

“So, Jess was right then?”

He shrugged nonchalantly like it had no effect on him whatsoever. “Depends on what was said.”

Rolling her eyes, she placed a hand on her hip as she looked over him with accusing eyes. “She said that you were interested in someone else.” Her gaze slid over to me once again, and discomfort set in soon after.

He huffed a laugh and leaned against the elevator wall with his arms folded across his chest. “That’s partially true. The other part is because you gave me a fucking ultimatum.”

To my relief, the elevator doors slid open, and I wasted no time hurrying out onto the floor and booking it through the building. That was enough awkwardness to last me a lifetime.

Stepping out into the cool, evening air, I relished the way the wind blew my hair about. Fall was my favorite season. Not because of the holiday, but because of how the atmosphere seemed to shift as it prepared for the new season.

Moving into the cafeteria, I navigated my way through the various crowds of people blocking my path right before halting at the end of the lunch line. Once inside the kitchen, the different scents attacked my nostrils, making my stomach grumble. I hadn’t gotten a lot of nourishment over the last week in general and was more than eager to eat my weight and restore it. Deciding on some lasagna, I grabbed a plate and paired it with a Gatorade before striding across the room to my table.

Gia’s nose was buried into her cell phone as she stared at the screen in fascination. I didn’t hesitate before shoveling a bite into my mouth and moaning from how good it tasted.

As I ate, I couldn’t keep my mind from wandering and a sigh fluttered past my lips. I shouldn’t have even cared, but curiosity was eating away at me.

“Hey,” I said thoughtfully, wracking my brain on how I wanted to word this. “Does Collin have a girlfriend?” As soon as the words left my mouth, regret flooded through me. Images of our night together slithered through my head, making my stomach twist into knots. Gia snorted in amusement, glancing up at me from her cell.

“Collin doesn’t date,” she answered. “Well, not to my knowledge anyways. Madison has been extremely vocal about the issues between them, and from the sound of it, they’re in more of a…situationship.”

“Issues?” I repeated, not bothering to hide my interest.

She nodded. “Collin is a typical playboy. The kind you’re warned about from a young age. He keeps one girl as a main who he keeps running back to whenever the urge arises, and then he has several side pieces that he’ll run through.”

My teeth sunk into my lower lip as I processed this. “And once he’s had his fun with said side piece, he goes back to her,” I murmured, more to myself than to her but she confirmed that thought with a nod of her head.

“Is there a reason you were wondering?” She arched an eyebrow, but if the look on her face was any indication, she already knew the answer.

“I just ran into his main in the elevator.” I rolled my eyes. “He basically implied that he fucked me when she bombarded him with questions about it.”

She made a face as she took a drink of water and screwed the cap back on. “Yikes. Yeah, it’s best to stay away from all of those guys and the bitches that hang around them. Madison and Jessica can be pretty fucking ruthless if they feel threatened.”

“Ruthless how?” I shoveled another cheesy bite into my mouth before setting my fork down on the plate and giving her my full attention.

Releasing a sigh, she leaned back in her seat. “There used to be this girl that went here. Her name was Dory Chesterfield and had become fast friends with Jessica and Madison within her first week here. They did everything together.” She paused, taking a bite of her salad, before washing it down with her drink. “Dory was really pretty, and a lot of guys wanted her. All it took was for Hunter to stare at her for too long one day and Madison and Jessica turned on her like it was nothing.”

“What happened?” I pressed, yearning to find out what happened next.

“Well, as expected, they got into a huge fight during lunch. Jessica accused her of wanting to hook up with Hunter, and an audience formed pretty fast. They weren’t any better having videotaped the whole encounter. Nobody stepped in to help her.”

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