Page 105 of Wicked Lord

Lorelei didn’t feel the same.

This was my relationship with Cordelia all over again. The chemistry between Lorelei and me was off the charts—any idiot could see that—but just like Cordi, she didn’t want anything from me other than sexual pleasure.

“So, you just had a good time with me?” I choked back the acid oozing up my throat.

What the fuck was wrong with me? This couldn’t happen again.

“Well, yes.”

My humorless laugh echoed harshly in her room. “Of course. I’m just a fun time for everyone.”

Cordi and I hadn’t spoken since she passed out after asking me to take her back. She’d been hammered, though, so I had no idea if she even meant it.

Lorelei’s eyebrows knit, and she reached over, unfurling my fists. “That’s not all you are.”

To her?

Lorelei snagged her bottom lip between her teeth. “My life is complicated right now, and I just…”

Backpedal! Backpedal! Abort!

As those words repeated through my mind, the crushing weight of regret and shame settled on my shoulders. Did I expect anything else? I shouldn’t have told her a damn thing. Now I screwed it all up.

“Don’t freak out on me, blondie. I’m not professing my undying love for you.” My smile felt too tight, straining across my face. “I’ve been carrying a torch for Cordelia for a long time, and something like that doesn’t just go away.”

“So, I’m your second choice?” She yanked her hand away and crossed her arms, the softness in her eyes evaporating. “I’m nobody’s second choice, Vanderhart.”

Her nostrils flared as she stood and marched across her room, her swaying hips practically hypnotizing me.

The harsh clinks of bottles echoed as Lorelei tossed items in her vanity drawers and slammed them shut. Her angry reaction made my head spin.

What did she want? When Lorelei stormed out of Davenport Dormitory last night, I thought she’d also developed feelings, but her obvious shock after I told her the truth had me reconsidering everything.

As I stood, she caught my approach in the mirror and darted to the other side of the room to fiddle with picture frames on her dresser. I changed directions, settled behind her, and pressed my hands on the cool wood to trap her. I inhaled her scent a few times before speaking.

“You’re right. You should never be anyone’s second choice.” Her gaze, full of fury and pain, lifted to meet mine in the mirror above her dresser. “But amIeven on your radar at all—as more than a fun hookup?”

She turned to face me, still caged in my arms.

“You’re the only person that’s gotten this close, seen the real me behind all the fake bullshit I throw out there to protect myself.” A single tear brimmed over and ran down her cheek. “If you think I only see you as a good time, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

It felt like an invisible hand reached into my chest and squeezed the fuck out of my heart.

“Ihavebeen known to be an idiot.” I used my thumb to brush away the tear staining her cheek. “It’s good to have someone call me out on my asinine behavior. Who better to have that job than a smart-mouthed, sharp-tongued beauty who is secretly the sweetest girl at Stonewall U?”

“I don’t know about the sweetest.” Lorelei gave a watery smile. “But the other things are definitely true.”

My laugh stirred the little tendrils of golden hair framing her face. “They’re all true, blondie.”

A shaky sigh spilled out, and she slumped between the dresser and me. “What are we doing?”

I skimmed my fingers over her chin and tilted her head up. “Honestly, I’m confused as hell. Are these feelings real, or are they simply manufactured from all this pretending?”

Pretending my ass.

Lorelei toyed with the hem of my shirt, opened her mouth to speak, and then snapped it shut.

“What?” I asked.