Page 23 of Ruthless Blade

Kayden had disappeared and so had most of the crowd. Hazel sat down beside me. “Are you okay?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “Yes.” I was playing dumb. I knew exactly what happened. I’d seen the broken glass, and blacked out.

I wouldn’t tell her what had been going on, though, nor would I tell anyone else. They didn’t need to know how much that day haunted me. How the wreck was all my fault.

Her eyebrows pulled together, her gaze narrowing. She was looking for any fault with my words, but she wouldn’t find it.

A glass of water was placed in front of me, and surprisingly, Kayden sat down in the other chair. “Drink.”

Such a demanding asshole.

I took the glass of water and drank until it was gone, feeling slightly better now that I had some liquid in me. I looked at Hazel, suddenly tired from the whole situation. “Can you take me to the dorm, please?”

She frowned, and I instantly felt bad for spoiling her night. Again. “Of course.”

“I can take her back.” Kayden piped in, his gaze meeting mine. He was so difficult to figure out. One minute he couldn’t stand to be around me and the next he was being...nice? What’s he playing at?

“That’s okay...” I said, not wanting to be around him anymore. Thoughts of what we talked about before I fainted rushed back to me. He wanted me to be his pretend girlfriend. It was the strangest idea I’d ever heard of. Putting two people in a room who literally couldn’t stand each other, and be all lovey-dovey? I didn’t want our parents together anymore than he did, but there had to be another way around this.

“We still need to finish our conversation, so let me take you back.” His eyes locked with mine and a slow, reassuring smile had spread across his face.

My lips morphed into a frown. He’s laying it on real thick.

“Oh, and what do you have to talk about that you can’t do with me around?” His gaze broke from mine, and he glared at Hazel. Ah, he wants to keep this from her. Nope, not happening.

I leaned back in the chair, and fixed my hair, putting it back in a bun. “He’s wanting me to be his fake girlfriend to break up our parents.”

Her eyes widened, “Holy shit. I didn’t think you had it in you, Daniel.”

He rolled his eyes, meeting my gaze. “Thanks for that.”

I grinned at the chance of making him uncomfortable. “You’re welcome.”

Hazel’s lips formed into a truly wicked grin. I already knew where her mind was going.

I shook my head, and put up my finger. “Don’t even say it.”

“Come on, you have to do it!”

“No.”

“Think about it. Dating will drive your parents crazy. They’ll be desperate to end your relationship. Tensions will rise, they’ll argue, words will be said, and before you know it, they’ll break up. It’s actually quite a plan.”

This was a bad idea written all over it.

“I’m not going to beg you, but this is the best way to ensure they don’t stay together. Once this is finished, we can go our separate ways. Deal?”

There were so many things wrong with this, but if it got rid of him quicker, then I guess it was time to suck it up.

I rubbed my hands over my face. I was going to regret this. “Deal.”

Chapter Eleven

LEXI

The next day, I tried to ignore the fact that I’d made a deal with the devil. I didn’t know exactly what it was going to entail, just that I would have to be around him more than normal.

I woke up, and went to the rink with Hazel and her dad. They got there every morning at six to prepare for the day, and this meant I had a chance to lace up my skates.