AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Back at my dorm there’s no sign of Rob when I hammer on his door. Frustrated and confused I stomp into my own room and check the time on my phone. I must have knocked it onto silent because there’s several missed calls and messages. All from The Holy Trinity.
Ugh. Great. That’s just what I need when I’m feeling lousy as fuck, though I have to admit Hector’s ‘brinner’ has worked wonders for clearing up my hangover. If it was only a hangover. Hector seems to think otherwise but is he just trying to manipulate me into questioning what I saw and heard last night? And if he is, why?
I wonder if I should say anything to Kaiden. Zie and I still aren’t talking, and every interaction I have with Axel leaves me wanting to scream and stab him. Don’t even get me started on that kiss either. But things with Kaiden are…different. I don’t forgive him for ghosting me when they left, or for whatever role he is playing in making me The Doe, but there’s a mutual understanding there that we need each other. We have too much shared history, too many secrets that we can only confide in each other. We both need an outlet for our traumas and the other seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Maybe he could help me get to the bottom of what went down last night.
As quickly as I consider it, I dismiss the idea. He’d tell Axel. He doesn’t owe me anything except guardianship of those past secrets. Anything new would be outside the bounds of our unspoken agreement, and the last thing I need is Axel and The Holy Trinity inserting themselves into another facet of my life.
Instead, I pull out my phone and text Kaiden about something else.
Me: what the fuck does ‘dress for somewhere hot’ mean?
Kaiden: Lol. As much as I know you’re itching to disobey Axel on this one, I’d listen to him. You’ll only be causing yourself to suffer if you turn up in sweats.
I snigger both at the way Kaiden knows that I live to challenge Axel and at the way he thinks I even own sweats. I hunt in my wardrobe for my padded winter parka, pull it on, zip it up and raise the hood. Taking a quick snap, I fire it to Kaiden with the caption How about this?
Kaiden: You look like that TikTok chick’s talking vagina!
I shoot back a crying laughing face emoji but secretly I love that he remembers my favourite TikTok star from our early teenage years. I maintain that all of her talking body parts taught them more about women than porn did, so they should probably be thanking me. At the time they just didn’t get it, but the girl’s a freaking genius if you ask me.
Me: Do I have to show the tattoo?
Kaiden: Do you really hate it that much?
Me: Not the point.
Kaiden: Does that mean it’s growing on you?
Me: No.
Kaiden: Do what you want, babygirl. I love watching Axel’s head explode. See you at 9.
Hmm. So he wants a bit of drama tonight. I won’t disappoint if it means winding Axel up.
I take off the vagina-parka, knowing that I’ll probably never wear it again now thanks to Kaiden’s comment, and start doing my makeup. If Kaiden wants to see drama between me and Axel, I’ll damn well make sure all of their heads explode tonight.
When the buzzer to my dorm goes off at one minute to nine, I give myself a once over in the mirror. I’m probably crazy and definitely playing with fire, but fuck it. You only live once and this last week has shown me that since the guys left, I’ve barely been surviving, let alone living. Just going through the motions each day to make it to the next with as little pain as possible.
Now my heavily made-up eyes glimmer with determination. My hair falls in soft curls around my face and The Doe tattoo – and a hell of a lot more skin – is on full display in my short, fitted dress. It doesn’t look too outrageous, despite being pretty low cut and a daring shade of red, but it’s the back that screams drama. Thank fuck Steph convinced me to skip class to go shopping with her earlier in the week. I have a whole new wardrobe full of outfits I can wear out with her and the girls.
Even teaming it with low heeled booties doesn’t detract from the wow factor, though I know it would probably look better with the only pair of high heeled sandals that I own. However Axel had warned it would be a long night on my feet, and I’m not about to ignore that part of his message. The shoes last night were unforgiving on my poor feet, and I’m just not ready to face the pain again so soon. Christ knows how some women can wear heels all the damn time.
Sadly, the dress will have to remain hidden until later. I pull on another old hoodie, Kaiden’s this time, swiped from him when he was packing to leave. I kept it as an insurance policy to ensure he returned. Fat lot of good it did me. Still, it will piss Axel off to no end to see me dressed in another man’s clothing, and even if Kaiden recognises it as his, he won’t say anything because he enjoys winding Axel up as much as I do.
I slip my knife into the pocket, along with my phone, my key and my lipstick, and then I head outside where my lift is waiting for me. I expect to see the Jeep waiting for me, with Kaiden behind the wheel, but I see neither of those things.
A low, sleek sports car is waiting for me – fucked if I know the make besides red and expensive and sexy – but what shocks me the most is that it’s Zie behind the wheel. He’s staring straight ahead when I approach the passenger side, drumming his fingers impatiently on the wheel. He doesn’t make eye contact when I open the door and climb in, and he accelerates hard, throwing me back into my seat before I’ve fully closed the door or belted up.
“Arsehole,” I seethe between my gritted teeth.
He flicks his eyes at me, lightning fast, then returns his attention to the road. I don’t miss the tense set of his shoulder though, nor the way his fingers tighten on the wheel making his knuckles turn white. His broken and bloody knuckles.
“What happened to your hands?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“Nothing,” he grunts, sounding nothing like the sunshine boy from my childhood. The tension in the car is thick, the temperature rising with every mile. “What happened to your trousers?”
I look down at my bare legs and laugh.
