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Just as I stepped forward another spot, I noticed the two people in front of me stop talking. When I looked to see what had gotten their attention, I saw Kincaid Black walking our way. I wasn’t surprised, though. Not only was Kincaid so beautiful that it was kind of hard to believe that she was real, but she walked with purpose. The girl wasn’t lacking in anything, much less the confidence department. Females wished that they could be her, and males wished they could own her. She truly was extraordinary, and if someone told me that she was aspiring to be the next President of the United States, I’d believe them. I’d also believe that she could do it.
What did surprise me was how she didn’t stop until she was standing in front of me, saying. “Can we talk?”
I didn’t know Kincaid Black. We had nothing in common and nothing to talk about. If Ross Carmichael was out of my league, then Kincaid Black was out of my hemisphere.
What in the hell was going on?
“About what?” I asked, too shocked to mask my rudeness.
Kincaid’s black eyes narrowed, and I swear it felt like a demon moving through me. Any sane person would have immediately agreed, but I guess I lacked in that area because, not only had I given Ross a second chance when he didn’t deserve one, I was questioning Kincaid Black.
Quietly enough for just the two of us to hear, she said, “I think you already know. That little clueless act might work on other people, but not me. You might not have connected the dots yet because you’re still trying to convince yourself that you don’t care, but you’re not stupid. You know there are dots that are connected.” I just nodded because she was right. “What time is your last class?”
“Uh, three, but…I usually go to the library after-”
“Meet me at Scully’s at four,” she instructed, interrupting me. “I’ll be waiting.” Without another word, she walked off, and when I turned back to see where the line for the kiosk was, four different sets of eyes were staring back at me.
I guess I hadn’t been the only one to experience that demonic feeling.
Normally, Mondays felt like years with the class and workload I had going, but not this Monday. Not today. Today had flown by too quickly for my liking, and it wasn’t hard to guess why. While I had nothing against Kincaid, I couldn’t imagine what she wanted to speak to me about was a good thing. Hell, I was still flabbergasted that the girl even knew my name.
At four o’clock, I walked into Scully’s, a bar a few blocks away from campus, and Kincaid Black was already there, sitting at a high-top table in the corner. Summoning as much courage as I could, I made my way over. It wasn’t that I was necessarilyscaredof her, but Kincaid Black was no joke. The girl was intimidating, and her reputation was a rather brutal one. It was reputed that she feared nothing, and I believed it.
Taking a seat, she immediately asked if I wanted something to drink. “Beer? Wine?”
“Neither,” I answered. “I’d rather be sober for…whatever this is.”
She smirked, and my first thought was that she probably already ran the world. “Fair enough,” she replied. “So, let’s get down to the brass tacks, yeah?”
I nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”
“Jennifer Polk isn’t who or what you think she is,” Kincaid started, and I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“She’s not?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, she’s not.” I wasn’t sure what Kincaid was drinking, but it was a tumbler of something dark. “However, neither are Ross or August.” She pursed her lips. “Or Laney Spinner, for that matter.”
“That’s not really telling me anything,” I pointed out. “And it’s no fun being left in the dark.”
“True,” she conceded. “Still, while I might not be able to tell you what they are right now, I can tell you what they aren’t. Jennifer is not a side piece or Ross’ girlfriend. In fact, she’s rather inconsequential unless Ross says otherwise.”
“How do you know this?” As far as I knew, Ross wasn’t friends with Kincaid, so how did she know so much about him?
She sat up straighter. “That’s part of…all that you don’t know, Sutton,” she answered. “I know that it sucks, but do you want the absolute truth of the matter?” I nodded. “Ross ghosting you? Jennifer? August? It’s all part of the same…secret. However, Ross is in love with you.” My head reared back at that. “And this entire mess has nothing to do with his feelings for you.” Her black eyes were piercing straight through my heart. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but if you don’t…if you walk away from Ross, he’s going to end up throwing away his entire future to chase you, and I’m all for that, but only if you deserve that kind of sacrifice from him.”
“I don’t even know what any of that means,” I replied, my voice cracking with emotion. “What are you…saying?”
Kincaid stood up, threw some bills on the tabletop, then looked at me. “Let him tell you his secrets because he trusts you with them,” she said. “Not because you don’t trust him.”
I sat there, more confused than ever, as Kincaid walked out of the bar. I still had no idea what she was talking about, but that last statement made me sound like an asshole, even though I wasn’t the one in the wrong here.
Still, the more I sat and thought about it, the more I realized that secrets weren’t the way to go, no matter the reason. I just had to think of my mother to know that.
Chapter 25
Ross~
Iskipped all my Monday classes, knowing that I wouldn’t have been able to keep from hunting Sutton down. With the permission to tell her all about the organization, there was no way I wouldn’t have forced her hand. Even with the given permission from Saxton, Fox, and Stone, and even with what I felt for Sutton, breaking the organization contracts and NDAs wasn’t anything I was taking lightly.
