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“If you say so.” Then she hooked her arm through mine and we went off in search of food and to wait for my phone.
Fifteen
LACHLAN
Admissions had sent me to the college counselor, who sent me back to admissions. They were getting the paperwork sorted, and in the meanwhile, I got Coach to let me work on training the high school lacrosse team. I couldn’t compete on it, but I could kick their sorry asses into shape. The junior class really didn’t have anyone to take our places.
I staked out the running trails all week. Classes were officially back on, but there had been no sign of Ace at all. When I asked Ramsey about her, he’d just given me a look.
Fine, keep that shit to yourself. We’d also gotten into it about my stuff in his suite. I cleaned up, but it was never enough for Mr. Perfect. Yes, he got Ace out of the fire, and that definitely deserved some kudos, but he was being tightlipped about everything else.
He wasn’t the only one. Weirdly, though, it was like Ace had developed some kind of early warning system. It was like I’d alwaysjustmissed her.
Even the kid at the barista cart just gave me a smirk when I asked about her. No one else attending this school had blue hair. How was she proving so damn elusive? If it weren’t so frustrating, I’d be enjoying the game of cat and mouse.
“Are you evenlisteningto me?” Payton demanded. The nails-on-chalkboard-piercing nature of her voice dragged me back to where I was seated in the dining hall. I’d taken this spot so I could watch the main doors closest to the Apollo-Volusia dorms. It might be a stretch, but this seemed to be the right spot to catch her.
“No,” I said. I’d forgotten she’d even joined me.
She huffed, impatience creasing her face. “Lachy…”
I downed the last dregs of my now cold coffee. “You know, I don’t care. I have to go.”
“You have got to be kidding me, I’ve spent the last ten minutes telling you about how horrible that bitch is, and you’re just leaving?”
“What bitch?” I focused on her abruptly, skipping the rest of her statement.
“Oh my god, do you ever listen to me?” She threw her hands up and slouched into her seat.
Not if I could help it. But now she’d said one thing that prodded my interest. “What. Bitch.” Hand on the table, I studied her eyes and the way the area around her mouth went white as she compressed her lips. The distinct layering of her cosmetics added to the smokey look around her eyes.
It was a little too dark for this early in the day, and I didn’t really care,exceptI swore I could smell how much makeup she was wearing.
“The stupid rock star sister of yours who is now shacking up with your brother.” Intense dislike rolled off of her.
“She’s not my sister,” I reminded her. Stepsister, fine. But not actual sister. We had zero DNA in common. Thank fuck, because the things I wanted to do with her were already illegal in some states. Biological relations would make it illegal just about everywhere.
“Whatever,” Payton said with a sneer. “When we got reassigned, I was stuck with her and that cunt of a friend of hers.”
“And?” I motioned at her to get a move on. I needed the info, not the dramatics.
“And, she tried to kill me.”
I stared, fighting the urge to verbally smack her into moving it along. ‘Cause, Ace was loaded with all kinds of fire and passion. But she wasn’t a killer.
Then again, she had an awesome right hook and a vicious knee. So—maybe a killer. But Payton wasn’t dead, so she couldn’t have tried that hard.
“You don’t believe me.” Why did I ever think that pout of hers was sexy? Seriously. As she jutted out that lower lip at me and batted those too-long eyelashes, she didn’t turn me on in the slightest. If anything, she just grated on my nerves.
“Didn’t say that.” I summoned every ounce of the patience I was rapidly running out of. “Just waiting for you to get back to the part about shacking up with my brother.”
Payton and Ace as roommates was just all kinds of a bad idea. For me. For them. For everyone.
She held onto her silence for another long moment. Then the faint tremble to her lower lip ceased abruptly, and she sat forward. “All three of us were assigned to the same room. She came unglued and physically attacked me. I can’t believe Rams didn’t tell you.”
I almost gagged at that name for my brother. But I managed to suppress it. Of course, Ramsey didn’t say anything. Mr. Perfect would never reveal anything that involved aprivateincident. Especially if he had to report on it. There were nondisclosures involved.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to sign that shit.
