Page 119 of Deceptive Games

“Paranoid? He’s fucking threatened you again and again. He locked you in a room with your rapist, remember? You’re calling me paranoid when a man who wants you dead shows up at your house in the middle of the night and you hang out with him until morning?”

“Isn’t this a good thing? We’re going to get along better now, which means you and him won’t fight so much. I mean it, Skeet. It was a good talk, things will be different now,” I promised as he started the car.

“He’s not your fucking friend, so don’t think for a second that you’re safe around him,” he warned, reversing out of the driveway and heading towards my place.

He seemed to calm down once on the road, his hand moving to my thigh after a few minutes, and he blew out a breath before glancing at me.

“I have a bunch of shit to do today, so I have to drop you off and go, but I’ll try to stop by later.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, but I want to,” he said firmly, squeezing my thigh a little. “Stay out of trouble for me today.”

I nodded, taking his hand and threading my fingers through his. He surprisingly let me, and we sat in comfortable silence the rest of the drive home.

Caden looked pissed when he walked out to meet us, but Skeeter waved him off. “She’s okay. Slash showed up drunk so she took him home. They’re apparently besties now.”

“He didn’t hurt you?” Caden asked as I walked towards him, his hands instantly going to my waist to pull me closer.

“No. We had a long talk this morning. It was good,” I answered, looking over at Skeeter. “Stay safe today.”

He nodded, waiting for Caden and I to head inside before he drove off.

“You and Slash are friends now?” Caden asked dryly as he led me into the kitchen, motioning for me to sit at the table.

“No, we just talked things over and made a truce,” I explained, not particularly wanting to go into detail when I wasn’t even sure I understood it. We weren’t going to sleep together again, but something had definitely shifted between us this morning.

“That’s good, I guess. Hopefully he’s not playing you,” he sighed, clicking his fingers and making me scowl.

“The staff aren’t dogs, Holloway. If you want something, go get it.” Breakfast and coffee appeared a second later, and I thanked the staff while glaring at Caden, who acted like they didn’t exist. “I can’t believe I fell for someone like you. You’re everything I hate.”

“My dick’s just that good,” he smirked, reaching for his coffee to take a sip.

“And you’re so humble about it too,” I deadpanned, taking a piece of buttered toast from the plate in front of me. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave a note. I just wanted to get him home.”

“Try not to make a habit of it. I thought someone had taken you again when I woke up to find you gone and the cameras not working. Next time don’t lie to me.”

I had no idea what had happened to them, but I hadn’t even thought about what could’ve happened if they’d been running properly. My entire conversation with Slash would’ve been recorded.

Josie’s heels clacked on the floor as she entered, eyeing me. “Why aren’t you ready for school?”

“Uh, I just got back from a walk,” I said carefully, her eyes dropping to my bare feet.

“Uh-huh. Well, make sure you get ready and get to class on time. I’ll be checking,” she warned, grabbing her coffee to go and leaving, making me groan.

“I only slept for a couple of hours.”

“You can nap in class. C’mon, eat up,” he encouraged, pushing a plate of pancakes in front of me.

I picked at the food until he made me head upstairs to shower, and once I was ready, we headed out to our cars and I followed Caden to school.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

LUKAS

Iignored my phone as it rang, knowing it was Mom. She’d been trying all morning, and I just couldn’t handle her bullshit today.

I leaned against my Aston Martin as I smoked, eyeing Jensen and Tyler as they wrestled close by. Tyler reeked of whiskey, I was pretty sure his morning coffee had been alcoholic, and Jensen was a little tense today for some reason.