Page 104 of Deliverance

What the fuck? Crazy bitch.

Looking down at my phone, I notice it’s not even open to my text messages. She’s not on anything. She must of exited out of whatever the fuck she was snooping through before throwing the phone.

Pulling up my texts, I go to my thread with Sky and see a couple of texts.

Skyla: Hey, I’m sorry I’ve been MIA. Things have been…weird.

Skyla: Are you free for dinner? You could come over here?

Dinner away from campus sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.

* * *

“How is it, ladies?” Ronan asks.

“Really good, thank you,” I say over a mouthful of quite literally the best eggplant parmesan I’ve ever had. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to join us?” I ask.

“We do. We were told we weren’t allowed,” Liam says with a roll of his eyes.

Skyla shoots him a look that has a playful smirk transforming his face. Watching Liam Walcott go from playboy to puppy dog has got to be the most intense transformation I’ve ever witnessed. Scratch that, watching Asher Putnam go from manwhore to doting husband, is definitely the one that has me thrown for a loop.

“I didn’t say you weren’t allowed, just that I haven’t had much girl time with…everything,” she says cryptically.

“He knows, princess. He’s just being a little shit,” Asher says as he places a featherlight kiss against Sky’s forehead.

See what I mean? Who the fuck is this?

“We’re going to order some takeout and hang in the rec room upstairs. If you need us, give a shout.” Wesley smiles as the group of them make their way out of the kitchen.

Well, all but one.

Skyla sighs and shakes her head.

“Vincent, can we have some alone time? Please?”

He narrows his eyes at me like I’m public enemy number one. Even though I’ve done nothing wrong, I suddenly feel like I have. Griggs has that effect on a person.

Reluctantly, he presses a kiss to the top of Sky’s head before making his way out of the room. It isn’t until he crests the corner that I can actually relax. God, I don’t know how she can be in love with that guy. He has this dark energy about him. Like he’s the embodiment of death knocking on your door.

“You didn’t have to kick your boyfriends out, Sky. I know how attached at the hip you all are. Or attached at the genitals, whatever you want to call it.”

Skyla lets out a dry laugh like she can’t stand me, even though we both know she couldn’t live without me. I know I couldn’t live without her.

“They will survive. I’ve been a shitty friend lately. You are the priority right now,” she says, reaching out and squeezing my hand.

I smile softly. “So, are we going to talk about that?”

“About what?” she asks as she takes a bite of her food.

“You going MIA, acting all cagey about you being busy with ‘everything,’” I say, using air quotes as I do.

She grimaces. “Would you drop it if I told you I can’t tell you just yet?”

“Probably not, but it’s worth a try.” I shrug.

She laughs stiffly, worry etched into her features as she runs a hand through her blonde hair. I push my shoulder into hers as I speak softly.

“Hey, I’m teasing. If you’re not ready to talk about something, we won’t talk about it. You know I’m here whenever you need me.”