Page 25 of The Revenge You Seek

Luca notices my hesitation and follows my eyeline but he's too late, Kane's slipped into the shadows.

"You're in a dorm with West and Brax?" Luca asks as we approach the main door.

"Yeah. Please don't tell me they're bad guys," I beg as we walk into an almost empty communal area.

Micah is the only one sitting at the dining table with his laptop open.

"Afternoon," he says to me before doing a double-take at Luca.

"Christ, don't let Ella know he's here or she'll be clawing at your door like a cat in heat," he says in a disgruntled tone as I lead Luca to my room.

Luca snorts as if it's a totally normal thing to say to him.

"You didn't see us, okay?"

"Sure thing, Princess."

My steps falter at his use of that nickname for me.

"W-what did you call me?"

"P-princess? Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just, he's the king and… it was meant to be a joke. Forget I even said anything."

"I'm sorry," I say quickly feeling bad for assuming anything ill of him. Micah is good people. All the guys here are. I need to not let Kane get inside my head and force me to start questioning everyone. He's the only twisted motherfucker around here.

He looks a little sheepish behind his laptop.

"I'm just not a fan of the nickname. Queen suits me better."

Luca snorts a laugh behind me and thankfully, Micah smiles before I unlock my door and gesture for Luca to step inside.

He whistles as he takes in the small room.

"Momma Hunter did good scoring this place at the last minute."

"Right? I have no idea how she did it. I'm not complaining though. I'm loving not having to share a bathroom."

"It's pretty sweet. You know where is better though?"

"No," I say suspiciously, narrowing my eyes at him, as I drop down onto my bed while Luca takes the chair at my desk.

"We've got a spare room at our place. If you'd have—"

"No," I say cutting him off. "I need to do this myself. I can't live under your shadow for the next few years. Plus, I refuse to live with sweaty, smelly football players."

He pretends to be offended by my words but he knows just how smelly they can be.

"It's not just football players. A couple of girlfriends live with us too."

"Which I am not."

He stares at me for a beat too long. The teenage girl inside me starts jumping to conclusions but I quickly shove her back down. So much time has passed and so much has happened since she had her all-consuming crush on her best friend. It's too late for all that now.

"Maybe not but—"

"No, Luc. I appreciate the offer, I really do. But after—" I cut myself off, not wanting to start down a path I have no intention on continuing with. "I just need my space. I need to start over myself."

"You've had space, Let. You've been gone for two years. I…" He drags his eyes away from mine and stares down at his feet for a beat. “I missed you.”