Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“Dean would never hurt me.”
He lied to us. He’s not who we thought he was. He used us.
I sit beside her on the edge of my bed. She drops her head against my shoulder, my arm wrapping around her.
“I love you, Ash.”
“I know. And really, it’s easier to blame you than him. Because the truth is, if he cared, he wouldn’t listen to you. If my friendship meant as much to him as it does to me, he wouldn’t stop talking to me just because you told him to.”
Little does she know, it’s not that simple. None of this is fucking simple. Still, I don’t want her to think he didn’t care about her. “He cares about you. He just…won’t cross me. He knows he won’t come out of it well.”
She sighs. “What happened between you? Everything was perfect. Is it Dad? Did he threaten Dean? Oh my God. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re doing this to protect him? What the fuck has Dad done now?”
I tense, not liking the direction of her thoughts. I need to nip this shit in the bud. I walk to the bathroom to shave. “It’s not our father.”
“You’re lying.” She stands in the doorway.
“Leave it alone, Aislin.”
“No. I won’t leave it alone. The two of you—”
“Just stop!” I slam my hands against the countertop. “It wasn’t real, all right? It was a fucking lie! And I fell for it. He didn’t really want me.” The words stick in my throat.
It’s silent around us except for the running water, Aislin looking at me in the mirror, sadness in her expression. She slips behind me, wraps her arms around me, and rests her head against my shoulder. “You really do love him.”
I don’t answer, but I don’t have to. We both know I do.
“I’ll kill him myself for hurting you.”
When I look down, there’s blood in the sink, mixing with the water.
“Oh shit. What did you do?” She opens my hand, the razor there. I was holding it when I hit the counter and didn’t even realize. She pulls me away from the counter, taking the razor and changing the temperature of the water.
I let her hold my hand under the faucet, watching as the blood and water run down the drain in a swirl of pink. “Leave it alone, Ash…the Dean thing. It’s better this way.”
“I don’t like to see you hurt.”
“It’s better this way,” I reiterate.
With a sigh, she nods.
But it doesn’t feel better this way. It doesn’t feel good at all.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Dean
I’ve been skipping the class I have with Aislin. Tiernan wants me to stay away from her. It’s the least I can do after what I’ve done to him. She’s still been trying to call and text, though. I’ve had to stay out of the café and specific areas around campus to avoid her. I don’t get why Tiernan hasn’t told her yet, why he hasn’t told anyone yet, and I have to assume he hasn’t. If he had, someone would have come for me by now. My mom and I got away from them, and then I came back with the plan to kill Sloan. No way they’ll let me get away with that.
Why hasn’t he told anyone?
Because he’s better than me.
Because he gave a shit about me.
And all I gave him was my betrayal.
The door opens, and I roll over to face the wall.
“Hey,” Ollie says softly. It’s a kind hello, but it makes my skin crawl. He can tell something is going on, and he’s been trying so hard to be supportive, when really, he just needs to stay away from me, to write me off because all I do is ruin things. “Are you hungry? I brought pizza from work.”
“I’m good,” I say, then grab my earbuds and put them in. I don’t turn music on, but he doesn’t know that.
Ollie sighs, sits at the small table.
It’s late. He doesn’t typically come in at this time unless he had a shift.
Ollie eats while I lie around in bed like a loser.
I miss Aislin.
Even fucking Cillian and Rory.
But even more than that, I miss Tiernan so much, I ache with it. I didn’t realize just how alone I was until I wasn’t, and now I’m lost in it, in this world of my own making. It feels like I’m in a maze and just keep going and going, trying to find my way out of it, but I can’t.
I frown at the knock on the door. Ollie doesn’t ever have people at the dorm room this late—at least not when I’ve been here. When he turns to look at me, the confusion on his face lets me know he’s not expecting anyone.
My skin prickles with awareness, this buzzing I haven’t had in what feels like an eternity making my pulse beat faster and my chest feel…different. There’s not a doubt in my mind who it is.