Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“When I asked Oliver here about your little incident, Niko, he didn’t seem to know anything about it. You haven’t told your boytoy what you did?”
Fire rips through my chest.
“Get the fuck away from Oliver,” I repeat.
No.
Fuck, no.
It’s not that I’ve been keeping a secret from Oliver.
But there is something that happened, just before I broke things off with Callum. Something that weighs heavy on my heart, pulling at it like a pendulum when I let myself think about it.
“Oliver doesn’t even know that I’m the one who saved your life.”
Ollie is frowning. “What does he mean by that, Niko?”
“Callum,” I say. “You need to leave.”
He’s wearing one of his usual suits, but he approaches and I see the shirt he has on underneath it. It’s a shirt with a shimmering gold dragonfly printed on the front of it that I lost a long time ago, and he must have swiped it from me back when we were dating.
Can’t believe I ever associated with this person at all.
“Been waiting out here,” he says. “Didn’t expect your new toy to be out here, too.”
“He isn’t my toy. He’s my boyfriend.”
He glares at me. “Lovely.”
“Why are you waiting out here?”
“Because you need a Crimson ID to get into that party, Niko.”
“I know you need an ID for the formal. I’m asking why the fuck you’re on this campus to begin with, Callum.”
“I knew the E would hit. Knew you’d get sick of that party and come to find me. I’m already here, Niko. I’m here for you. I was here for you when you did something very stupid, and I’m here now.”
It feels like someone is opening up a dark, locked box I had stuffed away.
Stuffed down in my own psyche.
Somewhere far from this life.
The rocky cliff.
The waterfall below.
Blood, spilling from the back of my head, painting the water in a small pool of deep red, before I lost consciousness.
Callum sounds insane, and he is.
But that dark little story is something I’m going to have to explain to Oliver now.
“The E hit a long time ago. It doesn’t make me feel a single thing about you.”
He steps toward me slowly, one hand reaching toward his pocket. First it looks like he’s just putting his hand there, but then it becomes obvious he’s reaching for something.
“Niko, Niko,” he says.
“Do you have a weapon in that hoodie?”
His bitter laugh fills the air. “So scared, aren’t you? You never used to be scared of me.”
He pulls out a little clear bottle, shaking it.
Small white pills are inside.
“I can’t believe you actually drugged me,” I say. “And now you’re just freely admitting it.”
“I did it last year, too.”
I frown. “You didn’t even know me yet, when I was at that hockey game.”
“I knew your Instagram profile. Knew you had potential. I met you later that night, don’t you remember?”
My stomach is starting to feel sick.
He was manipulating me before he ever met me.
Oliver turns toward him and takes a step closer.
“Fuck you,” he says in a low tone.
“Don’t approach him, Ollie,” I tell him.
When Callum puts a hand on Ollie’s shoulder a flash of panic hits my veins.
Oliver.
My Oliver.
His beautiful face.
Everything about him is so perfect, and he didn’t do it. He never drugged me. It was this monster.
And I have to keep him away.
I spring into action.
The moment I see him on Ollie I launch forward and my palms connect with Callum’s shoulders. I shove him backward, and he lets out a bitter laugh.
I punch him in the jaw and he falls to the ground, still laughing, his hand scraping against a stone as he tries to steady his fall.
A streak of his blood smears out onto the ground, painting deep red on the grey.
“He can’t give you what you need, Niko,” Callum says, and I can see that his pupils are dilated, too. “He’s a prep school clone like the rest of them.”
I push his face into the stone and he laughs again.
“He’s mine,” I tell him.
“What’s going on?” I hear a voice coming form behind me.
I keep Callum on the ground, and he doesn’t even struggle.
It’s like he wanted me to lose control.
A moment later, Roman and Weston step out from the front door of Student Hall, and I say a fucking prayer of thanks that someone else is here.
Callum is out of his mind, but he has enough self-preservation instinct not to pull anything while multiple people are watching.
I hope.
He looks at Roman’s muscle and already, I can see Callum’s smile starting to retreat.
I need to be near Oliver again.
Desperately.
I stand up and walk over to him and I wrap my arm around his shoulder. I grip his hand, holding it tight.
“Can’t believe this is the guy.”
“He’s already given me more than you ever have. Get away from me.”
Roman looks between the two of us and can sense a problem even though he’s out of the loop. He steps over, walking up to Callum like he’s a bodyguard, placing his solid brick of a body between me and Callum.