FRAT PARTY PART ONE #3
Cade snorts and rolls his eyes. It’s such an un-Cade-like expression that it jars me for a second. “Or you’re letting that stupid shit, Kingston Adair, have far more control over your decisions than you should.”
The observation pulls me up short, and I frown at him. “How do you know about that?” I ask, but when Cade simply raises a brow at me, it hits me.
Of course, he’d know. This is Cade Murphy we’re talking about; the things he doesn’t know are far less than the things he does know.
“Qiang, darling, that guy doesn’t even deserve you recognizing him after all these years, let alone your continued reluctance to give in to the first person you’ve wanted in who knows how long.
You are amazing. That guy is shit under my shoe,” he says so point-blank that all I can do is blink at him for a second.
And then the realization hits that his tone is personal; it’s not just knowing what Kingston did to me, there’s more to his dislike for the guy than that.
“What do you have against Kingston?”
“Aside from being an overall dickbag-ish human for what he did to you, he’s also… chummy with someone I’d rather him not be chummy with,” he says evasively, his lips curling unpleasantly at the word chummy.
I raise an eyebrow at the unexpectedly simple answer. “That’s it?” I ask.
I get the hostility against someone getting chummy with someone I’d rather them not get chummy with, like my dislike of Imani getting close to Marcus, even while knowing I have no stones nor the right to want the stones to throw into that.
And while I’ve envisioned clawing her arms off of Marcus, I would never actually want any real harm or pain to come to her.
Cade takes my expression in before nodding. “In this case, that’s enough,” he says resolutely.
“Fair enough.” It’s not like I have any desire to sit here and argue about the fairness to Kingston Cade’s impression of him is. Kingston’s a douche canoe, even if Cade’s reason doesn’t wholly make sense; it’s still not necessarily an incorrect evaluation of Kingston’s character.
“A bit of advice, if I might offer it,” Cade says quietly, his eyes searching mine until I nod slowly that I’ll hear him out.
“There are two men downstairs, one who deserves all of your attention and one who deserves none of it. The fact that you are up here with me speaks volumes to your avoidance of both of them.”
I let out a sigh at that because he makes it sound so simple.
I can almost see myself running down the stairs and taking Marcus home.
My chest expands at the idea, but I shut it down.
Because with me there’s pain, there’s baggage, there’s…
no. Everything is already too much without having to open that door, too.
“You don’t understand, I’m really the worst thing that could happen to Marcus.”
Cade shakes his head. “Can’t imagine any reason why you’d be a questionable choice for Marcus, let alone the worst thing that could ever happen to him.
There are countless reasons to like you, Qiang, and honestly, I can’t think of a single one not to like you.
So maybe you need to examine where that nonsense is coming from because it’s neither necessary nor accurate.
And honestly, with the hurt on his face from earlier, it has absolutely no business being here at all. ”
I take a deep breath because I’ve heard the same things from Qi. I know this is how the people closest to me feel, but they don’t know the whole story. That final door rattles its cage before I turn my back on it for now.
I force myself to relax and curl my lips into a smile. “You’re a bully, Cade,” I tease him, letting him think I’m calling him out for being nice to me when I just want to be mean to myself, rather than letting the conversation go any deeper.
Cade laughs, and a small smile spreads across his face, even though I can see a spark in his eyes that tells me I may not have actually fooled him all that much.
He knows I’m avoiding the depth of what he said, but he’s like the last human who can call me out on it because if there was ever a king of avoidance, it’s this guy.
“And don’t ever fucking forget it, Qiang. And also, if that fucker comes after you and no one’s around, you’d better call me. I may not be pining after you, little pixie, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a soft spot for you,” he says.
“Thank–” I start to say when Cade overrides me by standing back up.
“How about we talk about getting you home? Or did you want to go back to the party, maybe find your tall, dark, and handsome?”
“If you don’t stop interrupting me, I’m gonna smack that smile off your face,” I growl.
“I’d love to see it,” he quips right back, and I roll my eyes.
“Probably best for me to go home. I’m pretty sure he’s occupied by now,” I huff out.
He looks like he wants to argue, but he knows he has no more way of knowing what’s happened since we came up here than I do, so he shrugs it off.
“Then do you want to take the back way out and avoid the party altogether?”
“Yeah,” I nod and grab my phone to text Qi and let him know I caught a ride home. Between being pissed off at me and distracted by Tristan, he probably won’t even miss me tonight.