Chapter 10
“Vengeance is patient. It sits beside you at dinner. It learns your favorite song.” The Count of Monte Cristo
LILAH
I’m already annoyed by the loud music when I walk into the club.
Okay, not just annoyed, freaking paranoid about everything around me.
Every dark corner feels like it could be a set up and every guy with dark hair makes my stomach drop for half a second before logic catches back up with my racing heart and my brain reminds me that it would be crazy for him to be in every space I’m in.
Right?
“Sorry.” Someone shoves me, dark hair, similar build, his brown eyes blink a few times, he smells like whiskey and seems to be one drink away from barfing or just collapsing altogether. A bit early. Pass. “You’re pretty.”
“Thanks.” I sidestep him and shake my head, only to have him reach for my hand like I was offering it or something. I jerk away only to have him grab at me again.
“You want my number?” He smirks, I think he’s going for the whole sexy look but all I smell is sour whiskey and French fries.
I shake my head. “No thanks, I’m here with someone.”
I keep weaving through the bodies of people when my hand is tugged. “Hey! Bitch! I said you want my numb—”
I turn around to yell at him to leave me alone but he’s released my hand and the crowd kind of takes over.
He’s gone in a sea of people, like someone took him out or maybe he did really fall or collapse into a dark corner.
Weird. That was fast. And instantly the lingering sensation is back.
My eyes quickly scan the club before I once again shake it off and make my way through.
I send a text to Charlie. “Here, where are you?” And keep making my way to the back where a few tables are scattered along the wall.
A wave of dark hair greets me again, followed by another. Do blondes even exist on this campus anymore or is it just me? Shit. At this point Jude’s basically colonized my nervous system and I resent the hell out of him for it. I’ll never be free of him.
Past me would’ve loved the attention.
The obsession. Watching him watch me, wondering if this is going to be the moment we finally hook up, when we finally confess what we’ve been circling for years. I used to dream of it and then when it was so close, it was snatched away from us.
The way he used to look at me like I was the only person in the room is its own sort of addiction, to have those eyes trained on you is nothing short of euphoric.
Unfortunately, current me now knows he’s clinically unwell. In so many ways, and no that does not make him hotter, not even a little bit, it’s not like the movies. It’s more terrifying than that. People do not just lose their shit in oncoming traffic—on purpose.
“Gotcha!”
I jump so hard I almost elbow someone in the throat.
“God, you really are jumpy!” Kingsly cackles, gripping my shoulders tighter.
She’s wearing a tight red dress that leaves absolutely no guessing where her boobs are at, if the scrap covering them is even considered legal.
It’s like she put band aids on her nipples and called it censorship.
The rest of her dress is short and rather than evening things out with flats she added tall platform heels that could double as a weapon if she wasn’t trying to gain that sort of attention, which I’m one hundred percent sure she is.
She knows exactly what she’s doing and she’s totally fine with it.
Girls like her are a complete mastermind of evil to me.
They call you slut while dressing like one and shame you for the choices they make as if you’re single handedly responsible for them when you’re just trying to live your life.
The projection is strong in them; it’s a force in her.
“Yeah well…” I shrug. “I don’t really love crowds.” My pulse pounds unevenly while she grins like she personally caused the downfall of every brain cell within her vicinity and is actually proud of it.
“Guess that happens when your campus goes viral, though yeah.” She tilts her head. “Evans’ face is literally everywhere right now. News stations picked it up this evening after that stupid campus wide email went out.”
I swallow hard. She’s fishing, maybe to see if I react to the red paper or react to getting one. “Yeah, crazy right.”
Seduction is the first rule, make him love you, make him beg.
Why did the paper say that?
“Mhm.” Her eyes glitter. “Honestly you should feel thankful nobody would ever associate you with him.”
The words hit exactly how she intends them to, making me feel insecure all over again.
I’d always felt plain. Jude was the only guy in my life that made me feel stunning, and look how that turned out.
Evans was more in love with himself than anyone else.
I was just another girl in a string of girls but it still feels like a knife twisting in my gut, hearing her say the words out loud.
“See?” She pats my cheek. “Massive bonus to being plain.”
Then she steals someone’s beer off a tray and disappears into the crowd before I can respond.
I stare after her silver glitter top as she vanishes into flashing lights and terrible techno Bruno Mars.
Cool.
Love college.
Speaking of bad decisions—
I thought this was a double date?
So why the hell did Charlie agree we’d meet at a noisy club full of drunk people?
And why did I think it was a good idea to bring the red piece of paper and tuck it into my wallet?
What purpose would that even serve other than a reminder that it wasn’t his handwriting?
I would know it. That means he’s either paying someone to do this or he’s not behind it.
He got a red note too, but it would be easy to send himself one.
Is his obsession that deep that he’d plan something this huge?
Involving the entire campus? Doubtful, his hate may be great, but I’m not worth that sort of revenge.
I tug my cardigan tighter around myself and glance down at the black athletic dress Charlie bullied me into wearing. It had looked cute in the apartment mirror.
Under club lighting?
I look like I make impulsive decisions and ruin lives recreationally. Yay me!
The oversized gray sweater is the only thing standing between me and looking emotionally available. I weave through the crowd toward the reserved tables and immediately relax when I spot Charlie.
Thank God.
She’s coiled against a guy with curly brown hair, dimples, loose jeans, and a faded band tee that somehow makes him hotter because he doesn’t look like he tried.
Even his baseball cap is normal.
Plain black.
No fake Yankees fan energy where I’m going to be disappointed if I ask him to name one player for the roster and he replies with I just like the aesthetic and colors.
Respect.
Charlie beams the second she sees me. “There she is!”
Cute guy’s eyes widen. “You’re the roommate?”
Why does his voice sound familiar? Like I’ve heard it a million times before. I’m still frowning when I slide into the booth and slowly stretch out my hand. “Um…yeah, Lilah.”
“No shit.” He points directly at me then slams a hand down onto the table. “I’m your boss!”
I blink. “I’m sorry, what?”
“At the reading app?” He laughs. “You seriously never recognized my voice. I guess I’m more your manager but still boss sounds cooler?”
My jaw drops. “No way!”
Everything clicks at once.
The hat.
The voice.
The stupidly expensive sneakers. Duh.
“I’ve literally never seen your face,” I whisper. “You’re always in a hat or hiding in your office like Batman.”
“Corporate Batman,” he corrects proudly. I instantly like him though. He seems easy to be around and I’m suddenly excited about the best friend. Guys like this aren’t friends with douche bags right?
“This is so weird we’d finally meet like this.” I say. “I would thank Charlie but that’s just going to give her an even bigger ego.”
“No, this is awesome and her ego’s impossible already.” I like him already. His grin widens. “Do you know how exhausting it is pretending I’m not twenty-four and wildly underqualified to run things? God, it feels like a gift now that my disguise is out in the open!”
Charlie snorts into her half empty drink. “Please, you think a hat can really hide that pretty face?”
“Aww, she said was pretty.” He winks at me. “She gets me.”
“And now I’m starting to think having both of you together is going to be extremely entertaining and exhausting all at once.” I lift up a drink. “Cheers to more of this.”
We all drink and that’s when I notice it, the way the light hits his face, the jawline, the hair. Oh God. He looks like he could be Jude’s brother. No, no that would be crazy. Right?
“You must know who owns the company then? To be able to get into management so young?” I prod carefully.
“Nepo baby, deluxe edition.” He lifts his drink while mine instantly goes sour in my stomach. “My uncle’s the VP. Whole family’s tied up in the business.”
Uncle.
My stomach tightens slightly.
No.
No way.
Nope!
That doesn’t automatically mean—
Right?
“There’s no way you’re old enough to be my boss.” I point out quickly. “So, it’s probably for the best that people don’t know that you’re a…Hale.” I swear I choke out the name. “And you’re a really fair boss I would hate for people to hold it against you.”
“Thank you.” He presses a hand to his chest. “That’s literally the nicest thing anyone’s said to me all week.”
Despite myself, I laugh.
Actually laugh. Which feels super foreign after the last twenty-four hours from hell with Jude as the main character.
“You hide your identity from everyone?” I ask. “Or just us lucky peons who work for you?”
“Mostly.” He shrugs. “People get weird about money. Easier to let them think I’m some random employee.”
“Makes sense.” I shrug. “Fly under the radar and all that.”
“Plus, now you don’t have to feel lonely at work anymore.” He leans in conspiratorially. “Unless you secretly wanted to become best friends with Gary the security guard.”
I grin. “I mean…Gary does seem emotionally available.”