Page 14 of Heartless Lord
She scoffed and flicked her perfectly curled hair over her shoulder. “None of my business? And here I thought you and I had a deal.”
My mouth hitched into a sneer. “We hook up sometimes. That’s the extent of our deal. There’s nothing else between us.” I regretted fucking her multiple times last year and over the summer, but I’d been desperate for a distraction, and her warm pussy and dick-sucking lips provided a good one.
The sharp, frigid edge to my words wiped the haughty attitude right out of her. Lorelei slipped on a sweet smile and batted her lashes again. “I’m just teasing, Kill. Don’t be so unreasonable.”
She thought her pussy was good enough to make me reconsider my no-strings rule. It wasn’t. They were all the same to me. And Lorelei wasn’t the first girl to try to sink her claws into me. She surely wouldn’t be the last.
Of course, they didn’t want the real me, not the one behind the shiny, expensive mask. The Davenport name, money, and prestige drew socialites and sorority girls like flies to honey.
She dragged her finger down my forearm over the serpent and dagger tattoo. “What about the masquerade party? Can’t we at least go to that together?” She bit her lip, purposely trying to lure my attention to her mouth. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
Doubtful.
“I don’t do dates, remember?” I pried her hand off. “See you later.” Ignoring Lorelei’s protests, I pivoted and marched back to my car to wait on Axel.
My fists clenched at my sides as memories bombarded my mind. The last time I caught feelings for someone, it ended in disaster, and I’d do anything to ensure that never happened again.
CHAPTER 4
GO SAVE HUMANITY
Lexi
Damn it! Ten o’clock? A pit of dread sank to the bottom of my stomach as I glared at my traitorous alarm clock. The framed photo of my mom, the one thing I’d managed to unpack last night, stared back at me, blue eyes shining with disappointment. How the hell did I manage to miss my first class on my first day of school? Shoving the comforter back, I leapt out of bed and the entire room spun.
Oh right, vodka.
I turned my wrath toward my new roommate who was still sprawled across the bed on the opposite side of our grand chamber. “Cordelia,” I growled. Nothing. I trudged across the dark wood floor and shook my new friend. Strands of black and purple hair streaked across her face. “Wake up. It’s ten o’clock, and we already missed our first class.”
She mumbled something incoherent and buried her head under the pillow.
“Fine, whatever,” I mumbled. “I’m going to my next class.” Some of us had a scholarship and a minimum GPA to keep up. Missing a Geology lecture wouldn’t kill me, but Biochemistry? That was a big deal.
I dragged my hungover ass to the bathroom, thanking all the gods for private facilities in this uber fancy university. Turning the faucet to the coldest I could handle, I shed my pajamas and hopped in. The icy chill was like a slap in the face. Just what I needed after the copious amounts of alcohol I’d sucked down last night. I’d learned from an early age it numbed the pain and the gaping hole in my chest. The upside of this particular bender? I’d discovered Cordelia seemed like a pretty decent girl, so I definitely lucked out in that department. It had been a while since I’d had a best friend.
A pair of deep green irises flickered across my mind, stealing all the air from my lungs.
Killian.
Laughing and chasing each other at the playground.
Nights huddled together, hiding out in the treehouse with his dad’s drunken shouts echoing from the back porch.
His big hand closed around mine at Mom’s funeral.
My heart punched at my ribs as the dark memories rose to the surface. The scent of cigars and scotch filled my nostrils, and my gut roiled. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shoved the darkness back, burying it and my once-best friend in the murky recesses. Nope, not going there.
I quickly finished up, toweled off and tiptoed back into the bedroom. Cordelia’s quiet snores floated through the air. A swirl of jealousy pricked at my insides. I’d never had it easy, never been able tonotgive a hundred and ten percent. From what my new roommate had shared with me last night, she hadn’t exactly been born into money. Her dad had developed some reading app and struck it rich when Amazon bought it a few years ago.She’d gone from middle-class, small-town Maine to yacht clubs and private jets. Cordelia hadn’t said it in so many words, but I had a feeling the old-money families of Stonewall weren’t particularly fond of thenouveau richeany more than they were the scholarship kids. Stuck up assholes.
I tugged on a vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt and wiggled into a worn pair of jeans, then slumped onto the bed and laced up my ratty Converse. Cordelia’s Valentino studded sandals scoffed at me from across the way. How would I ever fit in with all the rich sorority girls and their designer everything? A rush of nerves churned in my gut, and the mixture of that and the wicked hangover had my stomach roiling.
Do not puke, Lexi.I drew in a deep breath and forced myself off the bed. My backpack and textbooks sat by the door, ready to go, but my feet were rooted to the floor. The stack of books stared back at me, taunting.
Biochemistry.
Endocrinology.
Genetics.
