Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(54)

Maybe she didn’t know it was a set of clues, or she didn’t care? Did I want her in Knots and Chains? It could be fun. I just didn’t want RJ anywhere near her.

She had gone running on her birthday, the day before, with her friend. The girl groaned, complained, and gave me so much side-eye I kept a wary distance.

I had gotten Ace a present, so I headed up the day after her birthday while she and Jonas should be in class to drop off the gift for her. I’d had to order it, but they were custom picks. They were perfect. I’d ordered from them before.

The fourth floor was quiet. College didn’t have the same all day schedule. I did not miss morning, noon, and afternoon back to back to back classes. I let myself in and glanced around the tidy suite. Jonas definitely had taken to picking up after himself. There were no dirty socks on the floor and no trash on the counters.

It even smelled nicer in here.

Glancing down at the little wrapped box, I headed for my old room. The door was locked, but there was—there it was. I grasped the long metal cylinder from above the frame and used it to pop the lock.

Inside, I went to put the present on her rumpled bed when the door to the bathroom opened and she walked out in a towel.

Just. A. Towel.

All the moisture in my mouth fled, and I was pretty sure if not for autonomic functions, I’d probably have died already.

She was…holy shit, she was gorgeous. I’d seen her tattoos before, glimpses of them, but they were on full display on her arms and I wanted to know where else she had them.

I wanted to know everything.





Twenty-Two





KC


Not only was someone in my room, behind the door I’d locked, it was also the absolute last person I expected to find in my bedroom.

“What the fuck?” It came out halting and stuttered. Jonas, even when he came to talk to me, never came through the door itself. Now, Lachlan, Douchebag King of the Damn Ninja Kiss, was standing right there and all I had on was a towel, with another wrapped around my hair. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“I—” No other sound escaped him. Beyond registering that he was in my room, I hadn’t paid much further attention to him. Lachlan swallowed. The sound seemed almost too loud in my room, and his eyes tracked over me like he couldn’t decide where to look.

Worse? The scorching heat in his eyes was like a desert wind blowing away all the chills. It was almost too hot in my room now and this was after I showered to chase away the cold. I’d spent too long outside, waiting to hear about Pen’s latest scan results.

The chemo seemed to be working. “Seemed” being the keyword. They’d had to change their course when the first few rounds had only succeeded in making her sick and not shrinking the cancer.

By the time the call ended, the chill was in my bones and even my feet were numb. I’d sent Jonas a message and asked if he’d grab my assignments for me. It was the first time I’d taken advantage of our roommate situation, and hopefully he didn’t mind.

Even boiling myself in the shower didn’t burn me up the way Lachlan’s eyes were. A shudder climbed my spine and goosebumps raced over my skin. The longer he stared at me, the hotter it seemed in here.

“Lachlan?” I demanded when he seemed to have gone completely mute while he stared at me.

“Ace,” he said slowly, dragging his gaze up to lock on my eyes. “Long time…”

“Clearly,” I said, hoping for a frosty tone and getting one that came out a great deal more breathless. Fuck. “But why are you in my room?”

“Used to be mine.” The flippant response was so him, but then again so was the cocky grin slowly spreading across his face. The last couple of weeks, he’d been a thoughtful prick.

I kind of wished it had lasted.

All good things though…

“It’s not your room anymore though, is it?” I challenged, fisting my grip on the towel. I wanted to yank the one off my head and snap it at his face. But that would bring me closer to him and right now, I needed every inch of space between us.

“No,” he said slowly, the rapt expression on his face irritating and fascinating me in equal measures. Right, no fascination, KC. “It’s not, and more’s the pity, because it’s definitely gotten so much better in my absence.”

A laugh escaped with my snort. “Well, look at that, we can agree on something.”

Another grin flashed across his lips, and a fresh spark lit his green eyes. The intensity of the mysterious forest was suddenly alive again. And fuck if I didn’t want to get lost in there…

No. No I don’t. The mental slap didn’t do much for clearing out the haze of attraction that just did not belong here right now, ninja kisses or no ninjas kisses.

“We agree on a lot more, Ace,” he said, taking a step toward me. “What we don’t, I’m almost certain we could negotiate. This vibe right here…it’s everything.” He motioned to the two of us. The excitement in his voice coupled with those scorching looks and the fact he was still between me and the door out of here while I was in a towel just struck a match.

Anger blew through me like a wildfire. The heat burning me up right now had nothing to do with attraction. Where the love and hate coin was concerned, I was far more on the latter than the former. The only thing he was succeeding in doing was dislodging my indifference.