Page 77 of False Idols

“Thank god, honestly. But yes, let me know when you’re in San Antonio. I wish I could have been there to tell you goodbye. I’m sorry I wasn’t.”

“Hey, you needed to lay low. I get it,” she says and then calls out, “Thank you for taking care of my roomie, Beau!”

“No problem,” I say and swipe my key fob on the door. It pings when it opens and we walk inside as Sunny lets loose a whistle.

“Wow, so he’s like loaded loaded. I love that for you, bestie.”

Nevaeh laughs and I love that sound so fucking much. I thought I knew which sounds I liked the best from Nevaeh, but this—her laughter is the one I like the best. Not her crying or begging, or moaning sweet for me. It’s her laughter that I love the most. God, I’m so fucked if she knows that. I squeeze her hand and lead her into the elevator while she talks to Sunny. I’m busy opening the door and scanning the hallway when Nevaeh starts to say goodbye to Sunny, but her friend stops her.

“Dean was trying to get a hold of you,” she says and Nevaeh freezes.

“What for?” she asks. Her voice is normal and even. Good girl.

“I don’t know, but he was acting fucking weird,” Sunny replies. “I saw him outside. He was trying to get past the cops but he must have weirded them out and they didn’t let him. He kept walking back and forth in front of the dorm and then he messaged me wanting to know where you were.”

“Really? That’s so weird. What did you say?” Nevaeh plays her part perfectly. I glance over at her and see she looks fine. I’m going to have to watch her ass when it comes to lying. She’s too good at it.

I open the door and usher her inside while Sunny talks, “He wanted to know where you were. Started saying some wild shit about you two dating and it just…it felt off. I know how you feel about him, so I ignored the whole dating thing. Didn’t tell him where you were either. Figured having him around wasn’t going to be the vibe you wanted for today.”

“But you told Beau,” Nevaeh laughs.

“Well, yeah, Beau makes sense. Plus you two have the whole past connecting you. He didn’t freak me out, so I told him. Should I not have? Oh no! Did I fuck up?”

“You didn’t fuck up, it’s okay. I’m here with him, aren’t I?” Nevaeh says and pans the camera around my apartment. It’s got exposed red brick and windows all along one wall that let in plenty of light. The appliances are all state of the art and the furniture is expensive shit that I’m sure my mother had a designer pick out. It’s a place, nowhere special to me, though. After being locked up for four years, everywhere with four walls just feels like a place.

“Damn! That is a nice ass apartment! We are totally having a party there when I get back.”

“No you’re not,” I say while I walk ahead toward the bedroom.

“Yes, we are,” Sunny whispers and Nevaeh giggles.

I tune them out when I hear something coming from my room. What the fuck? It’s like the rustle of sheets that I can only hear because the door is open. I pause outside of my room and look around the apartment. Everything looks in place. If someone is here, they didn’t touch anything. What the fuck are they doing in my room with my sheets? I reach for the knife at my back and move close to the wall while I try to get a look inside of the room, but it’s too dark and I can’t get a decent view from where I’m standing. I’m going to have to go in. I take a step closer to the door and reach out a hand to push it open but then Nevaeh is right there at my elbow. I nearly swing on her.

I take in a deep breath and when Nevaeh opens her mouth, I hold up a finger to my lips and gesture with my knife at the bedroom door. Her eyes go wide and she nods. She knows what I'm saying.

Someone is here.

There’s a thump and Nevaeh backs away from the door. She runs into the kitchen and grabs a knife of her own from the butcher block on the counter and I give her a nod of approval. If this fucker gets past me, they aren’t going to take her down easy.

I start to edge forward but I’m not about to let the person camping in my room get the drop on me. I kick the door open and bum rush the room, ready for a fight to the death. But it’s not The Reaper that I see.

It’s fucking Ali.

“That’s not quite the hello I expected, but I can work with it,” she purrs and drops the sheet she has wrapped around her to the floor. “Now, why don’t you come over here and get comfy, baby.”

I almost laugh. This is better than The Reaper. Or at least, I think it is until Nevaeh comes storming into the room with her knife in hand.

She points the knife in Ali’s direction. “You better get out of that bed before I drag you out.”

28

NEVAEH

The fucking perfect girl that I hate is in Beau’s bed. I thought she might be his girlfriend at the party, but I haven’t really given her much thought since I decided to tell Beau I loved him. I don’t care who she is. She’s not supposed to be here and the rage that fills my chest is so close to what I felt when The Reaper came for me that I have to take a deep breath to not do something I might regret. I don’t hurt innocent people. I’m not like The Reaper. Still, the thought is tempting and the knife in my hand probably isn’t the best thing for me to point at her when I feel like this. It’s such an easy move to using it on her and the thought shocks me.

Oh no. Fuck. What's happened to me?

“What is she doing here?” The girl shrieks and grabs a sheet off the floor to cover herself with.

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