Page 68 of Redeeming the Villain

When I get to Asher and Dean’s room, I swipe the spare key fob they gave me, but the reader blinks red, denying me access.

What the hell?

I try it again. Once, twice, three times before giving up with a groan.

Did these fuckers change my access?

Glancing down the hall toward Alora’s room in the corner, I contemplate wandering down and doing yet another thing I’ll regret.

But thankfully, the brothers round the corner, stopping my thoughts dead in their tracks.

“Did you guys lock me out?” I call out to them, grumpy, irritable, annoyed, and now tired as hell.

They both squint at me in confusion nearly at the same time.

Dean shakes his head. “Nope. Sure didn’t. Are you positive you aren’t just stupid?”

Rolling my eyes, I take a step back and give them space to unlock it. I twirl my keys around my finger. A fob spins around the ring, and I realize my mistake. I tried to use the wrong one.

No wonder it didn’t work. It’s not programmed for this room.

I follow them inside and take over Dean’s queen bed, sprawling out and getting comfortable.

“Make yourself at home.” Dean laughs, taking a seat on the small futon across the room.

“I’m taking a nap.” I announce, quickly setting an alarm on my phone before collapsing back into the pillows.

“Sweet dreams, babe,” Asher says sickeningly sweet, and I can’t help the chortle that slips past my lips.

* * *

After I work my body until it‘s as exhausted as my mind, I’m happy to be back at Dean and Asher’s dorm, waiting for a few other people to show up for Ollie’s birthday.

Ollie is a friend of ours, but we haven’t seen him much lately since he got a new girlfriend. But we made sure to steal him away for a night to celebrate him turning twenty.

Some more guys from the Legends should be coming, along with a couple of his friends outside of our team.

“Are you going to mope around all night, or is Malik going to join in on the fun?” Asher asks, trying to get a rise out of me as he starts filling up a cup with Sprite and Crown Royal Regal Apple.

I’m not sure whether I should refrain from drinking tonight so I don’t do anything I’ll regret or get plastered so much that I forget about everything around me for just a little while.

But that’s a dumb thought because I already know how this night is going to go.

Three hours, seven drinks, and who knows how many shots later, it’s clear which choice won the battle.

The fogginess in my mind has only been clouding more and more, relaxing the tension in my body.

Lying back on Dean’s bed, I close my eyes, the earth beneath me spinning, rocking me back and forth. Such an odd sensation, sofreeing.

The one downfall of drinking so much is the never-ending bathroom breaks. When I slowly sit up, the room seems to shift with my steps, tilting on its axis as I wander toward the door.

“Malik, where are you going?” someone calls out behind me.

To take a leak, is what I mean to say, but it comes out in one connected breath, “T-take-a-leak.”

Walking out of the door, I forcing myself to avoid heading to her, no matter how strong the tug may be.

Walking into the men’s restroom, I take a piss and empty my bladder, feeling much better afterward as I head back to the hallway after washing my hands.

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