Page 88 of Release Me

“Shit!” I duck behind a pillar. Did I move fast enough?

My face burns with indignation. I knew this was a stupid plan the second Skye suggested it and yet I went along with it like a fool?—

“Hey, you’re back!” Jeremy’s familiar jovial tone is suddenly within earshot, on the other side of the pillar.

I hold my breath.

“Oh,hey, Jer!” Skye’s nervous laugh carries over the buzz of voices. “Yup, I’m back.”

“I didn’t think you were comin’ today.”

“Yeah … I didn’t think so either but …” She fumbles over her words as she struggles for a response.

“Does Sloane know you’re here?”

“Nope.” She emphasizes thepin the sentence. “No idea. None whatsoever.”

I breathe a sigh of relief even as I roll my eyes. Skye’s always been a terrible liar. But at least Jeremy didn’t see me. Yet. Between him and Cody, my chances of escape are slim.

“I feel so guilty applyinghereof all places, given how she feels about it, but I need something stable, ya know?”

“Yeah, I get ya.”

“Dave told me he got full time. Him and Teddy both. They moved into an apartment down the street, and they’re starting Monday. I should have applied during the first round. I shouldn’t have waited. I heard Wolf’s benefits for full-time are good.”

Unease slides down my spine as I eavesdrop and Jeremy rambles. I can’t blame him for wanting more. I wish I could be the one to give that to him.

But I need to leave now, before I’m caught.

I make a break for the door.

And freeze.

Ron stands a mere twenty feet ahead and directly in my path, flipping through a pamphlet.

“You son of a …” I grit my teeth as a flurry of anger and disappointment flares. I should have made him pay for his own training.

He leans in to say something to a guy beside him, and my jaw drops. That’s Mick! And Will is beside him! They’re leaving me too? I want to scream.

Shifting from palm to pillar to palm—I swear, Gigi and I watched anI Love Lucyepisode just like this once—I rush for another exit at the back of the room, veering to the left.

And run smack-first into AJ.

His eyes widen. “Sloane. Uh … What are you doing here?”

“What amIdoing here?” There’s not much left to do but confront him.

“I … uh …” He stalls as he searches for a suitable lie.

“There you are,” a familiar raspy voice purrs.

I spin on my heels. “Ronan?” My attention snags on the way his white dress shirt sits unbuttoned at the collar, showing off a hint of that chiseled collarbone I saw earlier. It’s a far cryfrom the half-naked jogger who crawled out of the water this morning.

His gaze rakes over my shocked face. “Let’s have that meeting.”

“Meeting?” I echo dumbly.

“The one we scheduled. In my office.Now.”

---