Page 57 of Cruel Debts
I stood up as Asher sputtered for an explanation, for a request, for whatever bullshit he was about to say, and marched off to my room, slamming the door behind me with a frustrated scream. I shut the lights off. I tugged the curtains closed. I crawled onto the bed and pulled the blankets up over my head.
And sobbed for the disillusionment of my childhood fantasies of these knights in shining armor who were really nothing more than masked monsters with their own agenda.
One that didn't involve their past.
Or me.
The next morningwas more of the same, with one distinct difference: the guys were acting strange.
And not like,oh I ate something funnystrange orI did something bad and don't wanna talk about itstrange. No, this was full-on personality swap level strange, and it concerned me.
Strange like this meant they were up to something. And I didn't like that.
I woke up to breakfast, which felt odd on its own, but the fact that Hawke was still standing behind the island, wearing some stupid apron with a silly cartoonish character on it around his torso, was almost too funny to ignore.
I did, though. Ignore it, that was. I didn't pass up on the food, though, because damn, that shit smelled delicious. And I was hungry.
The guys watched me as I ate, shoveling their own plates down as fast as humanly possible. The second their food was gone, they scattered like roaches, rushing back to their rooms as I was left sitting alone, wondering what the hell had happened to replace them with semi-normal human beings.
I would probably never know.
An hour later, they started reappearing in the common rooms, taking up seats on the couch, in the chair, at the island. All of them had something in their hands, and were busy little bees, though the second I wandered too close, they hid their activities. I wasn't allowed within three feet of a screen before they'd subtly shift, or they'd switch screens.
Now I was more than curious. I was dying of FOMO. The desire to know what the hell they were up to was literally torture.
And they fucking knew it, too.
I didn't miss the knowing grin that cracked at the edges of Hawke's face any time he hid his activities from me. Or the way Asher would make his shit look more interesting, until I was near, and then he'd shut his screen off and yawn, stretching like he was tired.
For lunch, they ordered food out without telling me, but the twist was that it was my favorite comfort meal: a greasy burger, crispy fries, and a milkshake with sprinkles.
Now I was doubly suspicious of their actions.
But that's what they wanted. Every few seconds, when they thought I was dying a little too much from the need to know what was up, to ask them why they were acting differently, they'd look over at me like they were waiting for something.
They weren't going to get me to crack. Not happening.
About an hour after we ate lunch, I got the first offer for fun and was immediately on my guard.
"Hey, Trin, you wanna go work out? I'm gonna hit the gym for an hour or two." Liam, ever the opportunist, who'd seemingly forgotten how the last session in the gym went for both of us.
I turned my nose up at him and shook my head.
When he left, Asher tried his hand next.
With a rakish grin that didn't fit his face, he leaned over the back of the couch and sighed dramatically. When I didn't react, he did it again, and again, until he finally gave up and turned around to pick up his phone.
His voice was loud enough to carry across the room, probably intentionally.
"Oh, well, shit, that new museum of art opened up today over in Khula City. I wonder if I've got time today to go see it. I do love the arts, and supporting a local business is a good bonus." His eyes trailed over the room until he met my glare in the mirror on the wall. We held each other's stares until finally, he broke eye contact and swore, tossing his phone back down on the table in front of him.
Hawke wasn't as sneaky. No, everything Hawke did he did with intent. And that's how I ended up with a plate of one of my favorite snacks sitting in front of me on the island.
He shoved the plate toward me with a single finger, smiling hesitantly. "You still like these, I hope, because I sure as fuck don't."
I blinked stupidly down at the plate, stunned that he'd go to such lengths to please me. And then it dawned on my stupid ass.
This wasn't him being nice. This was a bribe. A guilt payment, to earn forgiveness.
