Page 84 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)
“Hey, Morrison!”
I locate RJ in the crowd. He’s painted bronze, with sheets wrapped around his body and knotted at his shoulders.
“What’s up, man?” he calls, bumping my fist. “You partying with us tonight?”
I shake my head once. Theo already asked if I wanted to join him for a party, but that was before I pulled babysitting duty. Or, I could’ve gone… if Sky stayed in the fucking apartment.
“Just looking for someone.”
He cocks his head. “Who do you like enough to go hunting for them?”
I stay silent. He still harbors a grudge against Sky. I thought I did, too, but it’s been slowly fading. The anger I’ve kept inside these past two years, as I fought in the proverbial sense to keep my ass in this school, is lessening.
It could be that it’s senior year, and only one semester separates me from graduation.
Let’s not talk about what I’m going to do beyond graduation. Eli went and joined the police academy—a creative decision on his part, but probably not for me—and Caleb is graduating with his business degree. Theo’s major is political science. Don’t ask me what he’s going to do with that shit.
Still, it weighs on me. My major is psychology, and it’s a real mind fuck. Do I seem like the therapist type?
Nope.
Yet here I am, studying the human mind.
And I can’t seem to figure out Skylar’s.
“Dude.” RJ hits my shoulder. “You gonna answer me or just stare around like a lost puppy?”
I scowl. “Suck my dick, RJ.”
He shrugs, then smirks. “Hey, keep your phone close tonight. I know you said you weren’t gonna do it anymore, but this is important. We don’t get nearly as big of a crowd when you don’t show.”
I resist the urge to perk up. Fighters are often notified at the same time as everyone else on the list for a Howl invitation, and it can be competitive if more than a handful of fighters show up. But the more people, the more money there is to win.
But I can’t go—I won’t. I have the cash from Skylar’s mom shoved under my mattress, and that should keep me cozy for a while.
But nothing lasts forever.
I nod sharply. “I’ll think about it.”
RJ shrugs. “Okay. But don’t think too long… You know how Colt is. He loves his pressure points.”
I do know that. I also know he’s never had anything on me… but I’ve seen him manipulate people. Other fighters, girls. Colt has an edge to him and a recklessness that makes him quick to anger.
Anyway, Colt’s version of peer pressure is probably threatening to resurface that wretched video.
RJ jogs off, back to the group he left, and I scan the campus.
If I were Sky…
Obviously not the residence halls. I doubt she knows anyone there.
And not the buildings with classrooms and administrative offices—those would be closed at this time of night.
Which leaves the student center. The first floor is the dining hall and gym, and the second is a lounge, and the third has more offices and classrooms. It takes me a few minutes to bribe the dining hall attendant to let me in without swiping my card, but it’s in vain. The place is just about empty, and no one with Sky’s gray hair.
The gym… ha, I wouldn’t have guessed. But it makes me feel better to check something else off the list. The only other place would be the second floor.
I head in that direction and hurry up the stairs. The whole building is almost deserted, with only a few students studying or sitting with friends.