Page 101 of Dissolving Prejudice

“What?” he snarled, his voice tight with unspoken anger.

“Nothing.” I shrugged.

“Dylan is nice to me, and he’s someone I can talk to.”

“So maybe you should marry him instead,” I muttered under my breath and regretted it immediately as I watched the horrified expression on Jordan’s face.

“Why would you say that?” His eyes were hollow like he’d just seen a ghost.

Shit.

I pinched the bridge of my nose while trying to think how to explain myself. “Listen, Jordan—”

“Why the fuck did you just say that?” he shouted, cutting into my words.

Taken aback and, quite frankly, panicked, I said the first thing that came to mind. “It was just a slip of the tongue, Jordy, come on.”

“Is that what you want?” His brows knitted together while tears glistened in his eyes. “Is that actually what you want?”

Telling him yes seemed to be too damn cruel, but the same went for lying. I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth and spit more lies, so instead, I kept my mouth sealed, and I guess that was enough of an answer.

Pressing his lips together, Jordan nodded to himself—a defeated look on his face.

“Fine. Then you go ahead and enjoy your party.” He reached for his suitcase that until now was on our bed. “Also, don’t bother joining me in New York. I’d rather not see your face.”

He then wasted no time before grabbing his suitcase and leaving the room. The second I heard the front door slam behind him, I breathed in relief. Whatever just happened was a complete shitshow. From mentioning that stupid Dylan to bringing up Camilo, I had no clue what was going on and what he knew or didn’t know. And while this fight left me rather confused, it also brought me a bit of hope that Jordan might end up breaking up with me, which would save a lot of pain. Mostly on his side. But I guess I’d have to wait until he got back from NYC to find out.

Shay-Lee

People’s voices echoed through the house walls as I walked down the long hall leading to Soren’s home office. The party was already in full swing when I arrived a while ago, yet two people were missing. I wanted to look for them immediately but was delayed by Soren’s older brother, Lucius, whom I hadn’t seen for quite some time. As different as he was from his brother, I liked him. We’d initially met when Soren had taken me on a ski vacation with his brothers last winter. Since Ash hated the snow, he hadn’t joined, and instead, I tagged along.

It was so much fun.

“There you are,” I said after walking into Soren’s office to find him and Camilo standing by his desk. My eyes immediately went to my man, and a big smile spread on my lips at the mere sight of him.

Camilo’s lips pulled into a smile that matched my own, and the warmth in his dark eyes was like an expression of love I could never get enough of.

“Hey,” he said, and I fought hard not to jump on him right away.

“Hey.” I beamed like a kid with a crush.

“Suddenly, I feel extremely unnecessary in this room,” Soren sighed, intruding on our moment with his sarcasm.

“You’re such a diva,” I joked and finally moved from the doorway and joined them by the desk. The urge to go straight into Camilo’s embrace was strong, and I had to force myself from doing that by choosing to stand next to Soren. It was a pointless effort because Camilo immediately moved to my side. Aww. And while Camilo and I were rather obvious, Soren pretended to be oblivious to the situation and act normal.

“Are you here alone?” he asked nonchalantly, basically doing the job for Camilo.

“Yeah, I am.” I then looked at Camilo, whose eyes were already on me. “Jordan went to visit his mom by himself.”

To hide his smile, Camilo looked down at the floor, and I held back my excitement because I was fucking happy Jordan wasn’t here, too.

“So, what are you guys doing in here?” I asked, my eyes going to the desk where several files were spread. I managed to read a few words, such as a blow to the head and cold weapon, before Camilo answered my question.

“Nothing important.”

I tried reading more when he placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me back from the files to face him. “You look nice.” He ate me up with his eyes while dragging his finger along the hem of my shirt.

“You look nice, too.” Biting my lip, I gave him a once-over because he was seriously too hot to handle with the outfit he wore today.