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“FUCK MAN, WHAT THE hell did you say to her?” I glared at Greisen as he shook his head, standing up. Collette and Tawny had followed after Ryane, leaving me and Gage with him.
“Nothing that isn’t already circulating. It’s not my fault you guys kept it from her. She saw my face and asked what actually happened. I wasn’t gonna go and lie to her.”
“Fuck!” I snarled. “Now how am I supposed to fix that! Keegan is waiting on us.” I didn’t want to tell him that Ryane had essentially broken up with him through me. I liked my head not throbbing.
“She’s riding the synthetic wave. She’ll be fine in a few hours. You know how it can be... Wait, no you don’t, do you?” He shot me a grin. “She was pissed when it went in, so it’s gonna get sticky, nothing our Lord can’t handle.” He grabbed his bag. “Gage, it was good seeing you. Sig, good luck with all that, but maybe you should be putting blame on the man with the plans.” He walked away. I wanted to pummel him, but he was oddly right. This was really Keegan’s fault. If he hadn’t gone off the deep end and then not told her about it, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. I hated that Greisen could be so insightful. The fucker.
“Come on Gage, we’ve got a Vampire Lord to see.”
“Um, actually you have, I’ve got a class.”
Great, I was on my own. I looked around and a few eyes were on me. Some people were whispering, seemed they thought I was dating Ryane. Great, now that rumor was going to move through the Deviant Class. I snorted and headed out of the cafeteria and back toward the Quad where Keegan would be as soon as he finished his meeting with Dean Baker. They had gotten the police report about the incident and wanted to go over it apparently.
***
“BABY? PLEASE OPEN THE door.” Keegan was standing outside Ryane’s townhouse, trying desperately to get her to let him in. Telling him what happened had set him off in a run to find her. The GPS in her phone showed her here at the townhouse, although she had yet to respond to his pleas. I sat on the steps, picking at my nails while he banged on the door for the fourth time.
“If you break it in she’ll really be pissed,” I mumbled as he dropped to the ground, sitting against the flat of the door.
“What the Hell am I supposed to say to her, Sig? It was needed. You know that.”
I nodded. “Sure it was, Boss. The brutal assault and hospitalization of three men for Greisen Calder was needed.”
“Uggh!” He bashed his head against the door several times. “Ryane!”
The door moved and Keegan scrambled up to his feet. “Baby?” We were looking at Tawny through the chained opening of the door.
“No, sorry, but your Baby, is not taking visits from liars right now.”
“Open the fucking door woman.” Keegan demanded, making a step to push it further. I grabbed him by the arm.
“We should go.” I looked inside, seeing Ryane in Collette’s arms. That wasn’t a good situation, but we were not going to get anywhere like this. Not right now.
“No, I gotta...” He dropped his head as Tawny whispered.
“Just give her some space. Her head is all over the place right now.”
He sighed, his jaw tightening. “Just tell her I love her.”
“She knows babe.” Tawny closed the door.
I grabbed Keegan by the shoulder and pulled him from the stoop. I knew how he felt. Not having Ryane around would be strange. She’d become a fixture, but perhaps space was a good idea. When was the last time she’d been alone? Keegan was a constant since they had gotten together. Hell, so was I. She used to be independent, now she was always with or doing something for us.
“Let’s just go back to Sam’s. She’ll be easier to talk to once she calms down.”
“We’ve never had a fight before, and she’s not even actually fighting with me! How do I fix it if she won’t even see me?”
“Hell if I know Boss, but not honoring her wishes doesn’t seem like the right road.”
He let out a flustered moan as we got into the truck and made to leave. I hesitated before pulling off and looked back at the windows. Ryane watched from the living room. Her hands were across her chest, eyes puffy from crying. She reached out, touching the glass and nodded, seeing me watching her. I nodded back and pulled away. At least that was a sign she still cared, which was a start.