Chapter Seventeen
Theo
My eyes were closed.The words were blurring. I jerked myself awake and tried to focus on the page, but it was no use. I was tired from Helen kicking me out of her dorm before the sun rose so Luc wouldn’t know I had slept over, and my sociology textbook wasn’t even close to interesting enough to keep me awake.
Daniel strolled into the study room just as I was contemplating whether I had enough time to take a nap before I picked Helen up from work.
“Hey,” I greeted.
He took a seat on the couch opposite mine, something brewing behind his sharp features. “What’s up, man? Have a good night last night?”
My head cocked. “Yeah. You?”
“Oh yeah. Spent some quality time with my girl. I told you about her. Elena…”
I rubbed my forehead, trying to jog that memory back around. “Oh, yeah. I think I remember.”
He leveled me with a serious stare that made me uneasy. “I saw you last night.”
“I don’t think so. I wasn’t out.”
“I know.” He chuckled. “I saw you when I went back to Elena’s suite.”
I pounded my forehead with the side of my fist. That was it. Elena was Helen’s roommate—the one who had called me Abby’s boyfriend. Jesus, I had completely forgotten, and I definitely hadn’t connected her to Daniel.
“I didn’t see you.”
“That’s because you were passed out. You had to be so wasted.” He raised his eyebrows, like he was waiting for a good story.
I shook my head. “No. Just tired.” I closed up my textbook and started gathering my stuff. “Speaking of, I’m still tired as hell. I’m going up to my room.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Are you actually with that girl?”
I shot him a glare. “What’s with the tone?”
He lifted his hands, palms up, like he was the picture of innocence. “I mean, if you’re with her, cool. She’s pretty. It’s just…I know how your dad is. I didn’t think he’d like you dating a stripper. Obviously, you know him better than—”
“Helen isn’t a stripper.”
Daniel chuckled again, this time giving me a look that was something akin to pity. “Hate to be the one to break it to you, but she is. She works at Savage Beauties.”
My eyes sharpened. “I know where she works. She serves drinks, not her tits.”
“Maybe some nights, that’s true. But I saw those pretty tits and that very fine ass with my own eyes, man. A bunch of the guys from the house were with me and can vouch if you ask. I get why you’re into her. She’s fine as hell. Very fine. That little heart-shaped birthmark on her right butt cheek is all kinds of sexy—”
My ears were ringing. I hadn’t wanted to believe him, then he mentioned Helen’s birthmark, and I didn’t hear another word that came from his mouth.
My girl had lied to me. She’d explicitly said she didn’t strip. I remembered being relieved I wouldn’t have to walk since that would have been a deal breaker. I’d wanted to believe her because I’d been so hard up for her. I’dlikedher so much, I hadn’t wanted to be disappointed in her. But this...I was in too deep to call this disappointment. Finding out Helen had betrayed my trust, had been betraying my trust all this time…this was gutting.
Fuck.
The assholes I lived with all knew what Helen looked like naked. They’d probably jerked it to the thought of her. Hell, I would have if I’d been there with them. All that hair, those red lips, perfect face, immaculate tits, tear-worthy ass. Helen was a walking wet dream. No doubt she made a pretty penny taking her clothes off on stage.
God, had they touched her? Had she taken money from the guys I lived with and let them put their hands all over her? My stomach roiled violently, sickness swelling in my throat.
Every single night, I picked her up from that place. Had she spent hours teasing other men and grinding on their hard dicks? Most of those nights, I let her grind onmydick. No, I more than let her, I put her there because I’d been so desperate to have her.
Before I lost my shit, I strode from the room with a calmness I in no way felt, telling Daniel I needed to take a nap. He was still talking, but I was already gone. The last thing I’d ever give Daniel was a peek at the riot raging within me. He already knew more than enough.