บททั้งหมดของ My Arch Nemesis in my Bed: บทที่ 101 - บทที่ 110

Thursday night, I stood in front of my closet for twenty minutes trying to decide what I will wear. I’d finally settled on dark jeans and a soft blue sweater that Naomi had insisted made my eyes look incredible.“You’re nervous,” Jessica observed from her bed, where she was scrolling through her phone.“I’m not nervous,” I said, checking my reflection in the mirror for what was probably the sixth time. “I’m just making sure I don’t look like I tried too hard or didn’t try hard enough.”“You look perfect. Cameron’s going to forget how to form complete sentences when he sees you.” Jessica set down her phone and gave me her full attention. “I still can’t believe you’re finally going for this. You’ve been circling around each other like nervous cats for months.”“We have not been circling around each other.”“Lily, the guy brings you coffee every morning without you asking, and you laugh at jokes that aren’t even funny when he tells them. If that’s not circling, I don’t know what is.”She

I didn’t turn around when he spoke, just kept staring out at the volleyball court like it was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen. But I could feel him behind me, this presence that used to make me feel safe and now just made every nerve in my body go on high alert.When I finally did turn around, I had to do a double-take because this wasn’t the Luca I remembered at all. He was taller, broader, more imposing in a way that made the expensive suit look like it was custom-made for his body. The boy I’d known was completely gone.He didn’t look twenty. Hell, he barely looked like someone who’d ever been a teenager, let alone someone who used to sneak into my room to watch Netflix and steal my strawberry Pop-Tarts. His hair was shorter and professionally styled, his jawline was sharper, and when his eyes met mine I felt that familiar electric shock that I’d stupidly hoped I was over by now.We just stared at each other across the fancy room, neither of us moving or speaking for what

The elevator ride back down to the main level felt like it took forever, and I spent the entire time trying to process what had just happened. Luca and his so called brother that I have never heard of in one night seemed like overkill, especially when both conversations had left me feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.I kept thinking about what Cain had said but honestly my brain was too fried to deal with that right now. What I needed was to find Cameron, apologize for the weirdest date in history, and pretend this entire evening had never happened.It occurred to me as I walked back through the stadium corridors that Luca really had chosen the business world his mother had wanted for him. I remembered how good he’d been at volleyball, how he could have probably played professionally if he’d wanted to, and now all that talent was just wasted.I shrugged to myself because it wasn’t my problem anymore. He’d made his choices and I’d made mine, and if he wanted to live his life like tha

I walked back to my dorm in a complete daze, barely paying attention to where I was going. The campus looked different somehow, like I was seeing it through someone else’s eyes, and I kept expecting to run into more men in suits. By the time I made it back to my room, I’d made a decision that was probably stupid but felt necessary. I opened a browser window and stared at the search bar for a few seconds, trying to decide how to approach this. Finally I just typed in “Blackthorne Pharmaceuticals” and hit enter, figuring that straightforward was probably the best way to start. The company had been founded two years ago. Their headquarters were listed as Seattle, but according to their corporate website they had research facilities in Washington, California, and Colorado. What really caught my attention was a press release from three weeks ago announcing plans for a new research facility in Oregon, specifically in the Eugene area. That was why he was here. Not some twisted desi

I made it back to campus Sunday night feeling like my head was spinning from everything I’d learned, or more accurately, everything I’d confirmed that I didn’t actually know about my own life. The two-hour drive back had given me way too much time to think about my mom’s panicked expression and all the careful non-answers my parents had given me.The first thing I did when I got back to the dorm was send a text to our group chat asking everyone to meet in my room. I needed to talk through what had happened this weekend, and honestly I needed people who knew me well enough to tell me if I was completely losing my mind or if my suspicions were actually reasonable.Jessica was making popcorn when everyone started showing up, clearly thinking this was going to be some kind of casual hangout. She wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation, just humming along to whatever music was playing through her earbuds.Naomi arrived first and immediately flopped onto my bed like she owned it,