Savage Little Lies (Court Legacy 2)

Ares exchanged a glance between both me and his friend, not a word said, but I had enough for both of them.

I shoved a finger in Dorian’s direction. “How fucking dare you? What the fuck is this, huh?”

My words ricocheted off the walls like I was in my own amphitheater, and I noticed neither boy was immediately speaking. Dorian stood there, just looking at me, and on my other side, Ares just rubbed his jaw. It seemed that was where his buddy had hit him, and that just pissed me the hell off.

I heard what it sounded like I came in on, Dorian in a jealous rage that made no fucking sense at all. He’d left me.

He’d left me.

He’d abandoned me here and what was worse about that was it had nothing to do with the obligations to his family. He’d called me a liar, thought I’d betrayed him.

I fought the quiver in my lips, standing tall. “You have no right.”

“Sloane…”

He had no right to say my name, and I shoved at his meaty chest. He didn’t move an inch, but that wasn’t the point. “You and I are nothing. You left me over bullshit and then you come back in here and pull this shit?”

His jaw locked, and the muscle that feathered in it pulsed his skin. He obviously had something to say, but he was going to fucking wait.

“This fucker was actually there for me, you know?” I stated, directing a finger at Ares. “Last night he showed up, and it didn’t matter if he believed in me.” I got in Dorian’s face. “It didn’t matter what he believed you told him. He came through like…” I raised and dropped my hand. “Like an actual friend.”

It felt weird saying the words. The term friend was nowhere near where Ares and I were.

But recently, it felt that way. It did. Especially when I looked back. He did look past things he believed about me, and when things had been rough, things with my brother, he didn’t hound me about them. He took me to do street art. Shared his weed with me and that’d been even before last night and our binge fest. He’d showed up.

He’d acted like a friend.

Dorian hadn’t been the only one shocked by the words. Ares stood ramrod straight as if he too didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about. I would admit I came in here hot with some madness backing me, but I wasn’t going to let Dorian Prinze push anyone around. Especially me.

Ares studied me a second, a long hard second before he faced his friend. He wet his lips. “D…”

Dorian had his hands up, backing away. His attention jumped to me, the dark prince borderline snarling. I’d seen his rage in my direction before, his hate. That I recognized and completely understood, but this now was harder. Before, he’d looked like I had betrayed him.

But now, it was as if I disgusted

him.

Dorian’s attention cut to his friend. “Then go be fucking friends.”

He left in a sharp pivot and threw the door open so hard he broke the glass in my window. He stalked down the stairs with Ares striding after him.

“Dorian!” he called, but I noticed he passed a glance back. He stood in the middle of my entryway, as if conflicted.

In the end, he chose to whirl in the other direction, after his friend, and I might have given the situation another thought had my phone not rung. Since I was in the hallway, I heard it.

I’ve got my own shit to deal with.

That was what I put in my mind as I went in the closet and pulled my phone out of my bag. Seeing Callum’s name, I felt a sense of relief. He seemed to be the only thing I could rely on these days, the constant and always supportive.

I hadn’t called him back last night it’d been so late, and I was happy to hear from him. “Callum?”

“Sloane. Good,” he said, sounding busy in the background. He was always busy, so this didn’t surprise me. “I’m glad I’m getting you. Did you not get my calls last night?”

“I did, but it was late. I got your messages, but I didn’t know if I should call you.”

“I’m always available to you, Sloane. Especially now, considering the situation.”

I swallowed. “Have you heard anything else about my brother?”