Page 93 of Broken Prince

By the end of the night, everything is in place. Tomorrow, I move out.

Chapter 20

Delaney

I feel like a bit of a coward. I’m glad my mom is on her honeymoon and isn’t here to talk me out of this.

I’ve managed to get one of the last dorms available. I was up most of the night and early this morning packing my things and bringing them down to my car, in hopes of being gone before any of the guys woke up.

Yet another cowardly thing on my part.

But if they see me, they’ll ask questions, and I don’t think I’d be able to lie to their faces.

Of course, luck isn’t on my side because it hasn’t been since I’ve arrived in this cursed fucking town.

Just as I’m closing my bedroom door, the last little box tucked in between my body and my arm, Logan walks out of his room, making me freeze.

“Laney?” he asks, brows furrowed. A rock sinks in my belly as a panicked sweat takes over. “What are you doing?”

“Heading to school.” I avert my gaze, keeping my eyes on the ground as I walk forward. It’s not a lie. I have an early class. After I’m done with that, I plan on heading over to student housing and getting everything settled.

“Hey.” He grabs my arm, pulling me to a stop. “Are you mad at me?” I hate the vulnerability in his question.

Looking up, I do my damn best to give him a real smile. “No, Logan. I’m not mad at you. I wanted everything that happened.”

“Are you sure?” He looks down at the box in my arms and frowns. “What’s with the box?”

“It’s nothing. Just a few things I’m getting rid of.” Also true, because these are things I’ve decided to donate after I went through my stuff when I was packing.

“Laney, I didn’t mean to put you in an awkward situation. I’d like to blame what I said on being drunk, but it was all true.”

My damn heart feels like a tower made of foam bricks. Falling apart, being put back together, just to break all over again. Damn it!

“Anyway, we should talk about it. But not now.” He chuckles. “After school.”

I smile and nod. “See you later, Logan,” I whisper as I start to walk again.

“Laney.” I pause just as I’m about to turn the corner, tears welling in my eyes.

“Yeah?” I look back at him.

He leans against the door frame of his bedroom door, giving me a shy look. “Thanks for everything this weekend. For watching Benny and for...” He sighs, looking away for a moment, then back to me. “For everything after. If you weren’t there with me, I know I’d have done something stupid.”

“You’re welcome.” I hold his gaze for as long as I can before I’m forced to rip it away. I’m running again, trying to avoid my feelings and all this fucked up shit as I race down the stairs and through the house to the garage.

I wipe at my eyes as I open the back door of my car, shoving the box in before slamming it shut.

“You're running, aren't you?” Owen’s voice has me jumping back just as my hand landed on the driver's side door handle.

My head snaps over to see him sitting on the hood of one of the many cars in this place. He has a cigarette between his fingers. Taking a long drag, he flicks it to the ground and hops off, stomping it out before looking up at me.

He stalks towards me, tilting his head up as he blows the smoke out. He doesn’t stop until he has me pinned against the car.

“I’m not running,” I lie. He cocks a brow before peaking over to look into the back seat window.

“Yeah? Then why’s your car packed up full of your shit? And don’t lie to me, Laney. I know what happened between you and Logan.”

“You do?” My eyes widen.