Ruiz was another story. I couldn’t stand the thought of her alone with Cassie. Just thinking about it was like being punched repeatedly in the face. It was painful, and the more I thought about it, the more defensive I became. The thought to have one of them removed came to mind, but like the fight with Allen and his roommate a few weeks prior, things like that got investigated and sifted through with a fine tooth comb. Surely something would come up that would spill everything, so it was best to just leave things as they were and hope for the best.

Riley was already up and in the kitchen when I walked out. He stood leaning against the island with a mug of coffee in his hand, reading the newspaper again. He looked up when he saw me.

“So, how was it?”

I nodded my head, still feeling a bit empty at the fact that I was sucked in and standing firm in my reality once again. Not having her near me was brutal, and the day before when she was dreading the return, and I was trying to make light of it, it didn’t dawn on me that it would gut me this way.

“I’ll see you later, man. I have to get shit set up and ready for class today,” I said, not bothering to grab anything before I walked out the door.

Pulling into the parking lot, I spotted Castillo getting out of her Jeep. The sight of her disgusted me. I’d let shit get much too far, and as far as I was concerned, I needed my mind bleached and scrubbed to remove the guilt-ridden memory of it all. I parked and rushed over to her before she could get inside and around people.

“Hey, Alex. Long time no see. How was your weekend?” She was acting so casual, like the desperate lie she’d told had never come out of her mouth.

I stepped closer, glowering at her. “My weekend was just fine. How was yours? And was that amazing fuck we had before the weekend everything you imagined?”

Her eyes shot open; no amount of words could have expressed the shock permeating her face.

“I didn’t—“

“Save the bullshit, Leti. I let you put that filthy fucking mouth of yours on my dick, and I regret the hell out of it. I should have never fallen for your shit, and I want to kick my own ass for letting it happen.”

 My look grew more sinister as my body temperature rose and my jaw clenched. “Let me make myself ab-so-fucking-lute-ly clear. Every time I’ve been with you has been a colossal mistake. I’ll be the first to admit that some people need to learn the hard way, and I’m one of those people. But I’ll be damned if I let you tell blatant lies about me and get away with it.”

I leaned closer, our faces nearly touching one another. “Take this as your one and only fucking warning. I’ll keep my dick out of your mouth, and you keep my name out of it as well. You understand me?”

Before she could fix her mouth to answer, I turned and marched away. Pleasurable memories of the beach came back, pissing me off even further now that I was stuck in this hellhole of a desert with Cassie so close, yet so far away.

I had spent the early part of the morning inputting test scores from the last test taken before I took off for the long weekend. Cassie was the top scorer again, a ninety-eight percent this time, putting her in the lead for the challenge. I had to figure out a way to get some time off if she were to win. I needed to spend another free flowing weekend with her, away from the constant bullshit that this place was stuffed with.