Phoenix Read Online Free PDF Page B

off.
    “What happened?” Ethan asked, approaching the other
    bed with caution.
    “Riley fucking Sanders, that’s what happened. And it’s all
    your fault, you fucking bitch!” Dominic shouted at Blake,
    who flinched and stepped back. “Better get her out of here
    before I punch her in the fucking face.”
    “Fucking try it, asshole! And I’m not a girl, how many
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    Joey James Hook

    fucking times do you have to hear it before you fucking
    figure it out?!” Blake snapped, standing straight and balling
    his hands into fists.
    “Oh yeah? Then why’s your name Jillian on everything,
    huh? If you’re not a girl, fucking explain that,” Dominic
    replied, a hard edge to his voice—even though the sound of
    his nose being broken was comical—that Blake scoffed at.
    “You’re too fucking ignorant to understand,” he said
    simply, grabbing Ethan’s hand and turning to walk out of
    the room. Ethan made a soft noise in the back of his throat
    but went with Blake, who slammed the door hard behind
    him. “Fucking douchebag ,” he seethed as he walked his way
    toward his dorm room.
    “Be glad he’s my roommate and not yours,” Ethan
    murmured, grasping hard onto Blake’s hand as he led him
    down the hall. Blake stopped and turned to face his best
    friend, frowning deeply and brushing a lock of hair off his
    face.
    “I’m sorry you have to deal with him, babe,” he said
    softly as a surge of guilt roiled through him, and Ethan just
    shrugged with a sigh.
    “He normally doesn’t bother me unless I’m with you,”
    Ethan said, and Blake chuckled without amusement. That
    just figured. He couldn’t even go visit his best friend at his
    dorm anymore for fear of Douchebag Mercante being there
    and losing it on the both of them. The guilt was suffocating
    for a moment and he hated the idea that Dominic fucked
    with Ethan whenever he was there.
    “I’m so sorry, Ethan. I don’t know what to do about that,”
    he said with a helpless sigh, emotions crumpling.
    Ethan shook his head and cupped Blake’s face gently.
    “Don’t worry about it. Okay? It’s no big deal. We can just
    hang out at your dorm from now on. I wanna meet Devon
    anyway,” he said with an encouraging smile, the same one
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    Phoenix

    that always eased the pain out of his chest just a little bit.
    He let out a long-suffering sigh in the form of an assent
    and turned back around to lead Ethan to his dorm,
    wondering what Devon was doing and what mood he was
    in. His roommate had been passed the fuck out when he’d
    gotten up for class, so he hadn’t spoken to him all day.
    When they reached the dorm room door, Blake pulled his
    keys out and unlocked it, letting Ethan in before he stepped
    in, glancing up when he heard Devon’s voice, laughter
    following it. He furrowed his brows and stepped past Ethan
    to walk into the room.
    He didn’t expect Riley to be sitting in the computer chair,
    laughing right along with Devon, but it was a pleasant
    surprise. He smiled a bit at the two of them and crossed his
    arms over his chest.
    “Hey, Blake!” Riley greeted him enthusiastically even
    though he was sporting a nasty bruise on his jaw. Blake just
    smiled even wider and cocked his head, nodding to the
    bruise. Riley just laughed and twisted in the chair that
    twirled around just like Blake always did. “Oh, just got into
    a fight ‘s all. No surprise there.”
    “With Dominic?” Blake offered, and Riley nodded as he
    laughed. “Why?”
    “‘Cause he was being a dick about you,” Riley said like it
    was the simplest, most obvious thing in the world. Blake
    frowned.
    “You didn’t have to do that, you know,” he told him. He
    felt a little squirmy that someone had fought for him like
    that when he could fight for himself, but at the same time he
    was flattered and it cemented in his head how good of a
    friend Riley really was.
    “Yeah, I know, but he’s been pissing me off for weeks
    now,” Riley said, relaxing back into the chair.