"I don’t have a cold," Kace responded. Instantly, he regretted his words when Allison pulled her hand off his face. "You look tired," he stated.


    "And whose fault is that?" She questioned, almost ring at him.


    "I have no idea," Kace responded.


    Internally, he felt bad for stressing Allison out. The ride from college to his ce took almost half an hour. He’d suggested getting a driver to take her anywhere, but she immediately refused before he could finish his sentence, so she had to take the bus.


    He could see the ck bags under her eyes.


    ’Should I stop acting sick and let her rest?’ He wondered. Unfortunately, he loved having her around so much, he wanted her to move in with him.


    But he knew Allison would smack him if he suggested that.


    He remembered giving her a hard time when it came to her giving him his drugs. Everything was intentional, even though the drugs were ordinary vitamins he’d asked Mark to prescribe for him.


    "Do you have anything you want me to do for you?" She asked, yawning softly as she covered her mouth with her palm.


    Kace parted his lips to speak, but was interrupted by Allison’s ringtone.


    He noticed her gaze darken when she saw the caller’s name.


    "Excuse me," she said before exiting the room.


    Immediately, Kace got up and ced his ear on the door to hear her conversation. He had a very good idea who could be calling her, and he couldn’t wait to punch a hole in that person’s face.


    "Where did you rush off to?" Derek’s voice stormed as soon as the call connected, which had Allison’s heart racing in fear for a second.


    cing her hand on her chest, she tried to calm her heartbeat as she exhaled.


    "I’m home," she responded.


    "Are you sure about that?" Derek questioned.


    "I’m home, Derek. You can go ahead and call my mother if you want to confirm," she responded.


    Since Allison was on good terms with her mother all because the middle-aged woman believed she was dating Kace, her mother had agreed to cover up for her while she <i>spent</i> some time with Kace at his house.


    If Derek was to call her mother to confirm, the woman would dly say she would home without stuttering.


    "You’d better be, Allison. Now that I think about it, you’ve been disappearing quite a lottely. Where have you been going all this while?" He asked.


    Even though they weren’t in the same location, Allison could already visualize Derek spitting saliva everywhere.


    ’I’m not your property,’ she thought to herself.


    "I have a job, Derek, which I have to attend to. Do you understand now?" she retorted sharply, surprising not only Derek but also Kace, who was eavesdropping on their conversation.


    "How dare you use such a tone on me?!"


    "Look, Derek, if you don’t have anything important to say, then I’m just going to hang up. I’m exhausted. Dealing with you is thest thing I want to do tonight, goodbye." She didn’t wait for him to respond, she hung up on the call.


    Allison released a long sigh, trying to calm her nerves.


    "The worst he can do is threaten to release the tape," she mumbled.


    Kace frowned, wondering what tape she was talking about.


    He’d already done his assignment on Derek, and just like he thought, thetter was a school bully. From kindergarten to college, he’d always been a delinquent, belittling other students.


    He’s had a few criminal records which ended him up in jail a few times, but he was immediately bailed out by his father.


    Other than that, Kace didn’t find any sort of tape Allison was mumbling to herself about.


    His curiosity piqued.


    ’He’s threatening Allison with a tape,’ he concluded.


    When he saw Allison walking back to the room, Kace immediately turned his heels and got under the covers again.


    "Sorry it that took so long," Allison said as she walked in.


    "It’s alright," he responded, his gaze on her. "I’m a little curious about your rtionship with Derek..." he trailed, waiting for her to interrupt him as she always did whenever he spoke about her rtionship. "How did it all start? When did you find out you loved him so much you were willing to be with him even when he beat you up?"


    Allison stared at Kace, wondering what suddenly got into him to be asking her such a question all of a sudden.


    Nevertheless, she cleared her throat, releasing a sigh before she responded, "Derek helped me in the past and I fell in love with him."


    "Do you still love him?" Kace asked.


    "What did you want me to do for you before?" She asked, ignoring his question.


    Kace was slightly relieved when Allison ignored his question since it only meant one thing.


    "I want us to share this bed tonight," he answered.