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[color=c7b29b][b]#c7b29b[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://imgur.com/mXwRSmT][color=9b9b9b][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [color=9b9b9b][b]party[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://imgur.com/abg0vvh][color=9b9b9b][b]rocco[/b][/color][/url]
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[indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080]Sloane watched Ace walk away for a few steps before she turned forward and let her gaze fall to Rocco. The pup’s head barely reached her knees but he somehow managed to wiggle into a nook between her legs and the log bench she sat on. He was sound asleep, using her lap as a pillow. Her hand idly stroked his head and straightened the bowtie on his collar. [color=c7b29b]"What am I doing, buddy?"[/color] she whispered down to her dog. Rocco barely managed to lift a droopy eye to look up at her, gave a little huff and went right back to sleep.

He was right, it was a loaded question. [color=c7b29b]"[i]Hmm,[/i]"[/color] she mused to herself, watching the yellow and orange flames rise, crackle and break off into tiny sparks that floated up into the sky with the smoke. Sloane mulled over her recent conversation, trying to make heads or tails of it… of Ace. In less than a day she felt like she saw three different sides of the same person. The quick to anger part that just barely appeared when they first met before he set eyes on her, the lady’s man who used tattoos and shitty pick up lines to woo women, and a glimpse at something deeper, sad and damaged, that he quickly locked away. She could relate to the sad emptiness, the forlorn look in his eyes, or the way he laughed at his own failures. But the other aspects of him reminded her of the various men that had tainted her life. It gave her pause and weighed in her chest like lead.

A handful of minutes had passed and Ace still hadn’t returned. Sloane slowly spun around where she sat and looked back over her shoulder toward the bar. Sometime between then and the last time she looked over there, half of the camp congregated around the booze. Her gaze bounced from person to person searching for the messy, dirty blonde hair, bruised face and tattooed arms… Then her heart sank. His back was turned toward her, his body blocking whatever was in front of him. She watched as a hand snaked around his neck and grabbed a fistfull of his hair. The unseen stranger tugged his head to the side revealing Blair standing opposite him, grinning with her sickly sweet smile. Sloane couldn’t look away as the seductress dipped her face into the crook of Ace’s neck. Her eyes opened and spotted Sloane across the party. A sinister smile twinkled in the woman’s eyes as her goal came to fruition. 

Blair was as subtle as a tornado, a whirlwind of sex and seduction that could steal the attention of any guy she sunk her claws into. Sloane knew better. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Lochlan’s sister has had it out for her since the moment they broke up. She didn’t know what lie he spun to Blair, but whatever it was, it was good enough for her to try everything in her power to make Sloane’s life a living hell. There was a time where camp was a temporary reprieve but fate did love her jokes. To add insult to injury, somehow the slut herself was a daughter of Athena no less. It was a sick irony that someone so vile was also a child of wisdom. Sloane had a security blanket with Liam but now he was gone, which left her vulnerable and exposed. 

She swallowed the lump in her throat and peeled her gaze away, forcing herself to look back at the bonfire. Her crossed leg slipped off her knee and fell side by side with her other leg. She pinned her hands together between her knees and bounced her feet anxiously. The heat in her face grew as her heart raced and her cheeks, neck, and chest began to flush. Maybe it was just a shot? Maybe she threw herself at him and Ace pushed her away? Sloane laughed weakly and shook her head at her own naive assumptions. [i]Yeah right.[/i] A man who said she could [i]‘touch whatever she wanted’[/i] wasn’t going to turn down someone like Blair. 

Sloane fought it for a while, but eventually her curiosity won out. She slowly peeked over her shoulder back toward the bar. Her timing was more unfortunate than it was the first time. Blair was now seated on the bar with Ace on his knees before her, head buried between her legs. [color=c7b29b]"[i]Jesus fucking christ,[/i]"[/color] she muttered under her breath, stunned and unable to pry her gaze away from the vulgar display. 

While most eyes were locked on Ace and Blair, Sloane couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and exposed. She doubted anyone even noticed they were talking and that he offered to get her a drink… But [i]she[/i] knew. She knew that they were having a pleasant conversation and that Ace was even being charming, [i]in his own way.[/i] And he left her alone, deserted at the bonfire, waiting for a drink and company that would never return. She laughed at her own stupidity. The alarm bells sounded and she ignored them. She knew better than to waste her time on a man that had similar qualities to some of the worst men she had the displeasure of encountering. Served her right for giving someone the benefit of the doubt. 

[color=c7b29b]"Come on Rocco,"[/color] she said, reluctantly rousing the sleeping pup. Sloane stood up and took a step in the general direction of her cabin wanting nothing more than to leave the party and lock herself away. But she barely made it a couple feet when the obnoxious glint of something sparkly flashed in her peripherals. She spared a sideways glance to see Blair dragging Ace by the waist of his pants in the [i]exact[/i] direction she intended to disappear. 

There was no escaping it. 

Her leg bounced and hand trembled as the anxiety and adrenalin coursed through her like she had just taken ten shots of espresso. Sloane needed an escape, an out, anything. She refused to be sitting at that bonfire like an abandoned stray. Ace said it himself, she deserved better. Her eyes scanned the party trying to find somewhere, [i]anywhere[/i] she could disappear. She didn’t want to force herself into some group conversation and half of camp was at the bar… [i]literally[/i] the last place on earth she wanted to be at that moment.

Then her gaze landed on the back of Duke, sitting alone at a table. They hadn’t said more than a couple words to each other since she arrived at camp. It wasn’t like they ran in the same circles. He was always with the Valises and she couldn’t go anywhere without Liam trailing after her. But Sloane never once heard anything negative about him. He never made a scene. Half of the time he was nearly as invisible as she was… [i]He was safe.[/i]

Sloane’s feet carried her across the field with Rocco groggily at her side. She slowly approached Duke’s table from behind him. Her trembling hand reached out to lightly touch the back of the chair to his left. [color=c7b29b]"Is this seat taken?"[/color] she asked with a soft tone, but still loud enough for him to hear. 

Before he had the chance to answer, she pulled out the chair and took a seat beside him. Sloane closed her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh of relief. [color=c7b29b]"I’m sorry. I needed… [i]social camouflage,[/i]"[/color] she confessed, looking over at him with a tight lipped smile. [color=c7b29b]"You felt like a safe place to hide,"[/color] she added with a soft laugh.

Rocco slipped under the table and laid on the ground across both of their feet. Sloane peeked down at the sleepy dog then over at Duke. [color=c7b29b]"Sorry, he’s tired. I can move him if it’s a problem."[/color]

Sloane cupped her hands together on the table in front of her, focusing on her breathing and calming down. It took a minute or two but her heart rate eventually settled and the tremors in her hands subsided. She looked over at him realizing it was probably the first time she gave him more than a passing glance. On closer inspection, Duke’s features were surprisingly soft but were contrasted by his naturally rough and overall strong masculinity. He had a natural, unassuming handsomeness to him that caught her off guard. She was surprised she never noticed before. It was probably because if her gaze lingered Alex would have killed her… Or Liam would have killed him. Either way, both outcomes didn’t look promising. It seemed like they both had a habit of running in temperamental friend groups. 

[color=c7b29b]"How are you?"[/color] she asked, filling the silence. [color=c7b29b]"You know… After the whole box thing and the Valises?"[/color] Sloane closed her eyes, immediately chastising herself. That was [i]too[/i] personal, especially when they had barely spoken before. [color=c7b29b]"I’m sorry,"[/color] she apologized again. Her gaze fixated on a knot in the table in front of her as she tried to back pedal. [color=c7b29b]"I just… I can relate."[/color] Her fingers absently picked at a small splinter in the wood. [color=c7b29b]"Alex, Ajax… Liam,"[/color] her voice dropped off slightly when she said his name. 

She let the sentence drift off, not finishing her thought. Sloane had a hard time finding the words and she figured Duke could guess what she was saying, or thinking anyway. People liked to give their condolences or sympathies, but they didn’t understand what it felt like. They didn’t know what it was like having someone you care about leave because your presence in their life wasn’t enough to keep them around. Although, that’s exactly what she was doing… giving her sympathies. Maybe they wouldn’t seem quite so empty coming from her.

Her hands lightly tapped the table trying to find a better, less grim change of topic. [color=c7b29b]"And, you know, nearly dying to a box full of monsters…"[/color] She laughed awkwardly. Nope, not at all grim. [i]Good job, Sloane.[/i][/color][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]

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[color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] duke [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] ace, sylas, lochlan & blair [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color]
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