“How noble of you.” Leo grinned. “One would think you’re actually… jealous.”
“I don’t get jealous,” I muttered, sucking air from an empty cup only to find out I needed a refill.
“Says the guy drinking cheap beer like it’s water.” Leo gave me a new cup.
I took it and watched them, staring like a man insane. What the hell was it about her?
Nothing. She was beautiful.
But I saw beautiful on a daily basis.
Maybe it was her attitude.
The way she seemed so hell-bent on not falling for it, falling for us; the way she judged me when any other girl would bend over backward just for a taste of my mouth.
Finn and Shawn started dancing, but soon she bowed out and left Alexa with him. Finn didn’t seem to mind though, as he grabbed Alexa by the waist and pulled her close. The girl seemed ready to combust with excitement. And my eyes, my eyes roamed until they landed on Shawn.
She was in line for the bathroom.
Yeah, good luck with that.
I marched over to her, grabbed her hand, and drug her through the lines of people, despite her angry protests, until we were near the stairs. Then we ducked under the caution tape, and I knocked on the upstairs bathroom door, shoved her in, and guarded it like a dog.
She was in there all of two minutes.
Then the door opened. Her eyes narrowed in on me. “You need to pick.”
“Pick?”
“Yeah, I don’t do this whole hot-cold thing. It’s not sexy on TV. It’s not sexy now. I don’t like assholes, and I don’t like guys who are so inwardly confused that they lash out at other people. So, I’m letting you choose. Are you going to be an asshole or a friend?”
“I don’t…” I was too surprised to form words. Instead, I burst out laughing. Yeah, the beer was starting to hit. “I don’t have friends who are girls.”
“Maybe you should try. Might be good for you.” She winked. “Plus, I’m a pretty good friend. Just ask Slater.”
“Let’s leave your roommate out of this.”
“Ah, because you hate each other?”
I looked away. “Something like that.”
“Uh-huh. All right, I’m waiting then. What will it be?”
I grinned. “Friends means I can’t kiss you.”
“Exactly.” She looked triumphant.
“Hmm…” I tapped my chin then moved closer and trapped her against the wall, my hands on either side of her. I pressed in. “…let me think about it for ten seconds.”
“Ten seconds, huh?” She grinned wide. “All right, one—”
I swept down, tasting the two on her lips, followed by the three, four, five. I tasted each number as if she was speaking it against me, like they were a drug. I craved more. I sucked on her tongue and pressed mine against hers in an act of dominance then I ran my hands up and down her ribs.
“Nine.”
I groaned as she melted under my touch.
Fuck. “Ten.”
“Friends,” I said breathlessly. “I think that will work out just great, don’t you?”
Her swollen lips parted as she dumbly nodded her head and said in a much more confident voice than I thought she’d have, “Yeah, sure, sounds great. Friends.”
“Super.” I licked my lips, still tasting her there, and closed my eyes so she wouldn’t see the truth in my eyes, or my reaction. Hell, anyone could see my reaction if they just looked down; even tight jeans couldn’t hold me back.
Her cheeks went bright pink before she ducked under my arm.
I fell in to step beside her. “So, friend, should we get a drink?”
She looped her arm in mine. “Only if it’s not cheap beer.”
It was so familiar. The situation the same.
The girl different.
The hair on the back of my arms stood on end when I looked toward the door and saw Slater’s look of disgust before he turned on his heel and walked away.
Hell.
It was different.
It had to be.
Because nobody could survive that twice.
Especially not a guy like me.
“Yeah…” I shook off the bad feeling. “…let’s go into the kitchen.”
I wrapped an arm protectively around her while girls around me pouted as if they’d just lost, which in a way they had.
Guys checked her out even more.
And I was suddenly thankful that I had Leo and Finn to surround us, to encircle and protect her when I couldn’t.
Because I knew something she didn’t.
Being my friend?
It wasn’t good for her.
It was bad.
But I couldn’t stay away.
So, I would take what I could get.
“Shower Girl!” Leo shouted and pulled her in for a hug. “How’s my second most favorite person on the planet?”
“Thirsty.” She winked.
“Atta girl! Don’t worry, you’ve got us watching out for you. We’ll keep you safe.”
The sentence hung between the three of us like a fucking curse because we all knew, when it had really counted…
We’d failed.
Chapter Sixteen
Shawn
As per their promise, I only had a few drinks and Alexa and I made it home safely; only after she’d left for her own suite did I discover that my roommate had officially locked me out.
I banged on the door.
Then stomped my foot.
I’d forgotten my keys and texted Slater to leave the door open for me. What part of open did he not understand?
I tried again.
Leo and Finn were already walking into the suite. Leo pulled out his keys as they shuffled by, yawning loudly, while I was ready to break the door in half with my bare hands if need be.
“Locked out?” Knox said from behind me.
“Yes,” I growled. Then I called out, “Slater, you’re dead to me!”
Nothing.
Knox sighed and put his hands on my shoulders. They felt heavy as he steered me away from my own door and toward his.
“No, no, no, no, nope!” I dug my heels in. “I’m not sleeping with any of you. I don’t even care if it’s a friendly sleep. Not happening.”
“Cuddle-bug.” Leo winked when Knox forced me into the room. “There’s room for two.” He pulled back his white duvet.
I made a face.
He actually looked hurt.
Either that, or he was still slightly drunk.
“Take my bed.” Knox pointed. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Finn and Leo’s eyebrows both shot up to their foreheads at alarming rates.
“No.” I scratched my head. “I can take the floor. No problem. Actually, I can sleep out in the—”
Knox covered my mouth with his hand. “Take the bed. I just washed the sheets yesterday. Sleep.”
And that was it.
He was already grabbing a pillow and blankets and putting them on the floor. Then the lights were off.
I was still gripping my cell like a lifeline, fully clothed in the middle of what felt like a seriously intense male harem.
“Um…” I swallowed my nervousness. “…all right.”
I flipped off my shoes, crawled into nice cool sheets that held a hint of fresh-scented laundry soap and a bit of Knox’s spice then slowly pulled my skirt off. I kept my top on and laid my head against his pillow.
It was nice.
Comfortable.
I kind of wanted to steal his bed and give him mine.
What kind of college student had this type of sheets? The thread count had to be insanely high.
Maybe he was rich. Probably was. He drove a nice Mercedes, and I’d noticed the Rolex earlier. Hmm. I decided since we were friends I could probably ask him without sounding offensive. Then again, it seemed weird.
I yawned and succumbed to exhaustion just about the time I heard Knox’s voice mutter, “She’s dead.”
I sl
ept soundly for about two hours but was pulled awake by the sound of someone tossing and turning then more whispering and soft moans. I looked over the edge of the bed. Knox was battling demons in his sleep, gripping the sheets as if they were his sword and looking so pained my heart clenched.
“Knox,” I whispered, touching his side. “Knox.”
His eyes jolted open as he jerked to a sitting position. He ran his hands through his long hair.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” His eyes were wide, his skin pale, even in the ambient light. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He was shaking.
I wasn’t stupid.
A grown man shaking was not a small thing.
I would regret it later — my heart knew it — but I was a caretaker by nature, so when I grabbed his hand and gave it a tug toward the bed, I was surprised he followed.
Even more surprised that when he joined me in his bed, he didn’t try to pull me into his embrace; he didn’t even touch me, just laid there and stared up at the ceiling like the monsters were going to come back.
“You need to sleep,” I whispered, turning on my side and facing him. “Or you’ll be even grumpier in the morning.”
He smiled at that. “Am I really that grumpy?”
“Scale of one to ten?” I shrugged. “You flirt with an eight or nine on a good day.”
“Shit.” He took a deep breath. “For the record, I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“Being myself.” He didn’t offer any more explanation. Instead, he turned away from me, tucked a pillow under his head, and slept.
We were strangers.
And still, when I woke up with the bed empty…
I realized.
It was the second time I’d slept through the night since transferring. Ironic that it would happen to occur in my enemy’s bed.
Chapter Seventeen
Shawn
Slater was gone by the time I made it back to my room, which was rare for him to leave so early. I was tempted to short sheet his bed or do something equally stupid just to teach him a lesson, but I didn’t have time before my next weightlifting session. I changed into a tank top and some black Nike tights then laced up my pink shoes and donned my white hoodie.
I almost ran right in to Finn when I opened the door. “Holy crap.” It took a couple of deep breaths for my heart rate to return to normal.
He grinned. “Sorry.”
“Warn a girl next time.”
“Panthers never warn their prey.” He grinned shamelessly.
I just rolled my eyes. “What’s up?”
He nodded toward the door. “I’m headed to the gym. Let me give you a ride.”
“Really?” I perked up. I hated being late because Coach loved making me do weighted wall sits. “Actually, that would be great.”
“Thought you might be excited to get there on time.”
“Yeah okay, stalker.”
He didn’t deny it, just laughed.
We made our way down to the lobby. A brand new black SUV was parked in front. He walked to the driver’s side while I frowned.
“Something wrong?” He put on his black sunglasses, making him look like a movie star.
“No.” I opened my door and got in. “How much do people pay you guys? I mean, each of you has such nice cars.”
“Remember? I’m a child star.” He winked. “Leo drives a Jetta because he says it makes him look more human.” His long sigh was noted. “And Knox? Well, Knox is kind of our leader, if you will. He gets a bigger cut, and he’s being groomed for corporate. They basically spoon-feed him gold while he shits diamonds.”
“Seriously?”
“He’s the best out of the three of us, always has been, always will be. Plus, he has a nice fancy VP position just waiting for him when he graduates. That’s part of what we do. We’re glorified interns. We put in the blood, sweat, and tears, and hopefully at the end of our senior year, we get a corner office and a yacht.”
“You’re joking.”
He just shrugged. “At any rate, Leo and I have another year because we fucked around too much our freshman year, while Knox is almost done serving time. That’s why we were trying to recruit Chris and Jay.”
I frowned. “They don’t have the same charisma you guys have.”
“Thanks, cupcake.” He patted my leg then squeezed my thigh. “It takes time. Confidence isn’t earned. It’s learned. And we’ve had time, and epic fails, behind all of ours.”
“Fails?” I asked, just as he pulled up to the gym and cut the engine.
Finn turned to me, his gaze just as penetrating as before. “Not really my story to tell. Just know, it hasn’t always been raining cash and glory on us three… and there’s a reason we’re training two more guys, not one, to take Knox’s place.”
I narrowed my eyes, searching for clues in his gaze. “Because it takes two to replace one so good?”
“Nope.” He opened his door and looked over his shoulder. “Because the rules state we need four people.”
“So, where’s the fourth guy now?”
He swallowed hard then whispered, “You’re living with him.”
I had figured as much, but hearing it was still jarring. “What happened?”
“Storytime is officially over.” He checked his watch. “Hurry up so you won’t have to do wall sits.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag. “Your stalker skills are a bit scary.”
“It’s my job to know things.”
“I can tell.” I gave him a quick side hug. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime, Shawn.”
It was the first time he’d said my name, and when he took off his sunglasses and locked eyes with me, it wasn’t lust or sex I saw in their depths.
No, it was something much more dangerous.
It was hope.
Chapter Eighteen
Knox
Classes sucked.
I felt like an absolute ass ignoring every single girl who glanced my way, but I just wasn’t into it today. It was my job to lure them in, to be unobtainable, to give them dreams about what it would be like to grab my hair and pull.
And yet there I was, done with class, sitting at the coffee shop like a chick, waiting to see if Shawn would show up like Finn said she would.
The guy knew her schedule backward and forward. I once asked him how he got so much information on every person on the planet. He’d just shrugged and said he had people.
My ass.
The guy would do wonders for Wingman, Inc. once he graduated. I knew part of the reason they liked him was because of his genius.
I played with the lid of my coffee cup and suddenly felt it.
The anger.
It swirled around me.
Slowly, I looked up into Slater’s dark gaze.
“So now you speak to me?” I hadn’t meant to sound like such a dick.
He took a seat, his eyes never wavering from mine. It was a stare down of epic proportions.
And the shitty part was that the entire school was going to be talking about it in the morning. Our shit was legendary.
I was surprised that Shawn was still in the dark, or maybe she just pretended to be in the dark, because Slater? He was a good actor. He joked. Then again, that had been his job back in the day, right?
He joked; he teased; he was safe.
So fucking safe.
The girls loved him. The guys wanted him.
And he’d primed every single client to perfection. It had been almost too easy when it was the four of us.
“I’m only going to say this once,” he rasped.
“I’m listening.” I leaned back and crossed my arms.
He glared. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
My eyebrows shot up, even though I wasn’t all that surprised. “The her being your roommate?”
“Yeah, the girl whose throat you had your tongue down last night. That girl.” He curled his lip into a sneer. “But
now that I think about it, you always had a shitty memory. Need me to draw you a picture?”
“That’s enough,” I said through clenched teeth. “Don’t want you to make a scene. I know how you hate those.”
He looked ready to explode, fists clenched, eyes full of rage. I could feel it then, feel the hurt mixing its way in, the injustice.
It pulled the air from my lungs.
It made me sick to my stomach.
“She’s innocent,” Slater said in a hushed tone. “Keep her that way.”
I nodded, agreeing with him even though I hated every second of it. “We’re just friends. I promise.”
“And the kiss?”
“Trust me. It won’t happen again. I gave my word.”
“It’s funny you think your word actually means something. Funny how I seem to remember a similar conversation with you a few years back, and yet here we fucking sit.”
“Sophie wasn’t—”
“Don’t,” he hissed. “Don’t say her name. Just. Don’t.”
Tears welled in his eyes.
I looked away. I had to.
I couldn’t handle the pain I saw there, or the way it made me want to slit my own wrists so he could see that I still bled for her, still missed her, still hated myself for what happened to her.
He stood. “I mean it, Knox. You owe me.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I know.”
He walked off, leaving gaping students staring at me and him, probably mentally calculating how long it had been since we’d been in the same room.
Easy.
Her funeral.
Chapter Nineteen
Shawn
Knox was late to our tutoring session, and when he did show up, it was without textbook, meaning we had to share, and no coffee. Not that I minded, but he just seemed… different since last night.
He was all business.
From the way he sat a few feet away from me to the way he didn’t meet my eyes when helping me outline.
An hour went by where he didn’t smile, or tease, or flirt, and I found myself missing it.
This Knox? The one sitting next to me? I didn’t recognize him. “Everything okay?”
He sighed. “Yeah, just tired.”
I winced. “My fault. Hopefully, Slater will be in a better mood tonight and actually let me in the room, though, just in case, I have my keys—”