Gifted Connections 3

“We weren’t flirting with the girls,” Remy grunted. “They were following us around.”

“That’s not how it looked to Blake,” Gavin said staidly. “I knew you weren’t, but we saw you all walking by with drinks in your hands and a group of girls that have been making her life hell, touching you and laughing with you.”

Drake muttered a curse. “Real smooth guys.”

“We told those girls to stop touching us and that we were unavailable,” Troy said as he slammed his fist into the table.

“So, you guys knew they were hanging out at the same place. You chose not to remove yourself from the situation. You continued to hang out with them all night,” Jaxson said. “Makes sense to me,” he said sarcastically.

I almost gave him a smile. Those were my thoughts exactly.

I was surprised at the fire Drake and Jaxson were exhibiting. They were the pacifist types. They hated confrontations.

“We were just drinking and playing poker with the guys,” Noah snapped. “The girls were there, but we ignored them. They were watching television with some of the other guys.”

Drake grunted. “No, you guys were being immature children,” he stood up angrily. “She made a mistake today,” he looked down at his watch. “Yesterday,” he corrected himself. “And you ostracized her. She trusted her instincts and you all let your pride get in the way. How dare she make a decision without your consent?” He then turned on Noah. “Then you decided to frolic and play with them instead of standing by her.”

“She told me too,” Noah spluttered.

“That was before she knew Adams and the girls were going to be there. You should have left,” Drake said coolly.

“She nearly died the other night,” Remy roared. “We made a decision and we wanted to stick by it. Pride had nothing to do with it.”

“The hell it didn’t,” Jaxson stood beside Drake. “It was mostly pride with a little bit of fear sprinkled in it.”

“Where were you two?” Troy asked cuttingly at Jaxson and Drake. “Why weren’t you with her?”

“Don’t pin it on us,” Jaxson hissed, although I saw the guilt in his eyes. “She wanted to be alone. She didn’t want to be abandoned like you guys did to her.”

“Knock it off!” Will roared finally. “I thought you guys would understand the importance of keeping her safe by now. I want a full explanation about this nonsense tomorrow. It’s too late for all this right now.” He rubbed his temples as he glared at the boys.

Paul came back shortly thereafter with a someone to take my blood, then pictures were taken of my bruises. I longed to climb into bed and sleep, but I knew my night was far from over.

Chapter 14

We were back to our apartment when Noah turned to me. “Let me heal you.”

“No thanks,” I said succinctly.

After finding out he willingly hung out with Adams after the way she treated me and them, he was put on my list. I didn’t want anything to do with him right now. My anger was still boiling under the surface.

Paul basically put me on house arrest. I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere until my blood test came back. Which was better than the option Senator Douchebag AKA Senator Bowen had for me. He wanted me to stay in one of the detaining cells where Paul had Bradford transferred when he was medically deemed okay.

I had no clue why the Senator was here. The way he kept looking at me made me feel like he didn’t trust me. He didn’t trust us.

“Really?” Noah said in exasperation. “Now you’re upset with me, too? You told me to go out. I wouldn’t have left if I thought this was a…test.”

“It wasn’t a test,” I bit out. “I didn’t mind you going out, but you chose to stay in the same room with a girl that hates me. Hates us!”

“She was watching television with some of the other guys,” he argued as he ran a hand through his auburn curls.

“What about the other girls?” I rolled my eyes. “I distinctively saw one of them touch you. You may have told them to leave you alone, but that didn’t stop them from touching you. I know what I saw.” I turned and glared at all of them. “Let me go out and start drinking after I ignored you, and then let some guys paw all over me and see how you like that.”

I turned and went up to Drake since he was the closest one to me. “Do you mind if I sleep in your bed, if not I can take the couch?”

“Not at all, let’s go to bed,” he put a hand on my lower back and guided me into his room.

“Really? You’re going to bed?” Troy sighed in frustration. “Can we talk about it?”