Seeing my reaction to his wicked charm, Cruz’s smirk stretches wider across his face. “You have a point, though,” he continues. “You’re hot as fuck, and while most people would understand us following you around campus like a bad smell, your professors probably won’t find it as … endearing.”
“Endearing is really the word you want to use for it? Right,” I laugh.
Cruz rolls his eyes as Gray grumbles from behind me. “He’s right. We won’t be able to protect you on a college campus the way we can here. Not unless we enroll as students ourselves.”
Horror stretches over King’s face, and it becomes abundantly clear that college was never a part of his big plan. “You’re kidding, right?” he questions, glancing around at his friends, but when none of them respond, he kicks his foot in the dirt. “Fuck. Okay. If it means keeping her safe, I’ll do it. But I’m picking bullshit classes.”
“Or …” Carver says, looking up ahead at the school. “We can just wait until the threats pass and start applying to colleges when we know she’s going to be safe. Besides, maybe a few extra months will give her the time she needs to figure out what the fuck she actually wants to study when she gets there.”
My brows raise. He has a point … a really good point.
Who would have known that Carver has a brain floating around inside that big head of his? With all that testosterone, his ego, and his bad attitude, I figured his brain had given up a long time ago.
King squeezes my hand. “I know we’re supposed to be hating on Carver right now, but there’s no denying that the guy has a point. A fucking good one. I think he’s right. We should wait until all the bullshit is dealt with and then we can talk about college, but if you really insist on not waiting, we’ll figure out a way.”
“I, umm… I hate to admit it, but for the first time since meeting you guys, I think that I actually agree with Carver. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I would have loved having you assholes following me from class to class every minute of every day. It would have been fan-fucking-tastic, but I’m not going to learn shit if I’m worried about accidentally sitting on an explosive every time I sit down, so yeah … we’ll wait.”
Carver looks back at me, his eyes wide as confusion flickers through his gaze. “You’re not going to fight me on this?” I shake my head and his brows raise. “You sure? You’re actually agreeing with me about something?”
I give him a blank stare. “Keep questioning me about it and I might just change my mind.”
Carver rolls his eyes, and just as we all look back toward the school, we find a pissed-off Sara Benson charging right for me. “Fucking hell,” I mutter under my breath, dreading whatever the fuck she feels the need to say.
The last time I saw her, she’d stormed through my front door looking for a fight. I introduced my brass knuckles to her pretty face when she got too close, and damn it was fun. When I kissed her at that stupid party, getting under Carver’s skin was my only thought. But he wasn’t the only one affected. Apparently, she wanted more than a taste, and girls like Sara Benson aren’t used to rejection.
“YOU,” she roars, making sure to get the attention of every student around us. Even Ember’s eyes dart up from where she waits for me by the gate.
Carver takes a discreet step to the left, putting himself directly between Sara and me, pulling her up short. “That’s close enough,” he demands in a way that has her swallowing back fear, his tone sending a wave of desire pulsing through me.
Sara blanches for a moment, captivated by his lethal stare before blinking three times in rapid succession. She looks between Carver and me for a few drawn-out seconds before finding her nerve and keeping her stare on mine.
I can’t help but notice the soft bruising around her jaw in the perfect shape of the brass knuckles that sit upon my fingers. God, punching her in the face was good. It was nearly as good as the high I get from having Grayson, King, and Cruz inside me all at the same time. She completely deserved it though. Who the hell did she think she was storming onto my property and talking shit like that? Though, to be completely honest, up until this very moment, I’d completely forgotten that it even happened.
I bite the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to keep control, fighting the wide smile that desperately wants to sit across my lips. “Is there something you need?” I ask, stepping closer to Carver and shuffling to his right, refusing to allow him to block me in as though I can’t handle my own problems.