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Yeah, Ollie. It was all worth it.
“Sweet mother of Jesus,” Jake whispered, reeling me back to reality. “I forgot how fine Prince Harry over there was. His sweet ass is turning my bigger bollock blue,”—Jake leaned into me— “What’s his name again?”
Shaking my head, I pulled the fork from my mouth. “Ethan Scott.”
“That’s right.” Jake picked up his fork, but his eyes stayed on the security guard, opened mouthed and watering. “Never been into redheads, but I’ll gladly start a forest fire with that one.”
I laughed. An honest laugh. God, I missed Jake. “Good luck with that.”
“Oh, c’mon. You can’t tell me he isn’t fit as hell,” Jake dropped his head closer to me, “Can you imagine what he’s hiding behind the uniform?”
I lifted my attention from my food and found Ethan’s electric blue eyes from across the mess hall. Ethan sent me a wink with a slight head nod.
Jake dropped his fork. “Yup, my john just jerked.”
“Jake!”
“How the hell do you know him like that?” he asked me, but his eyes we’re still on Ethan.
“We’re friends,” I casually said, remembering the day so vividly. Originally, Ethan and I met when he had questioned me in the nurse’s station after Oscar’s attack. He had been the officer to take my statement. Now he was a security guard at Dolor, and the day Ollie slipped away, Ethan had scooped me from the hallway, carried me outside, and held me until I thawed from the mental state I’d been stuck in. His only explanation at the time was he didn’t want anyone seeing me like that—didn’t want them to send me back to the psych ward. Ethan had sat quietly at my side until day turned to night and I had no tears left to cry.
“Friends?”
“Yes, friends. He was the one who convinced me to start a support group.” I glanced from Ethan back to Jake, and Jake’s disbelieving grin didn’t falter. I pointed my fork to his tray. “Whatever, eat your di
“I’d much rather be eating something else.”
“If it isn’t Jake-the-bollock,” Bria chimed, taking a seat beside me.
“I prefer Jake-the-bull,” Jake smirked, “the raging bull.”
“Oh, you wish,” I laughed.
Bria and Jake exchanged summer adventures as we finished our di
“So, we’re heading to new guy’s dorm to see what he’s all about,” Jake explained, lifting his tray. “You coming, Bria?”
Bria nodded as she finished her juice before tossing it into the nearest trashcan.
As we made our way out of the mess hall, Ethan ushered me over with a small nudge of the head. “I’ll be right there,” I called out to the two of them.
“Jake Tomson, he’s from last year, yeah?” Ethan asked, looking straight ahead with his hands fastened securely to his belt.
I’d known Ethan for seven months now. Over the summer, we’d established an unusual bond no one could know about. He’d become overprotective of me, and at times I believed Ethan used me to replace the relationship he used to have with his sister before she died. Other times, I wasn’t so sure. Ethan was very back and forth, treating me like a child, but also looked at me with pining blue eyes. He was hard to read, and I’d always been fascinated by him and his ways.
Ethan was a challenge—a tough case to crack.
But I was determined to figure him out.
“Jake Tomson is harmless, Ethan.”
Ethan tilted his head down, and for a brief moment, his icy blue eyes met my gaze before turning back to the mess hall before him. “No one is harmless, Jett,” he drew in a deep breath and adjusted his stance, “Don’t be stupid. There’s a bunch of dodgy blokes at this school. I can’t be looking after you at all times.”
“I never asked you to look after me.”
“Fine. You’re on your own tonight then.” His arms crossed over his chest, and my nerves twisted into knots.
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Rolling my eyes, I walked away before picking up into a light jog to catch up with Jake and Bria.
“No ru
This was our relationship: hitting me with such comments, but his eyes held a different story. Though Ethan never smiled, he was the first one to help me find mine after Ollie left. The rest of last semester I’d spent in a fog, but Ethan pulled me out. If I’d never met Ollie, I could have easily fallen for Ethan, despite the way he treated me like a little sister. But I did meet Ollie, and there would never be anyone else.
“Is this the right door?” Jake asked as I approached them down the second wing.
“Yeah … this … it’s the one,” I panted with my hands over my knees.
Jake looked me over with wide eyes. “Damn, girl. You seriously need to exercise more. You were in great shape when Ollie was here.”
Bria laughed.
I didn’t.
Jake swung an arm over my shoulder. “Come on, lighten up a little bit.”
The door before us swung open, and the three of us immediately straightened our posture. A man over six-feet-tall stood over us, long dark hair just above the shoulders, and drooped earlobes from those big hole earrings, I’d assumed. The guy’s pale skin glowed against his black clothing, and his lips were perfection. Frosty blue eyes sliced through the three of us between his long black lashes. “Can I help you?”
“I … um … ye…” Jake shoved my shoulder for assistance as he fell into a hypnotized state.
“I’m Mia. This is Jake and Bria. We just wanted to welcome you to Dolor.” Being new at this whole introducing thing, I tried to remember how Jake and Alicia did this when they appeared at my door on the first day. “Want to be a part of our pity-party?”
The dark-haired guy raised his brow. “Pity party?”
“Well, no. That was a joke. You see, when I first arriv—
Bria dug her heel into my foot to silence me. “What she means to say is, if you’re ever looking for a good time, let us know.”
“Ah, a good time? What makes you think I’m down?”
Bria rocked on her heels and ran her finger across her lip. She had this in the bag. “I guess there’s only way to find out. Friday. Meet us after breakfast.”
He leaned over and planted his palm over the dorm frame. “In the morning?”
“I-it-it’s kind of an all-day event,” Bria stammered.
Great, she was buckling. I had Jake to my right who was still in shock and drooling, and Bria who forgot how to use her voice box.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
The dark-haired guy’s pale blue eyes slid to me in the middle. “Jude.”
“See you on Friday, Jude,” I grabbed both helpless humans from beside me and dragged them away from his door. “You two need to get a grip,” I whispered when we got at least ten feet away. I turned back around to find Jude’s head hanging out of the door frame, and his lip turned up in the corner.
“Easy for you to say, you only have eyes for the one bloke who isn’t here,” Bria finally spoke after coming back from her Jude-induced coma. “Ollie’s not coming back, Mia. It’s been seven months. Time to have some fun.”
“You mean to tell me Mia hasn’t … in seven months?” Jake’s expression utterly shocked.
“Bria either,” I countered with my eyes shooting daggers at her.