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FIFTEEN
“Afternoon! You’re back later than I thought you’d be.” Kinslee looked up from her laptop screen. She’d covered our kitchen table with books, papers, and her laptop.
“Busy? Want a cuppa?” She nodded, turning back to her screen, and I dumped my bag in my room, then filled the kettle with water and set it to boil. “In answer to your comment, I had brunch with the Four before I came here.”
Pulling out two mugs from the cupboard, I waited for Kinslee’s brain to catch up with my words. I heard a sharp intake of breath, then a loud screech, and I turned around, gri
“You what? You had brunch with the Four? How did that happen? What’s going on? Are you friends with them now? Wait, are you fucking one of them? Or all of them?”
“Slow down,” I laughed. “Let me finish making our tea and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Sitting at the kitchen table, my hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea, I gave her a rundown of the situation, minus the parts about my dad and my suspicions about my mother. Her eyes grew round and her mouth dropped open, and she peppered my story with her interruptions.
“The Four in suits, with those tattoos underneath? I would have come on the spot!”
“Dog fighting? That’s barbaric!”
“You kissed Caiden Cavendish?”
“You’re so lucky. If I’d slept with Cassius, I would’ve made the most of it.”
“I want to be dickmatized by that boy.”
“Zayde. Cooked. You. Brunch. Zayde, possibly the sexiest, but definitely the scariest man I’ve ever seen in my life. He can cook? Fuck me sideways.”
“So you’re all best mates now?”
I finished recounting what had happened with a shake of my head. “Not exactly. Caiden explicitly stated that we weren’t friends and he didn’t like me. The others? I’m not completely sure, to be honest. I still get the feeling that they’re just waiting to catch me doing something bad. But I think they’re thawing out. I hope so, anyway. And because the others have said they’ve accepted me now or whatever, whether they mean it or not, Caiden’s going along with them.”
“You need to have hate sex with him. So hot.” She fa
“No thanks. Yeah, he’s sexy, and from what I could feel of his dick when I was grinding all over him last night, it’s biiiiig. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that, one, he’s not interested, and, two, he’s an asshole, and he proved that again to me this morning with his comments to me. If the Four are the kings of Alstone College, he’s King Asshole.”
“True. But I still think you should. Have you even slept with anyone since James?”
I shook my head. “I—”
“Whose hoodie is that?” Kinslee interrupted me, jabbing an accusing finger at me.
“Uh. It’s Caiden’s.” I could feel my cheeks heating as she raised an eyebrow at me.
“Oh, I see. And how, pray tell, did you end up wearing it?”
“I was cold, so he let me borrow it.”
“Uh-huh. Right.” She gave me a knowing look over the top of her mug. “Let me guess. Was he wearing it at the time?”
“Maybe. Anyway, can we please stop talking about him now?”
Kinslee huffed but relented. “Come on. Help me brainstorm for my assignment. It’s enough to take anyone’s mind off their problems.”
“Go on, then.”
The next day I struggled through my university lectures, not really able to concentrate. The weekend’s events kept playing on my mind. After my lectures ended, I headed to the library, knowing I needed to at least attempt to work on the assignment that was due at the end of the week.
There were a few students around, but most had left campus for the day now that classes were over. I reached the back row of the stacks and stopped, taking a moment to look out of the window. From my vantage point on the top floor, I could see lights flicker on all over the campus, as the sky began to darken with the setting sun.
As I added another book to the teetering pile on the table I’d commandeered, I turned around to see a small group enter through the electronic sliding doors.
Ocean eyes arrowed straight to mine. Caiden looked almost angry to see me. Shocker. I squared my shoulders and approached the table where he was now lounging with Cassius and a couple of girls.
Cassius’ face broke into an easy grin when he saw me standing there. “Hey, babe. I was just talking about you. You up for a party at our place on Friday? Just a small gathering. You can bring Kinslee if you want—tell her to wear something short and tight.”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “Yes to the party, and I’ll ask Kinslee, but it’s a hard no for asking her to wear something short and tight.” I thought for a moment. “Although knowing her, there’s a good chance she’ll be wearing something along those lines anyway.”
“Why are you inviting her? That’s scraping the barrel, Cassius.”
Bitch. I took a good look at the blonde girl who was sulkily pouting at Cassius like a petulant child.
I made my voice syrupy sweet. “Aww, sorry, hon, didn’t you hear? Cass is my BFF. And maybe more—who knows what might happen.” I smiled widely and slid onto his lap, both to piss her off and to see what Caiden’s reaction would be. I knew Cass would play along, shit stirrer that he was.
Cassius chuckled in my ear and put his arms around me. “She’s right. Winter here is not only a very good friend of mine, but I’m working on us becoming very, very good friends, if you catch my drift.” The blonde girl looked genuinely shocked, her mouth falling open, and I laughed to myself, stealing a glance at Caiden. He was acting like I wasn’t even there, his attention on the other girl, but I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw, and his posture was tense and rigid. In some small way, I managed to affect him, as much as he clearly disliked it.
“Anyway, it’s been a pleasure, but I have work to do. Call me later, babe.” I jumped up from Cassius, and he blew me a kiss as I walked off, gri
I looked up from my laptop about an hour later and noticed it was fully dark outside. Cassius and the girls had long gone, but Caiden was still sitting at the same table, staring at his laptop and every now and then ru
Gathering up my pile of books, I headed for the stacks to place them back where they belonged. I spun around the corner and collided with a solid body, books raining down onto the floor, and all the air was knocked out of me.
Flustered and winded, I raised my head to see Caiden standing there. He still had that same dark stormy look on his face. Fuck.
I licked my lips, suddenly feeling parched.
His eyes flashed, and he bent his head towards mine. Grabbing the back of my neck roughly, he slanted his lips on to mine in a hard, angry kiss. My arms reached up of their own accord, tugging on his hair and drawing him closer. Pressing his chest into mine, he pushed me into the stacks, and I distantly heard books crashing to the floor, but I was too caught up in him to care. He set me on fire, and I was burning up.
He moved his hand from the back of my neck to lightly grip my throat, biting at my bottom lip. I moaned and scraped my nails down his back, making him shiver.