Our on-call doctor had to give me three stitches on my bicep that night after she’d caught me with the side instead of the flat side. She’d told me it was my fault for moving around so much and that in the future I needed to remember that actions had consequences and nobody would save me from mine.
“Wren?”
I jump at the sound of my name before reminding myself I’m not that girl anymore. I’m out, and with any luck, I’ll never have to go back.
Blinking rapidly, I take a deep breath and let my hand drop from the scar that I know lies beneath my sleeve. I don’t even remember moving.
“I’m fine,” I say, and instantly want to smack my palm to my head because I couldn’t even make myself sound the least bit convincing.
You’ve got to learn to live a little.
Jordan’s words play in my head like an old song, and I feel the sting of tears behind my eyes. He’d always told me that he’d always been so full of energy and optimistic.
But what if he was right?
I clear my throat and square my shoulders, trying to channel my inner Jordan; we were twins after all, and hold myself at the ready.
“I’ll have to change your nickname, I suppose.”
Julian watches me for a moment as if unsure if I really am okay or not, and to be fair, I’m not really sure either, but I’m trying to be, and that’s the best I’ve got right now.
“You can call me whatever you want, Pookie. We’ll be like a matching pair, beautiful with colorful hair, but even better, there will be no question that you’re mine.” His words make my eyes go wide because, yeah, we’ve kissed a few times, but I wasn’t aware we were a thing.
He’s with Titus, the same Titus who very much hates me.
Not to mention there’s Nolan, Dimitri, and Felix…
Crap, how did this happen?
“One point for me.”
Again, I’m snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of his voice, only this time it’s with the tip of his saber pressed to my chest.
With a groan of frustration, I bat it away and step back out of his reach, pushing away all thoughts of boys.
If I want any hope at beating him, I need to give this everything I’ve got.
Ilost.
But not by much; it was close enough that I was damn proud, and by the smile on Julian’s face, I’d dare say he was too. We end up spending the rest of the time playing around, making out, and laughing so much that my cheeks hurt when he drops me off at Dimitri’s office door.
“Have fun, love,” Julian tells me before pressing a kiss to my head and promptly leaving.
It’s still strange to me the way the two of them seem so okay with sharing me. I’d expected some kind of jealousy or even for one of them to demand I pick them, and while I hadn’t wanted that, this just seems too good to be true.
Speaking of too good to be true, I turn to find Dimitri standing in the doorway, a slight smile pulling at his lips that I’ve come to learn is just for me and makes my stomach feel like it’s home to a million butterflies.
He’s very serious when he’s in ‘professor mode,’ as I’ve come to call it, but with each meeting, I feel like I get more of the real him, the man beneath the responsibility.
“You look happy.” Still, there’s no jealousy in his words, as if he’s just genuinely happy that I’m happy.
“I am.”
The next day flies by, and instead of Julian picking me up from class, Nolan is there, and if I thought I got a lot of looks with Julian, well, everyone notices now.
“Why is everyone looking at us?” I ask as we turn the last corner out of the main building, headed toward the dorms. Despite almost everyone being at our backs, I still feel their eyes and the way they follow us.
“I’m not really sure.” He reaches up and scrubs his hand over the back of his neck in an almost nervous gesture that doesn’t fit the Nolan I’ve come to know. I’m trapped ogling him like a weirdo as his muscles bunch and bulge, and oh man, look away, Wren!
