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He didn’t pull away. If anything, he leaned in closer as if to talk into my ear before I heard, “I thought you weren’t a hand holder.”
I scowled at him over my shoulder, hissing, “Just go with it. And let me do the talking.” Then I dragged him down the hall more harshly than before so it’d look like I was in control and herding him along rather than I just wanted to hold his hand for moral support, because I was suddenly nervous about facing my friends and really needed some moral support to survive this.
We reached the end of the hall and turned into the main room, only to find all four of my roommates standing in a semi-circle in the opening, waiting for us. In tandem, Beckett and I pulled back, surprised they were right there.
The two couples peered curiously at Beck. Tess even went as far as to gasp a surprised, “Oh,” before stepping protectively closer to Jonah.
I glanced at her to find her blushing madly.
Tess wasn’t intimidated by him because he was bruised and battered to hell. She usually stepped forward to help injured souls. No, hot guys were what made her shy.
Realizing she considered Beckett attractive made a spark of jealousy flicker through me. And that made no sense. I frowned at myself for the knee-jerk emotion.
It all gave Beck enough time to tighten his grip around my hand and blurt, “I stayed here the last two nights.”
I spun to him. “What the hell!”
He only rolled his eyes. “Oh, like you would’ve been any more tactful.”
My mouth fell open. How the hell did he know I completely lacked tact? The guy had known me for only a few days.
>
Not right.
Paige cleared her throat before saying, “I wasn’t aware you two knew each other.” She glanced at Tess for confirmation, but Tess only ducked her head so her red hair would hide most of her face. Paige turned back to me, wide-eyed. “I thought he wasn’t there when you tried to find him at his fraternity.”
“He wasn’t.” I glanced at Beck, but now that he’d already pushed me into the hot seat, he was being mute. The butthead. I turned back to the group, who suddenly felt like a freaking firing squad aiming their rifles—er, questioning stares—at me. “But then he contacted me, and I, uh, I assisted him with something, and after that, he really needed a place to stay, so…” I spread my arms to encompass the room, letting them know I’d let him stay here.
“You never told us he contacted you,” Tess finally said, lifting her face and blinking at me as if I’d lied to her.
I guess omitting that fact was a lie. Oh, crap. I’d never lied to Tess before. And I had no way to justify myself. I squeezed my fingers more snuggly around Beckett’s and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“I can’t believe you let him sleep under our roof without even consulting us first,” Jonah said, his voice stern and eyes hard with disapproval.
I gave him an indignant sniff before straightening my back. “Excuse me. I didn’t realize I had to ask.” Of course, I’d known I should’ve asked. It was only considerate to my roommates, whom I respected. But going with this reaction helped me feel not so shitty about how I’d treated my friends these last few days by not sharing anything with them. “It’s not like he really is a rapist,” I snapped. Then I narrowed my eyes at Jonah, daring him to say he didn’t believe me in that department.
He heaved out an irritated sigh. “I know you said he was innocent, but damn, Bailey, we don’t know him. I don’t feel comfortable letting a stranger stay in my home, with my girlfriend here. I should’ve gotten a say in that.”
Speaking of his girlfriend…
“Tess?” I whirled toward her. She was the biggest bleeding heart of the group. She’d talk some sense into her boyfriend. But she bit her lip and winced.
I groaned. “No. Not you too.”
“I’m sorry,” she gushed, “But if anyone else found out he’d been staying here, do you know what this would do to you, Bailey? All the rumors going around that you lied for him because you liked him and wanted him to date you would look true.”
“What rumors?” Beck turned to me. When he saw my irritated scowl, he must’ve realized what Tess said was true. His eyebrows lifted in scolding. “You didn’t tell me you were getting backlash over this.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Because it’s not a big deal. Just a bunch of gossip and speculation. The story sounds juicier if I’m a liar who’s desperately in love with you.”
“What? Jesus, Bailey.” He let go of my hand and took a step backward away from me as if I suddenly had leprosy. Running his hand through his hair, he insisted. “I can’t stay here now. I can’t put your reputation in danger.”
“Oh, whatever,” I snapped, grabbing his elbow to keep him from going anywhere. “The gossip isn’t going to miraculously stop if you leave.”
“But it’ll sure as hell get worse if anyone found out I have been staying here. Christ, I gotta…” He tried to pull his arm free from me, but I refused to let him go. “I need to leave,” he growled.
“No, you fucking don’t!” I exploded, “Especially not after I came home to find you trying to kill yourself.”
