AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His pinkie curls tight around mine. “I always wanted to keep you safe, Lav, but I kept fucking up. I couldn’t even keep you safe from Kody. Even now, I can’t.”
I squeeze his pinkie back. “I don’t want you to keep me safe from Kodiak. That’s my own cross to bear, not yours.”
He’s quiet for a long time before he finally exhales a long, slow breath. “I couldn’t keep you safe from a lot of things.”
After all the damage that’s been done over the years, I have to wonder which of us has suffered more.
Chapter Nine
Additional Suckage
Lavender
Present day
THE NEXT MORNINGI get up early and make a stop at the student housing department so I can get myself on the list for a dorm room. It might be a long shot, but it certainly won’t happen if I don’t try. Turns out, there’s a pretty extensive waiting list, but if I don’t mind shared accommodations, I have a better chance. At this point, I’ll take about anything other than a cardboard box.
Unfortunately, when I head over to the registrar’s office right after, I’m even less successful. Apparently I need the macroeconomics course, and switching it to next semester isn’t an option unless I’d like to lose my elective. At least it’s only once a week. I guess it’s a good thing I stuck around for the quiz, although I don’t have much faith that I’ve managed to pass it.
As the week unfolds, I’m glad to report that the rest of my classes are awesome. So the upside is that I get macroeconomics out of the way at the beginning of the week. The downside is that the coursework for that is going to take me more hours than I would like to complete.
On Friday, the house starts filling up with random people early in the afternoon. It’s a gorgeous day and still gloriously warm as we approach the last week of August. By three o’clock, girls upon girls in skimpy bikinis are draped all over my brothers and their hockey and football friends.
Fortunately, I have plans to meet Josiah for coffee, and Lovey and Lacey are still trying to persuade me to come to their party. I pass through the kitchen, stopping to toss a few snacks in my backpack on my way out the door.
Two of River’s teammates—they immediately announce that they’re football players—start chatting up my boobs. Granted, I’m wearing a sundress that draws attention to them, but still, they don’t even attempt to keep their eyes above my neck.
The beefcake on the right belches loudly and skims one of my straps. “You got a bikini on under there?”
I shake my head and shift away from his unwelcome contact. His nails have dirt under them, which is nasty. I glance around, hoping one of my brothers will appear and tell this guy to back off. I usually keep to myself and my room when they have a lot of people over.
Instead of Maverick or River coming to my rescue, Kodiak pushes his way between the two beefcakes and slings an arm over each of their shoulders. A beer bottle dangles from his fingers and his eyes slide over me, expression full of disdain. “Who let you out of your ivory tower?”
I roll my eyes and flip him the bird.
The football players laugh, and the one on the right smirks at his friend. “I like this one.”
Kodiak’s lip twitches. “There’s a do-not-touch policy onthis one, so find another set of tits to eye-fuck.” He tips his beer back, draining half of it in one long gulp, his gaze still trained on me. He swipes the back of his hand across his mouth as he steps forward, into my personal space. My heart rate kicks up, and my breath gets trapped in my lungs—like I’m stuck underwater.
Kodiak’s hard glare stays locked with mine as he bends down, our noses almost brushing. His breath smells like beer and more faintly of something sweet. His fingertips glide up my arm and wrap around the back of my neck, his thumb sweeping up the side, causing goose bumps to rise on my skin. He tips his head, bringing his mouth to my ear. “Still such an attention seeker, aren’t you? You should leave before you embarrass yourself.” He drops his hand and steps back.
“I hate you.” I spin around and head for the front door.
“Keep telling yourself that until it’s true,” he calls after me.
In the driveway, I run into River, who’s arriving home from practice. He nods to the backpack slung over my shoulder. “I thought you didn’t have class today.”
“I don’t. I’m meeting a friend from my costume and set design class, and then I’m probably going to meet up with Lovey and Lacey.”
He rubs the scar under his bottom lip, which almost matches mine. Except his teeth went through his bottom lip when he was playing football. Mine is from a childhood panic attack during which I bit my lip hard enough that I should have had stitches. But I’d already been so traumatized, my parents didn’t want to risk taking me to the hospital.
“You’re gonna stay there tonight?” he asks.
“Maybe.” I hadn’t planned on it, although I also hadn’t planned on dealing with Kodiak, either, so I’m leaving my options open.
“Okay, might be a good idea. Based on the noise level already, it’s gonna get rowdy here, and Lovey and Lacey’s place is chill.”
In other words, he won’t have to worry about making sure I’m okay or comfortable.
