AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Uh…not exactly.” My statement came out sounding like a question. “I ran into him on the path from the auditorium to the dorms, and he was…acting strange. I dunno. Nothing I can put my finger on, he just seemed…off.”
“Off,” Garrett repeated, and I shrugged helplessly.
Devan cut in. “So, ignoring the fact that you walked back to the dorms alone despite promising me you wouldn’t, tell us what he said.”
I flushed, but recreated the scene for them. In the end, they made me repeat the exchange verbatim, describing every word and reaction in excruciating detail, until I was seconds away from throttling the whole bunch of them.
“So, what?” I exclaimed when there was nothing else to say that I hadn’t already told them at least twice. “Is he part of this…threat against me? Should I be worried about him or not?”
“No,” Garrett said.
“Yes.” Devan answered at the exact same moment.
I narrowed my eyes between them. “You don’t have to tell me your secrets. But don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying,” Garrett insisted. “You don’t have to be worried about Drew. We can keep you safe.”
“That’s not what I asked,” I growled. “Or, well, it is what I asked, but what I want to know is if he’s part of this, and if I should be afraid of him for some other reason than him worrying I might turn him in?”
“Garrett,” Micah said quietly, the first words he’d spoken since I’d arrived. “C’mon man. I get it, but this isn’t fair. You can’t keep her in the dark.”
“Eleven years,” Garrett ground out, his expression turning thunderous. “You want to throw away eleven years of safety, of careful planning, for what?” He made a harsh slicing gesture with one hand. “For nothing?”
“That’s not fair,” Micah said, then Devan spoke up as well.
“First of all, we don’t have to throw anything away,” he said, frowning at Garrett. “And second of all, it’s not for nothing. She has a right to know what’s going on, what she’s up against, and why.” His voice dropped low and he leveled a meaningful look at his friend. “And you know he would want that. If something happens to her, you’ll have a lot more than your own guilt to deal with.”
Wait. Who was he?
“Have I fallen into some alternate reality?” I asked acerbically. “Where no one ever says anything that makes sense?”
“Fine,” Garrett roared, drowning out the last of my words. He hauled himself to his feet. “Fine,” he repeated. “Tell her then, since you’re going to anyway. Just…don’t fuck it up more than it already is.”
He stalked off to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
“Jesus, what’s his problem?” I muttered under my breath. I’d meant the question rhetorically, but Micah answered me anyway.
“He has a hard time trusting new people,” he explained.
“That’s an understatement,” Devan huffed under his breath, but Micah shot him a quelling look.
“He has good reasons for it, as we all do,” Micah said gently. “We never imagined you’d get pulled into this, and he’s afraid.”
“He’s afraid?” I exclaimed. “I’m the one who’s afraid. And I’m the one who doesn’t know who to trust!”
Micah shot me a wry smile. “Then we all have more in common than we thought. C’mon. It’s late. Why don’t you get ready for bed, and then we can all talk.”
* * *
I got the shower I so desperately wanted, and it felt as incredible as I’d imagined. I helped myself to the shampoo that sat on the lip of the tub, and a twinge ran through me when I realized it was Garrett’s. I breathed in deeply, savoring the masculine scent of leather mixed with something dark and spicy, then used maybe a little more of it than was strictly necessary. The man was stubborn and secretive and infuriating, but I couldn’t deny that he had an effect on me. They all did.
They’d given me a clean towel, but rather than put on the pajamas I’d brought, I nabbed a shirt that was hanging on the towel rack instead. Judging by the sheer size of it, I thought it was probably Devan’s, and the fabric felt deliciously soft against my skin.
The heated look in his eyes when I reemerged confirmed my guess, but other than a suggestive hand that ran the length of my back, drifting slightly lower than was appropriate, he behaved himself, clearly more concerned with the conversation at hand.
There was no sign of Garrett, who appeared to have gone to bed, so I followed when Devan took my hand and pulled me into the spare bedroom. Micah followed and the three of us piled onto the bed and sat cross-legged in a semicircle with me in the middle. I’d not been in this room before, and I wondered again how it was they didn’t have a fourth roommate. The room was clean and nearly empty, filled with only the standard furniture that came with the suite. Good neutral territory, I thought as I waited impatiently for someone to start.
When no one did, I prompted them, afraid they would suddenly realize Garrett was right and decide to keep me in the dark. “Soooo…”
