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Cohen doesn’t answer right away. He’s too busy taking in the way the four guys are surrounding me, the way Ezra still has his arm over my shoulder. How they all bristled at his approach.
His icy green eyes find me again, concern clear in their depths. “Can I speak to you a moment?”
“Fuck off, Faulkner,” Hardin growls, taking a step forward, hands already fisted.
I grab onto his arm and tug him back, making him glance down at me. The last thing I want is for them to get into a fight with someone I consider a friend. “Stop,” I order before looking back at Cohen and nodding. “Yeah, of course.”
“No,notof course, Sweeney.” Fielder sounds nearly as upset as Hardin does.
I roll my eyes and shrug off Ezra’s arm, even though I can tell he doesn’t want to let me go. “I’ll be right back.”
Cohen reaches for me, grips my elbow, and pulls me after him. Or at least he tries to, but his hand is knocked away from me by a fuming Gideon. “There is no need for you to touch her while talking.”
I roll my eyes, even though he’s not wrong. But their protective attitude toward Cohen, the one person who actually tried to help me while they were making my life hell, is frustrating, to say the least.
Cohen clenches his hand at his side and leads the way farther back onto campus, away from the parking lot. When we’ve gone about fifteen feet, he stops and faces me. “Are you okay?”
I blink. “What?”
He reaches toward me again, thinks better of it, and drops his hand, fingers flexing. “Are you okay? Are you in trouble? Are they taking you somewhere against your will?”
I shake my head. “I’m fine, Cohen. We’re just going to get breakfast in town.”
He stares at me for a moment, before he sighs and runs a hand over his shaved dark hair. “You’re sure? They aren’t coercing you into going with them?”
My brows lower, and I shake my head. “Why are you asking this?”
He scoffs. “You spent the last six months telling me they were targeting you, Ro. You can’t expect me not to be worried when I see you heading toward the parking lot with them.”
Fuck, he’s right. Of course, he’s right. Cohen has been front and center for nearly every attack that has occurred. Of course, he’d be concerned that it’s continuing, that this new ‘friendship’ I have with them would be another form of attack. A way to make me complacent so they can tear me down again.
I reach out and squeeze his forearm, trying to reassure him. “I understand you’re worried about me, but I’m fine. Really.” I glance over to where four sets of eyes are watching us, and I know somehow all of them can hear our words. Well, notsomehowso much as Fielder using his magic.
How much do I want to give away to both Cohen and the assholes watching us? Sighing, I decide that honesty is probably the best policy here. So I look back at the security guard and give him as much of the truth as I can. “I ran into them over break. They explained that a lot of what happened in the last six months wasn’t them-”
“But some of it was, Rosalind.” It’s not a question, but a statement.
“Some of it was,” I agree. “And without going too deep into it, they were actually trying to help. As fucked up as their methods were.”
“Some of the shit that they did was unforgivable, Ro.” His frown deepens. “Why are you suddenly okay with them?”
I’m shaking my head before he’s even finished that question. “Oh, no. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m okay with them. I am far, far from okay with them. I haven’t even forgiven them.” This I say mostly for the benefit of the assholes listening. “But I’m… considering it.”
Cohen scoffs again, and I squeeze his arm, ignoring the way his muscles flex under my hand. “They’ve been better. A lot better.”
“They moved you into the boys’ dorm, Ro. How is them treating you like their personal whore being better?”
I wince at the rancor, at the anger in his voice. My hand drops away from him. I take a step back, crossing my arms over my chest. “You think that’s what I’m doing?Fuckingthem?” He flinches. And it immediately becomes obvious thatyes, that is what he thinks I’m doing, that is the reason they’ve suddenly switched from torturing me to taking me out to breakfast.
I’ve spent the last six months having most of the student body at Seven Stars think the same thing, but it fucking hurts coming from him. It shouldn’t. Why would he be any different?
My head shakes slowly. “You know, I’d kind of thought you and I were friends. Or friendly at least, but this is.” I wave a hand in the air between us. “This is just a whole other level.”
“Ro,” he starts.
“No, I don’t want to hear you make an excuse about how you didn’t mean how it sounded. You meant it. You think I’m a whore. That I’m fucking them for a reprieve. That the only reason they would move me closer to them is because they want to use me. It never occurred to you they might be trying to protect me, did it?”
His mouth drops open. “Protect you!” He splutters, and then yells. “How is painting a target on your back helping you?”
