AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And besides, he deserves it if he’s going to be sniffing around you, love.” Hardin says stubbornly.
I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head. “You’re jealous of him.”
Gideon splutters while Hardin barks out an amused, “hell no.”
I nod, a smirk crawling over my lips. “Yeah, you fucking are! You’re jealous that I trust him and I don’t trust you. Oh my god! This is great.” I turn and stride to the door, yanking it open despite their protests and stepping into the hall.
Cohen’s moved a little way down the hall and I follow him, holding out my hand for the package. “Sorry. They’re overly protective.”
“That’s what you want to call it?” He scoffs, not meeting my eyes.
“Yeah, that’s what I want to call it.” He doesn’t slip the box into my hand, so I let it drop. Apparently he wants to hold on to it until he’s said his piece. “What did you want to talk about?”
He shakes his head. “I kept thinking you would come to your senses, that you would come to me for help. I heard about what all these little fuckers did first term, chasing you across campus with a knife. You could have been hurt! And that’s not even as bad as you almost drowning in the pool.”
“The man in the woods was a prank. The pool was an accident.” I’m quick to correct.
“I saw the video footage. Did you know Fielder Harris and Hardin Yorke stood at the side of the pool and watched you sink to the bottom of it?”
I did, in fact, know that, but it’s not like they weren’t doing anything. They were breaking the spell on me and giving me air to breathe. Them being in the water with me wouldn’t have made a difference.
I don’t answer his question and he lets out an angry sound. “They stood on the edge of the pool and watched you nearly drown and you’re okay with that? You’re just going to forgive everything they’ve done? You’re okay with letting that piece of shit call youlove?”
Taking a hesitant step toward him, I swallow hard. My hand slips onto his muscled forearm and I squeeze gently. I understand where he’s coming from, especially with this. I know what it looks like. I know he thinks I’m ignoring huge red flags, but I can’t tell him the truth to make him understand. And even if I did, he wouldn’t believe me.
“Cohen,” I say quietly. “They weren’t letting me drown. I know it doesn’t look like it, but theywerehelping. I swear. You need to trust me enough to know that I wouldn’t spend time with people who purposefully put me at risk. They are helping. They are protecting me. And I am not fucking them in payment for that.”
He flinches as I say the words. But then he nods. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”
He thrusts the box at me and I take it reflexively as he turns and strides away from me. Heading toward the elevator.
Once there, he turns back around, icy green eyes finding me. “If you need me, Ro, I’ll be there. All you have to do is ask.”
I blink at him, not sure how he can go from being so upset with me to offering to still help if I need it. I guess that’s just Cohen. Willing to overlook his frustration if a friend needs him.
God, it makes me feel even more guilty and now I know how Merritt felt last quarter trying to tell me the truth, but being unable to.
I open my mouth to call out to him, to try to explain, but nothing I say is going to make a difference. I can’t exactly tell him we’re witches, so I nod to let him know I understand and return to my room, where Gideon and Hardin are practically pressed to the door waiting for me.
“What did he want?”
I look at Gideon and toss the box on the coffee table before running a weary hand down my face. “To warn me that Fielder and Hardin didn’t try to help me when I was at the bottom of that pool. He saw the video of you guys just standing there, and assumes you weren’t helping. I can’t even argue with him, because to anyone watching, that’s exactly what it looks like.”
Gideon tugs me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me while I press my face between his pecs and breath deep. “I’m sorry, Ro.”
“What do you have to be sorry about, Brightwater? It has nothing to do with you.”
He chuckles. “We know that’s not true.”
Hardin moves up behind me, presses a kiss against my shoulder and then my neck, making me shiver. “You know you were right before. We’re jealous as fuck that you trust him, but not us.”
I pull away from Gideon and turn so that I can see both of them, but then I look away, unable to meet their gazes. “I’m not sure that’s true anymore,” I mutter, not wanting to make a big deal about it.
But they both freeze and I can feel their gazes burning into me. “What are you saying, Rosalind?” Gideon sounds so damn hopeful it nearly breaks my heart.
“Are you saying you trust us, love?” Fuck, Hardin is right there in the hope department, too.
I slowly shake my head before looking up at them. “I trust you in some things, but not… not all. But I’m not all in yet.” My voice comes out apologetic. I know it does.
