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“Joshua, are you going to continue to irritate the female beside you or are you actually going to attempt to pass this class?” The boom comes from the professor, who is leaning back against the desk in front of the board as he fixes the circular glasses on the bridge of his nose.
Emily glances at me, cringing at the attention she knows I’m hating, but thankfully, Joshua doesn’t drag it out. “I’m sorry, Professor, I’ll shut up now.”
“See to it that you do,” he grumbles in response, before immediately redirecting the room back to the board behind him.
Another deep breath, another heavy exhale. I get the feeling today is going to be full of them.
I relax back into my seat, not taking in a word the professor says as the information on the board goes completely over my head. This is definitely not the easy start I was hoping for. My mind is so busy being overwhelmed that it feels like I’ve only just sat down, but no, the class is ending, and everyone around me rises from their seats.
The class ends, and Emily races up the stairs before I’ve even got my backpack over my shoulder, pulling me out of the room in a hurry I wasn’t expecting.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, leaning into her as the hallway fills with people.
“I forgot about Josh Parrish. I’m so sorry,” she mumbles, keeping her focus straight ahead until we step outside into the fresh air. I spot Shift instantly waiting at the bottom to the left, and only when we’re beside him does she finally stop.
“Don’t stress it,” I murmur, and Shift tilts his head with intrigue.
“Don’t stress what?”
“No—”
“Hey, you snuck off before I could catch your name.” An arm wraps around my shoulders, and my body stiffens. Before I can consider my options, I swing my elbow back and hit Joshua in the stomach, making him grunt.
“Fuck. I do like them feisty, baby.” Bent, he heaves a breath in, eyes still fixed on me, and my irritation only heightens.
“I’m not feisty, asshole, I’m murderous,” I grunt. Shift takes a step toward me.
Joshua’s eyes only darken with excitement as he stands back to his full height, running his tongue over his bottom lip. Fucking creep. “Are you this snappy when you’re getting fucked?” He wiggles his eyebrows, making my nostrils flare as I thrust my fist straight at his throat. The garbled sound that follows makes me grin, and before he can come back with something else to say, I link my arm through Emily’s and hightail it out of there.
Once we’re around the corner and he’s nowhere in sight, I slow my pace, only to find Shift chuckling as he taps away on his cell phone.
“What’s funny?” I grumble, hiking my backpack higher up my shoulder.
He grins, tapping away for a few more seconds before finally lifting his gaze. “The guys aren’t going to be happy about that.”
“He’s no concern. They don’t need to worry about irrelevant shit like this when they have bigger stuff to be dealing with,” I bite with irritation. I know it’s not aimed at him, but fuck, I can’t control it.
The guilty look I get in advance makes me pause as he waves his cell at me.
“Oops, too late.”
FIFTEEN
Ryker
My cell phonedigs in my palm as I stand at the end of the path, ignoring every motherfucker that interrupts my view. There’s a reason I never even considered applying to college, besides the fact that I barely gave any effort to scrape through high school. People. I can’t stand them, and there’s far too fucking many of them here for my liking.
I can feel eyes on me, or my cut more specifically. They either hate me, want to be me, or want to fuck me. It’s a no to all three, but I won’t engage in any kind of conversation for them to know that.
I spot the three of them across the walkway as my cell buzzes.
Shift: Just out of the dining hall now.
His eyes findmine across the space. A smirk teases his lips, and my eyes narrow. Scarlett smiles along with whatever Emily is saying, but she’s also scanning the area, always on guard.
She seems at ease at least, but she will forever be on edge no matter where she is. That’s the fact of life when you’ve been raised as she has. I’ll shield her from every storm if she lets me, but I know she’s independent enough to take on the world by herself and emerge victorious.
I can’t imagine the stark contrast this is for her. It’s just another one of the things she’s willing to do for her family. Formyfamily. We owe her everything. I need to work on that, on repaying her in some way. Just not right now though, there are other pressing matters that require my attention.
