AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I whisper so that only Nera can hear me.
“Tell them to leave so I can get started on the many depraved things I’ve been thinking about doing to you all day.”
Her eyes darken and an excited smile pulls at her lips. She turns towards her friends, making a shooing motion with her hand.
“It’s my turn to be gross with my boyfriend now, so get out before we give you guys a show.”
Her friends giggle as they walk out and my eyes clash with Rogue’s. He gives me an assessing stare, his gaze penetrating mine in a way that has a chill running down my spine before he walks out.
???
Chapter 40
Nera
Ithought Tristan and I already had a good thing going between the two of us before, but things change after those few days.
For the better.
To the outside world, we’re still a secret. I go to class and keep my head down in my International Business course to avoid the gaze he always has trained on me. I walk out without speaking to him like I don’t know him. I go to practice. I go home. And the cycle repeats itself the next day.
But with my friends, my inner circle, we’re in a strong relationship. I no longer have to exclusively slink over to his place late at night in the cover of darkness. He comes over for game nights, he invites the girls over and cooks us dinner, he goes to the pub and drinks with the boys.
He cuddles with me on the couch. He showers with me in my bathroom and tickles me in front of the steamy mirror when we come out of it. He makes me breakfast in the mornings and serves me coffee in my favorite mug.
I don’t think I realized how much anxiety and trepidation I had about how the girls would react to him, but they’ve adopted him into the fold like we have with each of the other boys.
Even now, as I watch him bicker with Thayer about the World Cup, I feel my heart swell with a kind of comfortable warmth that I’ve become accustomed to feeling thanks to him.
“How can you not be rooting for England?”
She shrugs, disinterestedly. “They’re not exciting to watch. No flair whatsoever.”
“I can’t talk to you when you’re being irrational,” he says with a huff. I laugh from the kitchen where I’m refilling my water bottle.
“Now Argentina, France, Croatia even, those guys have style.”
“I’m rooting for France for my girl, Six,” Bellamy adds, pointing at her.
“Allez les Bleus!” Six chants happily.
Tristan gives Bellamy an affronted look. “Your boyfriend is English, Bellamy, rooting for the French is basically a capital offense.”
She gives him a sly smile. “Don’t worry, I know just how to make him forgive me.”
“You’re all lost causes,” he says, shaking his head in disappointment.
They continue bantering and bickering good-naturedly as I watch from the kitchen. I can’t keep the smile off my face as I listen to them while pouring snacks into a bowl.
My bulimia is still something I struggle with every day, but the voice is quieter, less present and oppressing. Most days I’m able to tune it out and focus on mindful eating, on eating foods that will fuel my body. With each passing day, the mental burden gets a little lighter.
“You look happy.”
I look over my shoulder at Six who’s standing next to me, leaning against the kitchen island.
“Really?”
She nods, holding my gaze. “Yeah.”
