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I don’t bother sticking around for a response. Athelia is moving quickly, and I can’t lose sight of her. Who knows where she’ll run off to this time.
As she heads across campus, I keep my distance. She won’t appreciate one of us following her, but I can’t let her go. Moving her into our house without even bringing it up to her is a dick move, but I can’t stop Wes.
I don’t believe he’s only doing this to keep her safe. If I had to guess, he thinks this is a show of power or something. Problem is, if he wants this to actually work, he can’t keep all the power.
How does he not get that?
Athelia takes refuge in a small coffee shop just off campus. I slip in after her, hoping her reaction to being followed will be subdued since we’re in public.
When she spots me, her nostrils flare. She already has a cup of coffee in her hand, and she’s just settling into a table in the far corner.
“What are you doing here?” she asks flatly as I slide into the chair across from her.
“Making sure you’re okay.”
Her look says one thing—are you fucking serious?
“Right. Sorry. I know you’re not.”
“You don’t get it,” she says tiredly. “I don’t think you’ll ever understand.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“Maybe I don’t want to, Cal,” she snaps. “Maybe explaining toone of my bulliesthat I’ve been repeatedly raped by my professor for the past three years, that I’m tired of getting shoved around by boys who think they own me, and that my body fucking hurts is the last thing I want to do.”
“Athelia—”
She holds up her hand, silencing me. “That doesn’t even touch on what you three did to me Halloween night. You had no right.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“That’s not enough.” She’s glaring at me through tears, and I desperately want to wipe them away.
“I’d take it all back if I could.”
“I knowyouwould.” She sniffles and looks away. “Even Kellan probably would. But Wes… He’d do it all again in a heartbeat.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” Quickly, I get up and grab some napkins from the counter nearby. When I sit back down, I hand them to her.
She takes one and dabs at her eyes. “I wanted to kill him last night.”
“I know,” I say gently.
“But there’s a stupid part of me that wants to give you all a chance.” Her gaze drops to the table as she inhales a deep, shuddering breath. “I don’t understand why. You three suck.”
Inching my hand across the table, I place it over hers. “We don’t deserve it, but I’ll do anything for a second chance, Athelia. So will Kellan. Wes… he’s working through his shit the way he usually does. He’s an ass, but he’ll come around. He wants you. He just needs to get past his pride.”
She sighs. There’s silence for a few minutes as I give her space to collect her thoughts. Finally, she asks, “Am I going to have my own room?”
“What?”
“In your house. Am I going to have my own room?”
I shake my head. Of course, there are a couple extra rooms that she could have, but Wes will never allow that. If I’m being completely honest with myself, I don’t want her to have her own room, either. I want her with us.
“Seriously?” she grumbles.
“The renovations on the other bedrooms aren’t finished yet,” I lie. “We’ll probably create a rotating schedule or something.”
