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Iwelcome the hot water cascading down my body as the steam pushes the remnants of the dream away. The warmth reaches deep into my bones, throwing off the cold that I'd woken up to. They aren’t dreams, I know that much, and I know something dangerous lurks, and I don’t know what it is. I also keep trying to make sense of it, but I can’t.
The call from Austin has probably thrown me off, too. The way he talks to me, how he acts when he’s around me, contradicts everything I’ve heard about him on campus, and onOff Topic. I don’t trust him, but he’s making it very hard to hate him. Especially when he’s being so sweet.
Now he’s just a sweet asshole.
I don’t know why he’d been driving, and I’d seen some strain on his face the moment he’d called me. I hate that I feel sorry for him. The tiny itch I have to help him, or in some way protect him, baffles me. Where the hell has that come from?
At least Avery hadn't been here overnight to side-eye me. I wouldn’t have answered his call with her in our room. She'd been called to her family because they’d needed to have some sort of meeting. I swear I’d even heard her speaking Italian. Andshe’s never done that. Ever. Had it been a slip? Avery doesn’t lower her defences all that often, and I’ve realized that when they come down, she is a different person.
I turn the water off and leave the shower, quickly drying myself before dressing within the steam of the room. As the days move headlong into fall, and the weather is definitely blowing cold, our apartment feels more like an ice box. We never put the heating on until the very last second, and even then, we put it on for an hour, just to take the chill off the rooms. I open the door and rear back, barely holding onto the squeal. "What the hell!"
"Are you heading in today?" Avery questions, like it's perfectly natural to be sitting on the bed, waiting for me and not announcing that she’s home.
"When did you get back?"
Avery frowns. "Are you avoiding the question?"
No. I'm trying to figure out where you've come from, Mafia girl.
I breathe, but my heart feels like it's going to zip line from my chest. "I have to face the music at some point." My mind keeps flitting between being extremely pissed off at Harry, and then wanting to throw up with the thought of confronting him. I want to avoid the world forever, and yes, I’m aware that it isn't possible. Austin isn’t stopping with his pushy ways either, and that adds more turmoil.
In fact. He’s getting worse.
And I can’t find the anger that I’d used to have when it comes to him. The ice is melting, and I need it back. Maybe I should have aFrozenmarathon?
"What are you going to say to him?" Her red hair is plane swept as clever green eyes study me.
I shrug. "Whatever feels right in the moment."
"I'd punch him. It always feels right."
Snorting, I throw her a look. "I’m not sure about that."
The wolfish grin makes me smirk. “Just you wait until you do it!”
I pout."I don't even know how to punch."
It's something my father never taught me. Not that I need it now. I’m not going to become the person who walks around threatening to punch people.
I’m not Austin Whitlock.
There.The anger is back.
Avery giggles. "It comes to you naturally. Just be careful of your thumb placement, you don’t want to break it."
I blow out a breath as I grab my bag. "Wish me luck."
"Sweets, you won't need it. Call me when you need backup."
I nod. I need to blow away the cobwebs I'd built yesterday so the walk to campus will be good. The more I avoid Harry, the harder it will be when I finally see him, plus, he needs to know he can’t get away with his shit anymore. I turn to head toRise & Grindfor a hit, but before I reach the door, three girls, all various shades of blond, accost me. I hold back my sigh and fold my arms.
I’m actually starting to understand why Austin avoids the world, and the bloody podcast. It’s a pain in the ass.
"Are you the wolf girl?" Darker shade of blond mocks.
Oh God. I pull back the eye roll. Why do I feel like I’ve stepped into aTwilightbook?
"I hear he had his claws in you!" Lighter shade of blond with highlights, giggles.
