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Biting on her lower lip, she glanced up, and seeing me staring, her cheeks flushed. A strange sensation tugged at my insides. I loved the sight of her blushing.
“I’ve arranged for one of the other girls to show you how to set up your account on the computer later today,” I said as I stood.
I circled the desk to stand closer. Her green eyes looked like they carried the weight of the world. My first thought was to draw her to me and tell her everything was going to turn out okay.
She shifted toward the door, then paused, glancing up at me. Her breaths grew heavy, her nipples hard and pushing against the fabric of her shirt.
I ached to suck them.
Fuck, my head was all fogged up. Standing that close to her, staring at her stained cheeks and the quickening of her breath, I wasn’t under any illusion that she didn’t sense something sparking between us.
That vulnerable look got to me, curling around my chest and hauling me over to her, yet the thought of going against my own words had me clenching my hands into fists. I was never a saint, no matter what I wore or who I pretended to be, but the longer she lingered close to me, the more I was going to lose control.
“You should probably finish breakfast,” I groaned. “Your first session is in less than fifteen minutes.”
She thanked me once more, her voice soft, her eyes never leaving mine. She turned to walk past me, and the soft curve of her breast brushed my arm. I groaned internally at the contact.
Did she do that on purpose?
She marched out of my office, not glancing back, and pulled the door shut behind her.
I leaned against the desk, a growl rolling over my throat. The thought of giving in to my desires and tying her up, then having my way with her, was tempting… and fucking asking for trouble.
The rules were simple.
Hide out at the institute.
Survive.
And don’t touch any of the girls. That was it.
Feeling the new girl was going to be my undoing, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was already too late.
CHAPTERSIX
KAT
Breakfast was a blur.
I pushed eggs around my plate, going over my conversation with Officer Garcia, my stomach in knots over my stepdad and how much I hated him. After living in Mom’s house with him for years, he threw me out at the first chance he got. And he was pressing charges… What the fuck?!
Fury had me trembling, tears pricking my eyes that he’d done that to me.
For a long time, I put up with him because he was all the family I had left. My grandparents passed, and my mom had no siblings. So, I desperately thought at least I had him. How wrong I had been.
My belly ached to think about how completely alone I was in this world. I blinked away the tears that so desperately wanted to fall, though I wasn’t sure why I’d spill any for that asshat after he betrayed me. I should have known better, the clues were there, but I guessed that old saying about better the devil you know stands true.
Father Mason’s words came to me about family and his crappy upbringing, and look at him now. Part of me wanted to talk to him more about his past, how he got through it if he was alone. He’d found his place, so maybe there was hope for me yet.
That moment we spoke in his office remained with me. I saw a tender side of him that I didn’t expect since I first met him. In truth, he understood what it meant to be abandoned by family.
Glancing around the small eating area that resembled a café with small, round tables and chairs, everyone was going about their own business. Lily was on breakfast kitchen duties, so I ate by myself, if pushing food around my plate could be called eating.
Unable to take another bite, I clutched my new schedule, studying the rows of classes and activities. It made me slightly nauseous at how much was crammed packed into each day. There was something slightly petrifying about working on bettering myself for a future when my past kept threatening to claw its way back into my life.
I knew I had to push those thoughts away.
Steeling myself, I pushed my chair away from the table, my tennis shoes scraping against the tile floor. I tagged along behind four girls, assuming they were my fellow attendees for the Behavior and Discipline class. We hurried through the labyrinthine corridors and stepped out into the crisp morning air of the backyard.
