Page 21 of Butterfly

Yes, she was mine, she just didn’t realize it yet.

But she would.

Meanwhile, I had to make sure she was safe, and everyone else knew who she belonged to—and to keep their hands off her.

With that in mind, I doubled back, passing Leslie’s closed door—where she was no doubt reeling from our interaction. I continued down the hall, ignoring the looks I was getting from the girls standing outside their rooms, barely taking the time to nod at the guys holding out their fists to bump mine.

“Mason, bro! We’re going to go all the way to the championships this year with you on the team!” Some freshman said.

“Hell yeah we are!” his friend said, taking the fist bump I’d passed up.

It should’ve surprised me that people already knew who I was before the year even started, but it didn’t. Hockey was huge at Tabb, and my reputation preceded me. In the past, that would have meant everything. Now, I had something that mattered even more than hockey and my ego—and she was only a hallway away from some asshole who wanted to stick his dick in her.

Leslie would never let him, but I didn’t trust him. I was her protector now, and like I’d told her RA, no one—no one—would even come close to “nailing” anything.

Driving home that point wouldn’t hurt.

“Yeah, man, thanks,” I said. “Do you know where the assh—the RA’s room is?”

His friend pointed down the hall. “Three doors down on the left, man.”

“Thanks.” I ducked my chin and continued on down until I reached Chris’ room.

I knocked twice—hard and loud.

The door swung open, framing that pitiful asshole as he stared up at me.

“You,” he said, disappointed and pissed.

“Me,” I confirmed, putting my hand on the doorframe before he could shut the door in my face.

Sighing, he gave in, crossing his arms over his chest to look tough. “What do you want?”

It didn’t work.

I shook my head. “Leslie’s a sweet girl.”

He snorted. “I figured that much out.”

I ignored this. “As a sweet girl, she’s too nice to enforce appropriate boundaries with men who might want to take…advantage…of her kindness.”

His face went red. “I wouldn’t ever take advantage,” he spluttered.

“No? Well, let’s keep it that way. See, Leslie may not be good at enforcing boundaries, but she doesn’t need to be.”

“Let me guess, because she has you, right?” he scoffed.

“Exactly. Because she has me. You don’t want to fuck with me, Kyle.”

“Chris.”

I ignored that, too. “If I hear from her—or anyone—that you were anything but distantly polite to her, the way an RA should be—you’ll have to answer to me. You got me?”

The redness on his face traveled to his neck. “How brotherly of you,” he sneered.

This dick.

I didn’t bother to correct him again. “You got me?” I repeated.

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