Page 16 of Becoming Selfish

Is she going to stay with him? Does she want to?

“Patrick. I said, no, thank you.” She answers my question, and a wave of relief washes over me until I recognize the edge in her voice. She sounds panicked. She sounds like she might need help.

I jump out of bed as I hear him tell her, “I said, stay with me. You’ll have a good time, and I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

A knot instantly forms in my stomach, knowing that she might be in danger. As soon as I swing my bedroom door open, the first thing I see is the grip Patrick has on her arm, and her white knuckles holding onto the stair railing for dear life. She’s scared.

“Get the fuck away from her!” I yell.

Patrick turns my way, Logan too, but he doesn’t let go of her.

“Get the fuck away from her,” I warn once again as I stalk towards them. My eyes narrow as I stare at Patrick, my expression flooded with anger. I want to kill the bastard, and tonight he’s finally given me a reason to lay hands on him.

“Fuck off, Maddison,” Patrick slurs. “I never get in the way with the chicks you’re fucking.”

Bile rises in my throat for more than one reason. There’s no way in hell anything was willingly going to happen between Logan and Patrick tonight.

“What the fuck did you just say?” I grab him by the collar of his shirt and pin him to the wall, his feet dangling a few inches from the floor. “Did you just say you were going to fuck her? Because what I heard was her telling you no.”

Patrick doesn’t answer, mostly because he can’t. I have him pinned to the wall so firmly that his face is turning red, and his eyes are wide with fear.

Good. He needs to learn he can’t mess with her. I mean, she’s Marc’s best friend, and he would kill me if I let anything happen to her. Which is the only reason I’m out in the hallway about to start a fight wearing only my boxer briefs. That and, if I’m being honest with myself, I couldn’t stand the thought of someone hurting her.

Not that I would ever be okay with any woman feeling scared or pressured but knowing that Logan was in that position makes me sick.

“Logan, go in my room and close the door,” I forcefully tell her without turning to face her as I continue to stare Patrick down.

As soon as I hear my door close, indicating she’s safe inside, I pull his collar back before once again slamming him into the wall. “Stay the fuck away from her,” I sternly warn while staring him in the eyes. The anger pulses through me, my nostrils flaring on my exhale as I drop his shirt.

Patrick slumps to the floor. “What the fuck, man? She’s just some random chick. Calm the fuck down!” he says with panic in his voice and fear in his eyes as he grasps at his throat.

That pisses me off even more, and I rethink if I should connect my fist to his jaw, but decide for now to just leave him be. I stand over him, waiting for him to get up or try to come at me, just wanting another reason to beat the shit out of him. But he doesn’t try anything, so I turn back to my room and slam the door behind me.

Chapter 13

Eli

Once I shut the door, I turn and find Logan standing in the middle of my room with her arms crossed, her eyes wide, and her breathing ragged. She looks a bit frightened at the moment, understandably so. Not sure if she’s scared of Patrick or me, I cross the room to stand in front of her, hoping I can bring her some comfort.

“Hey, you okay?” I softly ask, bending my head down, and causing my eyes to be level with hers while placing my hand on her arm. My shoulders instantly relax as soon as I touch her. I didn’t realize how tense I was from the adrenaline still coursing through me.

She gasps and quickly flinches, but then seems to calm when she remembers it’s me and not Patrick touching her. “Yeah, I’m okay.” She exhales as her shoulders settle. “Thank you. I’m sorry you had to do that. I know he’s your friend.”

“Oh, no. Fuck that guy.” I shake my head. “He just...He lives here, and we play on the same team, but we’re not friends. He’s kind of the worst.”

She chuckles and uncrosses her arms, seeming to feel more comfortable now that she’s not in any danger. “Well, thank you again. I need to go back to my dorm and get some sleep.” She points towards the door. “Have you seen Marc?”

“I haven’t. I have a feeling he probably went home with Lauren.” I roll my eyes, and she does the same, which causes me to smile. “Do you want me to walk you back?”

Logan’s gaze takes a long lingering wander down my almost fully bare body. “No,” she sighs. “But thank you for offering. You were sleeping, and you’ve done enough for me tonight already. I can figure it out from here.” She makes a move towards the door, but I step in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

“I wasn’t asleep, and I can’t let you walk back to your dorm alone right now. It’s the middle of the night, and that’s a thirty-minute walk. Not to mention it’s pitch-black outside. Would you even know your way back?” I doubt she would since she just moved here, and this campus is huge.

She looks defeated as her shoulders sag and she lifts her eyes towards the ceiling. “No, probably not. But I don’t know what else to do. Everyone is drunk and, not to be rude, but your couches are gross, and I refuse to sleep on one of them.”

That makes me laugh because she’s right, but I would also never allow her to sleep on one. Especially with how many people usually end up drunkenly crashing downstairs after every party.

“Sleep in here,” I say before my mind catches up to my mouth.

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