Page 61 of Obsessions of the Heart

He chuckled, then the zip of his pants echoed. I bent over to pull up my leggings, groaning when I stopped and looked at the mess between my legs. “I really need to start carrying wipes with me.”

Roux stepped closer, rubbing his hand over my leggings, causing them to get even more wet, and I started to have a hard time thinking about anything but the feel of his palm along my clit, rubbing in just the right way. I bit my lip to keep my noises from spilling out when he moved even closer, his voice vibrating along my skin. “I like knowing that my cum is dripping from you, marking you as mine.”

“Wait, we can’t, not again! We're going to get caught.” He crowded me, brow lifted, and laughed. I knew it was a weak excuse, and my breathless voice had no real seriousness to it. It didn't help that my gaze flicked down to his pants. I was so down, and he knew it.

The click of the stairwell door sounded, and we both looked up. A whole group of students was climbing the stairway. His arms went around me to shield me from anyone's view, and I rolled my lips into my mouth. See? Even the angry one could be subtly sweet.

When they passed, he grabbed my bag off the floor and handed it to me, going back to his normal grumpy attitude. “We need to tell Rion and Ravi what happened. Let's go.”

“Wait!” I reached out, grabbing his arm, and he stopped short. He was looking down at my hand like it offended him, but I knew differently now. I wouldn’t let his expressions hurt me. “I have to go to school today.”

He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and exhaled like I was trying his patience. “Someone tried to hurt you. You need to take this seriously.”

His words caught in my brain, and I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes on him. “What do you mean? It could’ve just been an accident. Accidents do happen.”

He turned away, going up the steps. “Don’t be ridiculous. Let's go.”

My tongue ran against my teeth, and a healthy dose of stubbornness settled in. I might have deep feelings for him and his brothers, might trust them, but I also knew I wasn’t on equal ground with them. The only way I could get there was to have a college education. To make something of myself. They might not take school seriously, but I had to. It was the only way.

“No.” This time, I climbed the stairs, stomping my feet past him when he paused. I got to the door, turning to see his face pinched in confusion. “I’m going to my classes today. If you need me, you can text me.” I left it like that then stormed out, leaving him in the stairwell, my head held high.

“Soooo… What's going on?” Cin asked. When I didn't show up to Art History, she texted and called me in a panic. I told her that I got a headache and was heading back to the dorm.

Right when I opened the door to my room, my phone exploded with several beeps, showing text after text after text from each of the guys. At first, it was sweet since Rion and Ravi were expressing their concern, but as soon as Roux chimed in, they ganged up on me, telling me what I needed to do and who I was allowed to hang out with. After that, I’d had enough. I sent them one text that said I needed twenty-four hours to think on my own. If they couldn't give me that, then I would need to reevaluate our involvement. Ravi sent a gif of someone zipping their lips, and I knew I would have a small reprieve. He would make sure of it.

I had put out one fire, but when Cin came back to the dorm late that afternoon, I needed to put out another. She carried a briefcase full of tubes and swabs, demanding to test whether I had been drugged.

When I asked her how she got it, she just shrugged and said it was a family thing. I indulged her for a bit, letting her swab my mouth and fingers, but after the fifth negative response, my stomach rumbled, which was why we were currently at some diner down the street from school, where I was eating my weight in salty potato goodness.

“Nothing. Nothing is going on,” I said with a mouth full of food. Although her eyes were wide and her mouth pinched, she nodded, sipping on her drink expectedly. I palmed the table. “It's just those damn bo— I mean, Ambros is just getting on my nerves.” I cringed inwardly, hoping she didn't catch my little slip.

Her eyes lit up. “Ooohhhh, do we get to bash him now? I have so much stuff loaded in the bash Ambros gun.”

Rolling my eyes at her, I shook my head. “No. That's not what I meant.” She sat back in a huff, crossing her arms. With a pout, she mumbled about never having any fun. “It's just about what happened with Elio.”

She turned toward me, finally listening instead of grumbling. “What do you mean?”

I threw the fries in my hand back onto the plate, feeling my stomach screaming at me to stop. “It's just he’s overreacting, telling me how I need to be more careful. Being all obsessive and overbearing about my safety.” Pointing my finger at her, I balked. “You know, not everything is a conspiracy.”

She looked away, tongue in her cheek. “Eeehhhhh.”

Having enough of this shit, I threw my hands up. “Now, you agree with him?! What the hell, Cin?!”

Snapping back at me, she exclaimed, “Yeah, I know! I hate it too. You don't know how it truly hurts the depths of my soul to agree with that douch—” I glared at her, and she quickly changed her wording. “Guy, but I do. I agree with my mortal enemy, and the even crazier part is it's over my friend!”

Her words made me smile, and I settled down in my seat, picking at my food. “So you agree with him?”

She shrugged. “Like, yeah, I do, but I also understand your point of view. I wouldn't like anyone, let alone Ambros, telling me what to do.” She reached over, snagging my hand in hers in earnest. “But I am worried about you. Elio said that shelf was no joke and that it happened out of nowhere.”

I really didn't like her face being so serious, so I threw a fry at her. She jerked back, eyes wide and mouth open. “Don’t worry so much, okay? I have a sixth sense about these things.”

She picked up the fry and threw it back at me, but I dodged it, wiggling my eyebrows. Both of us laughed until our sides hurt.

“In all seriousness, just keep a lookout. I mean, Elio and I got your back.” She huffed out a breath before she groaned. “And I hate saying this, but it seems like Ambros has your back too, but just be careful.” She bit her lip as she looked down, and I felt this urge to console her.

“Okay. If another weird thing happens, I’ll tell you all and make some changes, okay?”

Cin nodded, her smile getting wider by the second like she’d won something, and maybe she had. She was a pushy little thing.

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