Page 77 of Unveiled

She looks at Ainsley and Cassie, and then at me, but her eyes don’t wander from my face.

“There’s a shirtless guy standing in our kitchen cooking. Someone explain,” she instructs. Ainsley finally snaps out of it and scowls at me.

“Go put a shirt on. They don’t want to see that,” she tells me. I raise an eyebrow as my eyes seek out her breasts again, telling her I’m not the only one not fully dressed. And if I keep looking at her like that, her friends are going to get an encore from last night's screaming.

“I made everyone omelets,” I announce instead of going to put a shirt on. Finally, Cassie takes the plate from my hand as the other two look at the plates on the counter. “Enjoy. I’ll go look for a shirt.”

Ainsley scowls as I approach her. I was going to walk past her, but her cute, grumpy mood makes me stop. “Good morning, little one,” I greet her as I place a kiss on her forehead.

I expect her to growl or snap at me for the display of affection instead of going to find a shirt, but instead, she practically melts into me. A chuckle comes from deep in my chest as I pull away from her and disappear into her room. The second the door is closed behind me, one of the girls squeals with excitement.

“Not that we need to ask after the sounds coming from your room last night, but he stayed the night?” One of them asks excitedly. The door gives the illusion of a private conversation for them, but I can still hear everything they’re saying.

“Umm, yeah,” I hear Ainsley admit. “That’s, um, Cain. He’s my… boyfriend?”

Hearing her stumble over her introduction of me has me chuckling again, especially when she pauses to think of a title to give me. Boyfriend doesn’t fully encompass what I am to her, but it’s probably the easiest word to throw at them right now.

“That was a lot of tattoos,” the first voice says, almost dreamily. “And was that your name I saw? What kind of tattoo was that?”

“It, um, it was…”

She trails off, and I take that as my cue to re-enter the conversation. With a shirt now covering the tattoos and scar in question, and a shirt for Ainsley in my hand, I walk back out into the living room and find the two girls looking at Ainsley. When they hear the door open, they all turn to look at me.

Ainsley’s hair is covering the scar on her back, but I imagine if she’s having a hard time explaining me, she won’t want to explain my name on her back. Which is why I brought the shirt for her. And also because getting a hard on in front of her friends wouldn’t be a great first impression.

“I’m Cain,” I introduce myself, saving Ainsley from the embarrassment covering her cheeks as I hand her the shirt. “The scary but kinda hot guy from last night.”

Now it’s her friend’s turn to be embarrassed as I remind her of the words she used to describe me last night. The room goes quiet as all three of them stare at me, apparently waiting for me to make the next move.

“Who’s hungry?” I ask as I move to the counter to pick out one of the plates I made. They all follow, except Cassie who takes the first seat at the table with a plate already in her hands.

Ainsley sets her plate down next to mine as I take my seat, but walks to the fridge instead of sitting down. She comes back with a bottle of ketchup, the only way she’ll eat eggs no matter how they’re cooked.

Once she takes her seat, I grab it and drag it closer to me. She looks at me, clearly flustered by my actions, but it gains me a few more points with her friends. They both giggle at her reaction as they look at me approvingly.

Breakfast has a side of lively conversation as her friends try to get to know me better. I answer all of their questions how they want me to, ensuring that I’ll forever be in their good graces. I’m so distracted by making a good impression that I don’t pay my phone any mind when it goes off in my pocket. At least, not until the door opens suddenly, allowing the last person I want to see into the apartment.

“Morning, Ains. Ready for class?”

Where the hell is Jonah and why did he allow Ethan in here? My dislike of him hasn’t exactly been hidden recently.

Slowly, I turn around to face Ethan as he walks into the apartment like he’s one of their roommates. His eyes were already trained on me, but when our eyes meet, his steps falter. Instead of stopping altogether, I watch a diabolical plan form in his mind.

He struts straight to Ainsley, staring at me the whole time as he wraps his arms around her shoulders and places a kiss on the top of her head. I watch her stiffen in his embrace, and her eyes dart to me, full of concern.

She thinks I’m going to make a scene. I will, but not the one she has in mind.

“Ainsley already has a ride to class,” I tell Ethan. They’ve been riding to campus together all semester, a fact I didn’t forget as I planned for her to come back here.

“I’m sure you have more important things to do,” Ethan snaps back at me, the fight clear in his body language as he stands to his full height and looks down to me sitting in my chair. “Besides, this has been our routine all semester. Ainsley needed an extra shoulder to lean on, since so much happened to her last semester. I’ve been there for her, driving her to class, comforting her when she needs it. You know, just being exactly the person she needs.”

Irritation rolls off him as I refuse to look annoyed by his stance, and give no reaction to his words. Ainsley is visibly uncomfortable with this confrontation, while her friends just look confused.

The tension grows thicker as I just sit there, staring at him with boredom. If he thinks he’s going to get a rise out of me, he’s mistaken.

“Jonah,” I shout when Ainsley looks like she’s about to intervene. Jonah bursts into the apartment, looking ready for a fight. He scans every individual in the room before his eyes stay trained on me. Motioning to him, I tell Ethan, “Jonah will drive Ainsley to and from campus from now on.”

I expect Ainsley to object, but she doesn’t. She sits there, letting me fight this battle instead of intervening.

---