Page 66 of Peaceful Chaos

"If she bothers to show up today, she won't be getting away without being seen," he swears, and I almost feel bad for her.

Okay, maybe one percent of me feels bad, and the rest wants to corner her myself and get answers.

I wave him away. "Go on. She's not going to come if she sees you haunting the hallway."

Sin pulls me close and kisses me deep. "Or stay," I whisper.

He chuckles and plants a more chaste kiss at my temple. "Don't approach her. We'll do it together."

My hackles settle down when he promises to let me be a part of the plan, remembering his promise not to leave me out anymore. Whatever happens from here forward, we face together. I'm holding him to that.

An idea forms, but there's no time to discuss it with him right now. "Let's not confront her after class. I've got an idea. I'll tell you about it later, at home. Just hang out of sight after class. Tessa and I will come to you."

"Princess, don't take any risks," he warns.

I open my blue eyes wide. "Me?" I drop the innocent act when he scowls. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that." He squeezes my hand before he disappears into the crowd. And I do mean disappears. The man might be six foot three inches of lethally honed muscle, but he can vanish like a fucking ghost when he wants to. Tessa links her elbow through mine and we enter the classroom together.

"I see your husband is as intense as ever," she observes as we move towards the seats in the back.

"Did you really expect that to change?" I ask as I start getting my materials out of my bag. At least he didn't demand to carry my things again today. Hard to present myself as a badass bitch, as Tessa called us, when someone treats you like fine spun glass.

"Yeah, actually. He gives a fuck about something now. The guy I first met was barely leashed, and now he's—"

I raise my eyebrow encouraging her to finish, and wondering if this friendship starting between us will be as short lived as the first time.

"Deadly," she finishes.

"He's always been deadly."

Tessa nods. "Yeah, but there wasn't any heat behind it. Before he could have cared less if he destroyed someone or walked away. Now he's entirely focused on you and making sure you're happy."

I smile at her description. Part of me knows this isn't something I'm supposed to be thrilled to hear, but I feel the same way about him.

"Is that a problem?" I ask her.

"Fuck no. As long as you and I are good I figure that protection will extend to me too. Because if we're friends he's not going to want you to suffer losing someone."

She seems lost in thought for a second, and before I can wonder about her motivations for this friendship she continues. "Not that that's why I want us to be friends. I did some shitty stuff to you, and you have little reason to forgive me."

"You did sacrifice yourself to save me," I remind her.

She shrugs. "Yeah, there's that, but I owed you. I was mad at you for my friends choosing you, and because Ford chose you. That jealousy ate at me, but I didn't like who I was becoming. Someone he will never be able to look at again."

"Ford?" I ask, although I know that's who she means.

Tessa nods. "Yeah. There's so much bad between us, and I've probably ruined any chance I'll ever have, but he's under my skin. I don't know if a future with him is even something I want to have, because with him comes so many bad memories, but I'd like to be the type of woman who deserves him."

I smile at her. "I think you're making the right choices now for that."

Tessa clears her throat. Jen and Amber are the two in touch with their emotions. Tessa and I shove that shit down deep where it can fester and come back to haunt us later.

"So where is this bitch? The professor just walked in. I'm going to be really disappointed if I don't have a toy to play with," Tessa says, moving us away from talking about our feelings.

"She might not be coming, but if she does she always comes late. The prof laid into her yesterday, but I think her fear of Sin overrules her fear of failing this class," I reply just as the professor signals it's time for class to start.

Just as I predicted, Jenna tries to sneak into class a couple minutes into his lecture. Instead of ignoring her as he usually does, he stops mid speech and glares at her. "Jenna, I thought we discussed the importance of you arriving to class on time?"

---