Page 42 of White Hole

“What are you thinking about? You have a look that is a million miles away.” Xavier was chipper. He was always chipper these days. In love. I was happy for my friend to finallybehappy, but it pissed me off to be around him.

I shrugged my shoulders, unsure if I could even put my thoughts into words.

“You bringing Kins to the Halloween party?” He knew. He knew I was thinking about her, the arrogant bastard. Xavier was so much more observant than people gave him credit for. I didn’t say anything. “Well, you should.”

I sighed, then grunted. “Can’t.”

“Fuck, Gianna.” Bending to pick up a weight, he lowered his voice. “My people can—”

“No. I have to think of my family.” I stood, grabbing my dumbbells.

“If you’re going to keep fucking them both, may as well do them together.” Xavier lifted his eyebrows quickly up and down, then walked towards the locker room. Smartass. He sounded just like Levi sometimes.

Perhaps Gianna was pissed at the way I’d treated her. Maybe she was hurt and wouldn’t call again. No, the bitch probably just wanted it more.

After morning classes, I had an hour to work on my thesis in the campus cafe before eating lunch with my TRZ brothers. Grabbing my to-go cup of black coffee, I sat at a corner table and reached into my bag for my thesis notes. When I opened it, the entire thing was blank. It was an identical, but empty, notebook.

My chest tightened, and my breath hitched in my lungs.Where the fuck was it?The thing contained all my observations for my final project.Fuck!The last page of the blank book had something written in permanent marker:

Ripped my leggings, I ripped your notebook.

- Your friendly neighborhood princess.

Quickly, my feeling of panic turned to rage. What was I thinking? Her pussy had me getting weak around her. Yeah, I had messed with her practice test, but things had gone too far. Now she was messing with my career, with my dreams. She was trying to fuck up my future out of here.

Sins would never stop. She was too obstinate. I wanted a truce. If I waved a white flag, I could cut her out of my life once the semester was over. No more tutoring, and she’d go her way while I went mine. It was the best for both of us. I’d be washed clean of my sins.

In the cafeteria, I snagged my tray of steak and potatoes. When I turned to our normal table, I spotted Kinsley sitting next to Mason. Levi was across from her, next to Xavier and Marissa. My neck tensed.

Sliding my tray on to the table, I sat on the other side of Levi, careful to avoid eye contact with Sins.

“Yo, G. Big man loading up on your proteins there.” Levi pointed at my food. “You on for the airsoft game Saturday?”

I nodded.

Mason was talking in a low voice with Kinsley. Their conversation almost unheard. I couldn’t help but stare at them.

“Mason!” Levi snapped while rubbing his face with his hand. Mason jerked his head up, breaking his intimate conversation with Kinsley. “You doing the airsoft thing again this year?”

“Of course. You fuckers would be lost without me. You going to be able to make the Halloween party, Lev?”

“One hundred and ten thousand percent.”

Mason laughed. A knot formed in my stomach at what Iknewwould happen next. Mason turned to Kinsley and quietly said, “Hey, you going to the Halloween party?”

Xavier coughed, and Levi shoved an empty chocolate milk bottle at Mason. It rolled, then fell into his lap. Kinsley looked at me, and Mason yelled at Levi.

“What the fuck?”

Levi smirked, “Oh, sorry. Can you hand that back?”

So Levi knew.

I held Kinsley’s golden eyes for a moment. After blinking a few times, she turned to answer Mason. “Um, I hadn’t been invited, so…” She gave me a brief glance.

“Well, I’ll invite you!” Mason said excitedly.

I banged both fists on the table causing the lunch trays to jump. Then, like the ogre I was, I marched over to where she was sitting and plopped down next to her while everyone watched me. Picking her up, I placed her on my lap before sliding my food over to myself. Stabbing a potato, I took a large bite, quietly chewing.

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