Page 4 of Into the Fire

Rosalie wasn’t here. As far as I knew, I’d gotten a message from Ethan earlier that morning saying Cole was taking her to classes and she’d left her phone at home.

She’d sent me her schedule just over a week ago. I’d arranged mine to match hers, but it wasn’t like her to not show up.

I went to Professor Hopkins at the front of the room, knowing I needed some damn answers.

“Anson,” she greeted me brightly.

“Hey, is Rosalie Bishop signed up for this class?”

“Uh.” She looked over her attendance screen. “It looks like she dropped a few days ago. That’s odd.”

I backed away, my anger surfacing. If she dropped for that fucking teaching degree, I’d lose my mind.

“Are you staying for class?” Professor Hopkins called out to me as I turned to go.

“No. I’m going to see what’s going on with Rosalie.”

“Good. It would be a shame if she’s not here.”

Indeed, it would be.

I grabbed my bag and left the room and went straight to the main office.

“Hey, Brenda,” I said to one of the women behind the desk. “Can I get Rosalie Bishop’s new schedule? She lost it and left her phone at home, and I told her I’d run down here and grab her a new copy.”

“Oh. S-sure, Anson.” Her cheeks reddened as she quickly put in Rosalie’s information and printed her schedule out for me.

“Thanks,” I muttered, snatching it from her and leaving the office.

I stared down at her courses, the fury building.

Nearly everything had been changed and she was pulling down double credits in a bid to finish early.

I ground my teeth and stormed over to the English department where she was having a useless literature course. I didn’t even knock on the door. I simply stormed inside and interrupted the class.

“Yes, Mr. Beyers?” Professor Barrett called out, blinking in confusion at me through his thick glasses.

“Rosalie Bishop?” I called out. Students murmured and looked around the lecture hall. I spotted her near the back, her cheeks red.

“Mr. Beyers, is there something I can help you with?” Professor Barrett continued, the irritation apparent in his voice.

“I’m just here to get Rosalie,” I said, shuffling around students and going to where she sat. I didn’t say shit to her. I simply grabbed her stuff off her desk and picked up her bag.

“Now,” I snarled softly at her.

“Anson—”

“Fuckingnow, Rosalie. I’m not joking.”

She fumbled to get out of her seat, her face flaming red. I took her by her arm and led her out of the lecture hall, knowing we were about to have a knock-down, drag-out fight.

I wasn’t wrong.

The moment we were into the empty hallway, she jerked out of my hold, green eyes flashing.

“Whatthe fuckdo you think you’re doing?” she demanded, her chest heaving.

“Saving you from the biggest mistake of your life. Protecting you like I promised,” I snapped back. “Believe me, I have my work cut out for me. If self-sabotage is a kink, then baby, you’ve got it in spades.”

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