Page 19 of Corrupt Me

Sipping the last of my drink, I checked my emails and busied myself with social media. Everyone was posting about moving into their dorms, meeting their roommates, and the college parties happening tonight.

A movement from across my table caught my eye, and I lifted my gaze from my phone, taking in the two guys who decided to sit down and join me.Okay. Weird.There were two other empty tables in the area.

“Do I know you?” I asked, trying to be polite yet still cautious. I didn’t know these guys. I was a girl alone, new on campus. I’d heard more than my fair share of college harassment stories, which was why I had a small bottle of mace attached to my keychain.

They both looked like typical college jocks. Nothing about them stood out from every other guy on campus. One wore a deep red T-shirt with FSU on the front in gold letters. Original. The other wore a plain white tee and basketball shorts. “I think we have a mutual friend,” said the white-tee guy. He delivered the statement with a wry grin as his fingers tapped over the iron table.

I lifted my brows, my eyes volleying between the two of them. “Is that so? And who would that be?” How the fuck did either of them know who I was to determine we had a so-called mutual friend.

“Malone,” the other one informed. He had curly hair a shade darker than his friend’s and eyes that weren’t as friendly. Something in them alarmed me and set my spidey senses tingling.

I assumed they meant Tristan. Shifting in my seat, I replied, “I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend.”Not anymore.A fact that made me sadder than I wanted to admit.

They both snickered like they knew some dark secret about Tristan and me. “We need you to give him a message,” Shifty Eyes said.

I pinned him with a sour look. “Uh, sorry. But I’m not his secretary. You’ll have to track him down yourself.” Picking up my drink, I gathered my shit to leave, not willing to get involved in Tristan’s shady shit.

White-tee guy wasn’t letting me go so quickly. His hand darted across the table, landing on my wrist. “That’s the thing. He isn’t taking our calls.”

I lifted my gaze from the fingers attached to my arm to the guy they belonged to and narrowed my eyes at him. “Sounds like a you problem more than a me problem.” I jerked my hand, ice sloshing in my empty cup. I absolutely hated it when a guy got handsy with me.

Shifty Eyes laughed. “I like you, doll.” The insinuation in his voice indicated he didn’t like me as a friend but as a plaything. The world was full of creepy assholes. It didn’t matter where I went.

Trickles of fear weaved into my blood, joining the anger already present. I despised nicknames like love, honey, babe, ordoll. Clinging to the fire in my gut, I let them see my shortening fuse on my temper flash in my eyes. “What the hell is?—”

A shadow loomed behind me. “Is there a problem?” someone behind me interrupted in a low voice that held just enough warning to have both asshole one and two snapping their gazes over my head.

Internally, I groaned. I didn’t need to turn around to know who’d come to my rescue. It was none other than Tristan Fucking Malone himself. The sound of his voice was as familiar as mine.

Surprise registered briefly in their eyes before turning into something else. Fear? They squirmed in their seats, looking like they wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Good. Now, these assholes could pass on their stupid message themselves. Leave it to Tristan to indirectly ruin my first day on campus.

“No problem,” White-tee guy assured Tristan. “We were just getting to know Everly, isn’t that right, doll?”

A snort breezed through my nose.

Tristan’s hands pressed onto the table as he lowered his head, leveling both guys a scowl. His dark hair was tousled. Anyone who saw him would think it was the wind. But I knew better. It had been the redheaded bimbo on his lap who had messed his hair up with her fingers. “Don’t,” Tristan growled. “You do not need to know her. I don’t want to see you talking to her again. Clear?”

They nodded, sweat actually forming on their brows.

Wasn’t this who they were looking for? Then why did they go pale and suddenly start stumbling over each other?

Satisfied, Tristan stood to his full height at my side. He wore the same clothes as earlier, black jeans and a T-shirt. “And the next time you call her doll, you won’t have any fucking teeth.Better yet, don’t talk to her at all.” His hand slipped under my elbow. “Let’s go, Ever.”

I swallowed and let him tug me to my feet. Somehow, going with Tristan was the safer option than staying here with assholes one and two.

Tristan’s hand drifted to the small of my back, guiding me away from the table and down the sidewalk. I didn’t say anything for a minute; my brain was still processing what the fuck happened. I caught a hint of his scent, and immediately, some of my aggravation dissipated.

NO!I scolded myself.Don’t do that. Tristan is not my safe place. He doesn’t get to calm you down with his damn presence.

As we crossed the street, I firmed my chin. “Care to explain what that was back there? Who are those guys? And how do they know who I am?” I rattled off, stepping away from his hand, but Tristan’s finger was hooked into the belt loop on my jean shorts, snapping me back to his side. When had he done that?

His tight-lipped frown remained as he tugged me by the back of my shorts. “It’s nothing for you to be concerned with. I’ll make sure they don’t bother you again.”

I shoved strands of my blonde hair out of my face, puffing, “You fucking do that.”

“I’d forgotten what a mouth you have.” Amusement colored his tone. “If you’re not careful, it will get you in trouble. I might not always be there to save you, Ever.”

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