Page 97 of Theirs to Ruin

“You’re right,” Ty said coolly. “Girls are repulsed by me. But that just makes them want to fuck me more. You? I’ll pass. Because the sight ofyourepulsesme.”

Ty abandoned his sandwich and sauntered out of the kitchen, leaving me there, breathless and shaken.

I stared at Kage, who’d lowered his gun so it was pointing at the floor. His eyes, usually so warm toward me, held disappointment. The weight of that look was more crushing than any words could have been.

I ended up skipping the pizza and went straight to my room. I was up all night, tossing and turning. Each time I closed my eyes,my earlier confrontation with Ty played over and over in my mind. I still felt his fingers on my throat, the heat of Kage’s eyes watching as he held his gun to Ty’s head, and the chill that ran through me as I realized how badly I’d screwed up.

Finally accepting I wasn’t going to sleep, I pushed the covers away and stood. I’d taken my bra and pants off, but was still wearing panties and Kage’s sweatshirt, which fell to my knees. The hallway was dimly lit, the soft glow from Kage’s open door creating shadows on the walls. I’d meant to go downstair to make myself some tea, but my gaze flitted to Ty’s closed door before I slowly walked to Kage’s bedroom.

Pausing in the doorway of Kage’s room, our eyes locked. He was sitting up in bed, his hands behind his head, his chest bare. I’d seen him bare-chested before, swimming or playing volleyball in the quad when the weather was nice, but the sheer breadth of his broad shoulders and his sculpted muscles almost made me whimper. I shook my head to clear my mind. I wasn’t here to ogle him, and given how he’d looked at me in the kitchen earlier after what I’d said to Ty, that was probably the last thing he wanted.

“I hate myself for what I said.”

Several seconds ticked by before Kage reached over and pulled back the sheets, exposing his long, muscular legs clad in plaid flannel bottoms. The silent invitation was clear, and I slid into the warmth beside him, feeling the reassuring strength of his body as he wrapped his arms around me.

His body was so hard, his muscles like marble. It made me wish I could be hard like that, too. Wasn’t the heart a muscle? I’d train it to not feel for Ty, to not care whether he was okay, to not wish he’d come to me one night for comfort like I’d come to Kage.

I wondered how long that would take. Because now Ty just brought me pain. And the only thing that made me feel betterwas the rise and fall of Kage’s chest against my cheek. He was like my iron lung, strong enough for the two of us. His fingers playing at the nape of my neck were like my own personal anti-anxiety medication.

The silence stretched between us, comfortable but charged with unsaid words. Finally, I whispered, “Me and Ty...it’s complicated.”

“I get that,” Kage murmured, stroking my hair.

“I found some articles about his past. What happened to him—what they say he did…” I shuddered. “They said he poisoned his parents. His sister.”

He nodded slowly. “Normally, I’d never let a guy like that anywhere near you.”

I instantly thought of Dante saying the same thing. “Then why did you?” What was it about Ty that made men who were normally so protective of me trust him?

Kage let out a deep sigh, looking up at the ceiling. “His past aside, he seemed to want to lie low. Then, after you were hurt in Defense Studies class, Jenji told Ty how Kellan Howard was behind that rat in your bed. You know what happened after?”

I shook my head, waiting.

“Someone stuffed Kellan’s car completely full of dead rats. They were crammed into the engine and exhaust, filling the seats, everywhere,” Kage said, a hint of reluctant admiration in his voice. “I guess they ran out of rats at the lab and I don’t know where the hell Ty got it or how he did it, but Kellan came back from partying to find everything in his room smeared with dog shit.”

My eyes widened. “And you think that was Ty?”

“I know it was him.”

I bit my lip. “Dante told me that Kellan was also behind the blade switch.”

“I’m aware.”

“He’s been expelled?—”

“Not goddamn good enough.”

Oh shit. I knew what that pulsing vein in his neck meant. “Kage, he didn’t know you cared about me.”

“Then I’m going to teach him otherwise.”

I buried my face in his chest and squeezed him tight before looking up at him again. “What are you going to do?”

His gaze was penetrating. “Do you really want to know?”

“No,” I whispered. “But Kage?—”

“Not up for discussion, Camille.”

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