Page 117 of Redeemed

“Then you’ll do those today, and we’ll plan the rest around our schedules so you’re not busy when we’re free.”

She bristles at that but doesn’t say anything.

“You should get started. You’ll want to watch in a place where you can stay focused.”

I glance around the parts of the house that I can see. Common areas are out because any of us coming and going will distract her. I can’t put her in Colton’s room—he’d kill me.

“My room it is, I guess,” I grumble.

“I’ll be fine out here.”

“Up.” I’m already halfway across the loft, and I don’t look back to make sure Haven is following me.

I push the door to my room open, and Haven scrambles inside, clutching her laptop to her chest.

“You can use the desk—”

But Haven has already climbed onto the bed and pulled the covers over her lap. “I’m cold. Colton said he turned the thermostat up, but I don’t think he did.”

Iknowhe didn’t, but I’m not getting in the way of his mind games with her.

“Fine. Just don’t mess up the blankets too much.”

Before she can make some sassy comeback, I turn on my heel and stalk out of the room. I stop in the kitchen, telling myself I’m making her a snack because of our deal and for no other reason.

If she starts her class now, it’ll take her right through lunchtime, so she’ll need something to hold her over. I cut up an apple and throw a little peanut butter into a bowl for her to dip the slices in. It’s one of my favorite childhood snacks, and it gets her a little protein to keep her going.

Upstairs, Haven is on my bed, her laptop set on the comforter. I place her snack and a glass of water on Xander’s nightstand.

“Is that for me?” she asks, surprised.

“Yeah.” I glance around the room, looking for something hard and flat.

“T-thank you. But… why?”

“I already told you, little fawn.”

She goes quiet at the nickname, and she watches me with her head tilted while I grab one of my textbooks and place it underneath her laptop.

“It needs to be able to ventilate, or it’ll get too hot.” I show her the vents on the back. “See?”

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”

“Do you have everything you need?” I ask.

“I mean, I don’t have my textbooks, but for now I should be good. I can take notes on here.” She nods to the laptop.

Right.Textbooks. God, those will be a pain in the ass to get.

“I could probably just find the ebooks online or something,” Haven says. “It’s what I did when I first got here.”

“I remember.”

She ducks her head down. “I’ll probably need help finding them, though. Julie already had all of them on the tablet she gave me.”

“We’ll do that later. For now, just watch your class.”

She nods, so I turn to leave. It’s not until I’m almost in the hallway that she asks softly, “Lucas?”

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