Page 16 of Cannon
I scrape my teeth over my lip, then scoot forward and off the edge of the bed. “I really need to get out of this room for a little bit. Please?”
He frowns, but stands all the same, rubbing his hand over his jaw. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
Quietly, we leave the room and walk down the hall together, him trailing a half-step behind me. I’m cognizant of the fact that it’s now well after eleven and no one is back yet. I furtively look around, wondering if it’s safe enough to speak here. Right at the top of the stairs, I turn, catching Dane by the arm, and quietly mumble, “I need to ask something of you.” I wet my lips, waiting as he stares down at me, caught completely by surprise.
His brows draw together, his expression wary. “Um. Okay.”
My whisper comes out low and ragged. “I’m begging you. Please don’t let them know that you found me in Kingston’s room.” When he doesn’t respond right away, my fingers dig into his arm as I reiterate my plea. “Please, Dane.Please.”
At the fervent nature of my request, he tilts his head to the side, studying me harder. “Why are you panicking about a pair of underwear?”
I bite down hard on my lip and shake my head, willing him to understand me.
“It’s not about that, is it?” His chest heaves.
“No. But you promised you’d help me navigate this house.”
He grits his teeth. “I did. But I was thinking more like watching your back when it comes to some of the guys who have it out for you. And Ihave.Keeping things from Kingston, Archer, and Cannon is on another level. And I already did that once by not telling them about Bridger when it happened. I don’t regret that, because I thought you were right, but I don’t want them to get the idea I’m not on their side.”
I blow out a hard breath. “Got it.” He’s on their side, and that’s all there is to it. I let go of his arm and spin on my heel, taking myself away from him as quickly as I can.
“Elliot!” he hisses.
I whirl around at his insistent tone and throw my arms out from my sides. “What?”
“I’ll do it for you. You gotta know, I hate being in this position. But youcantrust me.” There’s something about the way he’s looking at me. Like he’s trying to tell me something that he can’t spit out yet.
Fuck.It’s as if we’re in the same position, not quite able to trust fully, but wanting to so badly. And secrets. Looks like we both have them.
My lip trembles of its own accord. “They aren’t who you think they are, Dane.” I shake my head, on the verge of falling apart. “They’re not who I thought they were either.”
EIGHT
KINGSTON
We’re running late.Archer, Cannon, and I do our best to herd these idiots as they stumble from the SUVs, haggard, red-eyed, and slap-faced. They had what was hopefully the worst night of their lives. If I’d gotten more sleep, I’d be enjoying their resulting misery a whole lot more. Instead, I bark at them, “Get your motherfucking shit-stained asses inside, shower the piss off yourselves or do whatever the fuck you need to do, then get to class. I don’t want to see your faces again today. Not unless you’re cleaning the kitchen or a goddamn toilet. Otherwise, keep to your rooms downstairs.”
There’s a whole lot of grumbling and glares shot over shoulders at us from Alec, Joel, Stuart, and Bridger as they mount the steps, push through the heavy front door, and drag themselves into Hawthorne Hall. These dudes have serious attitude for people who’d spent the night blindfolded and cuffed in that hellhole with us taunting them. You’d think they wouldn’t ever want that to happen again, and it’d yank the knots right out of their asses. But no. Obviously not. I huff out a disturbed laugh. See, what they haven’t figured out yet is that I have no fucking problem making them stay there night after night if that’s what’s needed to turn their attitudes around.
When I glance over at Cannon, his jaw is set hard. He’s fuckin’ exhausted. I can totally see it in the tightness around his eyes and the sloping of his shoulders. We tried to get him to go home and get some sleep once we had these idiots settled, but he wouldn’t have any of it. I get it. He’d wanted to be there to make sure they got what they deserved for hurting Elliot. Hell, I wanted that too… but Cannon fuckin’ needs his sleep, and he knows it.
His chest expands on a harsh inhale as he glares at their backs. They are damn lucky we’ve been able to restrain him because there have been plenty of comments made about Elliot that had him ready to destroy them with his bare hands. As I eye the thick muscles up and down his arms, I do believe he’s more than capable of getting rid of them all on his own. Maybe we should have let him really get after them.
“I can’t fuckin’ believe they made us stay there all night,” Bridger groans as the group slugs along toward the kitchen.
“At least you didn’t get dick-slapped with a Ping-Pong paddle,” Stuart says—and not very quietly. Fucking red-bearded moron.
For some unknown reason, the four of them come to an abrupt halt at the arched entry to the kitchen.
“The fuck’s going on?” Archer cocks his head toward me and raises a brow.
We’re stuck in the foyer and can’t see past all the heads into the kitchen to know why they’ve stopped and what they’re staring at. “Fuckin’ move, people.”
“Can’t help it. We’re a little surprised to find your initiate sitting around our kitchen in nothing but a skimpy T-shirt and her little black panties.Sir.”Alec’s booming voice is full of snark and disgust.
From up ahead, Elliot’s feminine growl is unmistakable. She’s not going to let that slide. “They aren’t underwear, they’re sleep shorts, and I didn’t know you hadn’t already left for class. I thought I was alone in the house, you fucking asshole.”
Cannon takes control of the situation, pushing one body after another out of the way until the three of us can escape the bottleneck in the hallway.
