Page 49 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

I looked over at him and watched him nod. “Ready when you are.”

I sighed. “Good. Hannah? I’d say it’s been nice, but it hasn’t.”

I held tightly to my bag as John and I moved out into the hallway. He lumbered ahead of me as Hannah stood in our dorm room, frozen in her place. Good. Because I sure as hell didn’t want her following us around. But I should have known it wouldn't last. Not with Hannah.

She had always been a persistent human being.

“Please don’t go.”

She wrapped her hand softly around my wrist. I looked down at our connection and her hand quickly fell away. But it gave me pause. Her voice sounded defeated. Her touch had been kind at that moment. And as John summoned the elevator with the push of a button, I turned to face Hannah.

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

Hannah shook her head. “I just want you to talk to me. Like we always used to do. We need to talk about this. I don’t want to lose you, Dani. I’m so fucking confused about everything. I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

I snickered. “Really? Because I finally do know who I am. And I like this girl. I trust her. She’s stronger than I used to be and she’s not going to sit around and cower in a dorm room. She’s intelligent and bright. She stands up for herself and makes her own decisions. She knows what she wants, Hannah. And for the first time in my life, I feel like I really understand things.”

“Well, I don’t understand them at all.”

“Good thing this isn’t about you, then.”

John piped up. “Elevator’s here.”

I sighed. “Max needs me, Hannah. Maybe when everything blows over we can figure this out. But…”

Her voice lowered to a whisper. “But what?”

I looked over my shoulder and John nodded his head. He held the elevator doors for me, and I knew it was time to go. I decided to give Hannah a hug. Just one arm, wrapped around her neck. And she clung to me. I mean, she dug her nails right into my back. As if she didn’t want to let me go.

> “But what, Dani?”

I cleared my throat. “We’ll talk soon. Once this is all over.”

“Dani, wait!”

I yanked myself out of her tight hold and made my way to the elevator. And not once did I look back. I didn’t want to open up this conversation with Hannah. Mostly because I didn’t have time. I knew the only place where I was safe was at Max and John’s place. The only way I’d find resolution to all of this was if I worked in tandem with them. Which meant my classes and my life here on campus had to take a back seat.

I didn’t even get out of the building before my phone started ringing. It rang and it rang until I finally put it on vibrate. Even as I drove John and myself back to the house, it kept buzzing. And clattering. And thrumming. And vibrating. I knew it was Hannah. I knew she was trying to wear me down and get me to pick up the phone. It wouldn't work, though. I wasn’t going to speak with her until this was all said and done.

If anything, for her own safety.

“You know, you don’t need to cut everyone else out of your life to make room for men like us.”

John’s voice fell heavily against my ears as I pulled us into the driveway.

“And with how this is all going, you might need to keep people like your roommate close. We all need someone to catch us when we fall.”

I shook my head. “The only person I need to catch me is Max. And I’m not going to let him down when he needs me. Not this time.”

“When have you ever let him down in the first place?”

When I didn’t listen to Rupert. When I jumped too quickly and got myself kidnapped. When I didn’t go to him about Benji sooner. When I kept dragging my feet instead of giving in to Max sooner rather than later.

I sighed. “That’s not the point. The point is, I can’t focus on any of that right now. You might be right. But that doesn’t overshadow the fact that the crew is falling apart and that Max is in jail. And right now, I can’t afford to entertain some conversation I’ve had with Hannah four times already simply because she doesn’t get it.”

He nodded. “One of those people that ‘doesn’t get it’ until you start obeying their every word?”

“Yep.”

---