Page 37 of Eat You Alive (Court Legacy 4)

Really, the arrangement was way easier than I thought it’d be, and it made me wonder why I’d fought it so much. This all really was painless like he’d said but still. He had me in a situation I didn’t want to be in, and I could never ever forget that.

I wouldn’t.

“Red?”

A knock hit my door that afternoon, Wolf’s voice behind it.

Son of a gun.

Again, being respectful, and he didn’t even come in until I announced he could. Of course, I got my shit together first, and I was totally aware I looked in the mirror before hopping on the bed and trying to look casual.

You’re stupid.

No, stupid was the butterflies that hit my stomach, anticipation of him opening the door. I ignored it, repositioning my laptop on my legs. I’d been editing some photos before he knocked, and my stomach made another stupid flip when Wolf opened the door and grinned at me from the frame.

You can’t forget who he is, what he’s done…

This was a constant game I was playing with myself because he was being so decent. I had to remember this guy was a wolf just like his namesake, and the fact he could turn it on and off so seamlessly set off more than alarm bells. They were more like alarm gongs. His muscled shoulder hit the doorframe. “You busy?”

Trying to be. I shrugged. “Just editing some photos.”

“Mmm. For business or pleasure?” He pushed off the frame, and immediately filled up the space, my space. “For school or fun, I mean.”

“Both.” I studied him, watching as he shameless guided my laptop around. “Don’t recall giving you permission to do that.”

“What? You already have it open.” He waggled his eyebrows, being playful. Something else about Wolf? He also had charisma when he wasn’t being an asshole. This made him even more dangerous since who knew when an overstep could force his brawny back up. “You being shy about it?”

I had nothing to hide, and since there was no fighting this guy, I let him peer over my shoulder. That spicy, oak smell of his still reminded me of apple pie, log cabins, and open air. I shifted on the bed. “I had to shoot some scenic stuff.”

Specifically, I was doing a story on greenhouse gasses. The horticulture department gave me access to some rare plant species that were dying out due to them, so I took some photos of that.

“Should have known you were a flower girl,” he said, eyeing the tatted wild flowers on my arm. I started getting tattoos after my dad died, the prick of the needle my latest vice, a safer vice.

I tugged my sleeve up, my skin flushing. I certainly felt Wolf’s eyes on me.

His gaze flicked to my face. “Anyway, you busy? Sloane’s here, and she wants your feedback on something.”

I nearly dropped the computer. “Sloane?”

“Yeah. Told her you take photos,” he said, his voice far off. He’d found my flowers again. His rough jawline pierced his skin before his attention lifted. “She’s an artist too. Not photography, but she had to take some photos for a project she’s working on. She’s an art major. Anyway, I tried to help her, but I’m not great at that shit either. Sketch work and designs are mostly my thing…”

“Wait a second.” My lashes flashed. “You do art?”

“Uh, yeah.” He made it sound like common knowledge, and finally backed up out of my space. He passed a hand over his head. “So, um, she’d love your feedback. She already knew you took pictures, but when I mentioned it again, we both thought your eye would be better than ours.”

She probably did know I took them if he’d explained how we initially met.

Another point in my direction for his sister liking me.

Of course, I shouldn’t care one way or the other, but no one liked not being liked. “Uh, sure…”

I started to clean my stuff up, and he waited by the door. I headed through it once I got up, but he cut me off with an arm.

“Be natural.” The last words he stated before sliding an arm around me. This obviously gave me pause since he didn’t really touch me. During coffee and stuff, we kept decent proximity.

My fingers wrestled, damp from the weight on my shoulders. This wasn’t acting natural, but I fixed my face and stance by the time Wolf and I entered the common area we shared. His sister was on her knees, a collage of photos in front of her. She had the whole thing arranged in a bigger picture, abstract, but the overall image appeared very birdlike.

Upon closer observation, I observed birds in the photos, but I cut off from that when his sister directed her attention to us.

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