Page 63 of Dead and Buried

“Seven. Don’t get any ideas. You can only have four in your harem.”

She splutters and coffee drips out of her nose. “My what now? Have you gone past psychologically divergent to insanity?”

I laugh. “You should see your face!” I smile softly at her before getting up and grabbing a few napkins from the dispenser for her.

“Thanks.” Her eyes avoid meeting mine as she cleans her face off.

I reach across the table to hold her hand when she’s done. “I want to be the kind of man who stands beside you. I don’t want to make you feel like I’m trying to keep you in a bubble and I know I’ve failed at that at times. Iwilldo better. I want to support you as the woman you are and the one you want to be. I understand that having thefreedom to be you is important, and I want you to know that I’m okay with it.”

Her brow wrinkles again. “What do you mean?” Her head tilts to the side as she tries to puzzle my words out.

I sigh. “I mean I’m okay with Sloane. I do have my limits, though. If you want to pursue a relationship with Sloane alongside one with me, I can support that. If you want to form relationships with Nox and Cain, I can accept that too. But I will destroy anyone else who touches you. I don’t care if it hurts you. I’ll kill them. Consider this your one and only warning on the matter,” I tell her darkly.

She gapes at me. “What? C-Cain and Nox? N-No way. They would never. I mean Sloane, okay, but the other two? Neither of them have really pushed for anything more intimate.”

I scoff at that and take a sip of my coffee. “Then why does Cain carry a pair of your panties in his pocket like a perv?”

Viv’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. “No way. He does not! Does he…?”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah. He does.”

Her eyes stay wide and her mouth just hangs open as she processes that information. I settle into my seat as she starts to compose herself. “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity if it ever rose with either of them, but I doubt it.” I don’t disagree with her, knowing she’s still trying to come to terms with the idea. She takes a deep breath. “We should start heading to class.”

I grin, but stand up from my seat to walk her to her first class of the new semester. Cain has been in a piss-poor mood all week, and I’m pretty sure it’s because Viv won’t be in any of his classes this semester. It makes me a little smug to know he won’t be able to see her as often. Not that I think that will keep him away from her. He’ll just have to actually make an effort to see her. I drop Viv off at her Sign Language II class.

She stops near the door, leaning against the wall, and smiles up at me. I can’t help but lean down to press my lips to hers. I practically melt when she fists the collar of my shirt to keep me from pulling away. Grinning against her mouth, I pull away as far as the cotton ofmy shirt will stretch. “Get to class,” I tell her with a firm set to my brow.

She snaps her teeth at me before releasing my shirt and walking into the classroom with one last glance over her shoulder at me.Fuck. I’m going to marry that girl.

Viviana

Ihave an hour between my Sign Language and drawing class, so I’m spending it reading the book Zane gave me in the cafe. It starts with one of the guys talking about being sent to the same group home as his friends, and that reminded me of my guys. I pause, since they’re not really mine. I wonder if this is how they felt, excluding Cain, of course. Did they feel like life was hell on earth before they met each other and formed the bond they now have?

As I read further into the prologue, I become enthralled by the characters. There is such beautiful savagery among them. It reminds me of the well-oiled machine the guys were when they fought together when Ethan and his guys attacked us in the woods. I haven’t even finished the prologue and I’m already hooked. I think I’ll let Zane pick all future books I read. How he found one so perfect, I have no idea. He must have spent hours deciding which book to give me.

There’s a scuffle sound that I barely register, then a book lands on the table with a soft thump. I glance up to see a guy smiling at me. He’s probably the same age as Sloane, but definitely a little older than me. “Hey! I’m Landon.” He holds his hand out to me.

I stare at it for a long moment before I accept his handshake. “I’m Viv,” I tell him, my brows slightly furrowed.

Hopefully, this conversation doesn’t last long. I’ve got thirty more minutes to read and I don’t want to waste it talking to this blonde buff guy who smiles like he’s never watched his father shoot someone at close range.

“Do you mind if I sit with you? All the other tables are taken,” he asks, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Glancing around, I see that he’s right. Though I don’t know why he decided to approach me instead of some of the other tables with room. “Sure,” I tell him, leaning back in my chair and taking a sip of my coffee.

I look back down at my book but barely get to read one sentence before he’s talking again. “So what are you majoring in?” he asks, pulling a muffin from a bag.

I sigh, pushing a scrap of paper between the pages of my book and close it. It gets tucked safely into my book bag before I look back up at Landon. “Criminology, with a minor in ASL.”

He winces at that. “Is Dr. Price as bad as everyone says?”

I huff, not able to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “He’s a good teacher. If people can’t handle his short temper and dry personality, they won’t last long in the criminal justice system.”

Landon nods seriously, like I’m informing him of something truly meaningful. “I kind of figured that people were overreacting. He wouldn’t be so esteemed if he was a bad professor.” He shrugs and I like him just a little for listening to logic over gossip.

“So what are you majoring in?” I ask him mostly just to be polite.

“Sociology,” he says with a small smile.

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