Gabe questions why Gryphon was driving me into the campus but I brush him off easily, still mad that he had a hand in getting me to the Council dinner shit show with North. He doesn’t notice how pissy I am though and just shadows me like usual.
It’s not until we’re sitting with Sage and Sawyer at lunch in the dining hall, that he hears the rundown of what actually happened and he realizes just how angry I am at him over it.
“I only found out about the dinner when you did! How the hell is it my fault you had a shitty time? If interacting with girls your Bonds have fucked is enough to ruin your day, I have some bad fucking news for you.”
I jab him in the ribs, not that he notices because he’s made of muscle stacked on freaking muscle. “You shoved me at his people and left me to it! I almost died, and then I had to deal with the complete bullshit that is the gossips of my dorm because North wouldn’t stop at a freaking drug store for me.”
Sage winces at me. “I heard the rumors too. Obviously I didn’t believe them, and I told Gracie if she ran her mouth about it I’d tell her mom about her panting after someone else’s Bonds.”
Gabe frowns at her and glances between us. “What rumors? I haven’t heard anything.”
Sawyer scoffs at him and finally looks up from his phone. “Of course you didn’t, they’re talking shit about the Bond you’ve just called a truce with. You think Zoey and her little crowd of bimbo bitches would tell you to your face that they’re accusing your Bond of a self-administered abortion?”
I feel his control over his gift slip and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that he’s not lying about having no idea. I keep my eyes on my food because I don’t need his white knight bullshit.
“That’s why Gryphon brought you in. He heard—”
I cut him off, “Yeah and I had to convince him that it wasn’t true—”
“Well, of course it’s not fucking true! Who said it? Which of Zoey’s friends? I’m going to fucking kill—”
“You’re not going to kill anyone—”
Sawyer cuts in, “The two of you better not start fucking on the table here in the dining hall because this all feels like really angry foreplay to me and, honestly, I just want to eat my pizza in peace.”
I shoot him a look but almost instantly I have to shift my focus back to Gabe who is about to flip a table over this. I guess this is cutting a little too close to whatever the fallout of his Bond disappearing was and now he’s out for blood.
“Just forget about it. I honestly don’t give a shit about what some petty, jealous girls think of me. As long as it doesn’t cause me any grief with the Dravens, I don’t care.”
Sage winces again, mostly because both North and Nox terrify her, and I shoot her a grateful look. I’m thankful she’s here, listening to me whine and not judging me for being a grumpy fuck about it all.
Gabe shoves the last of the grilled chicken from his plate of sadness into his mouth and says, “Gryphon will clear it up with North. Nox might still bring it up because he’s… like that.”
I shove my bag on my back and stand up, ready to get this day over with. “That a nice way to say he’s a total asshole who’ll bring it up over the dinner table for the next fifty fucking years.”
We make it through the day and even though Sage invites me to her place for tacos and textbooks, I bail on her, my stomach still a bloated, aching mess. I just want to mope around in my room and hate my life quietly for the night. She gets it, because what girl doesn’t, and leaves me behind with a hug and a promise to check in on me tomorrow.
I eat dinner early and then head back to the dorms to shower and get into something comfortable. I text Atlas back, just a general text to tell him about my day and let him know I’m okay, and then I hit the books hard.
A little after midnight, I’m still pouring over my textbooks for the next assignment Nox has us doing when my door unlocks and Gryphon steps through it, a bag dangling from one hand.
“You’re not even going to attempt to knock at all anymore?” I say, my voice tired and my hand shaking a little as I take notes because I’m so ridiculously freaking tired. I should have stopped hours ago but my brain doesn’t want to stop yet.
“I was expecting you to be asleep, not cramming. I didn’t think exams were for months.”
I shrug and watch as he kicks his shoes off. I have no fucking clue of what’s happening right now. “I’m a high school dropout, remember? I have no choice but to spend all of my spare time with my nose in my textbooks.”
He pulls his jacket off and throws it over the peg on the back of the door, covering the cracked and shitty mirror. I watch as he pulls his hoodie off as well, standing there in his low-slung jeans and a soft black tee, looking like sex on legs.
Shit.
“Are you hungry? I brought a burrito, but I can split it.”
There’s literally a Twizzler hanging out of my mouth so I shake my head at him. Honestly, I’m still trying to get my exhausted brain around what is happening right now. He’s here, in my bedroom, offering to split food with me without any sort of a reason that I can tell.
It feels like a trap.
“Stop staring at me like that, Oli. I’m here to make sure you’re okay. You sobbed in my arms for hours last night, even after you fell asleep.”
Oh God, that’s embarrassing. “I’m fine. It’s better with the drugs and you made sure I have a great supply of those. Seriously, go home and forget about me.”
He grunts at me and parks his ass on the floor, a mirror of Gabe only a few weeks ago, and he tears into his food. I shift my focus back onto my books and lose myself into the history of the blood tests, and how the Bond markers were discovered.
The next thing I know, I’m waking up to Gryphon’s hand gently moving me onto the bed. I try to mumble a thank you, but it comes out as a garbled mess. He huffs at me, pulling me into his arms and that magic freaking hand of his slips onto my stomach.
I could get addicted to this so freaking quickly.
This time when I wake, he’s still stretched out in the bed next to me, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. The bed is too small for me to roll over so I just lay there, too afraid to breathe in case it wakes him up and I lose this moment.
I’d get this all of the time if I was allowed to Bond with him.
This moment I think it, I hate myself because my bond starts immediately straining towards him, desperate to have him. I’m rough as I yank it back, my frustration coming out.
There’s a sharp knock at the door that startles Gryphon awake. He bolts out of the bed, instantly on high alert, and he pulls a gun that I had no freaking clue was in the room out of his boot as he takes the two steps over to the door.
My brain hasn’t even caught up to the fact that someone is here, when he grabs the door handle and yanks it open, shirtless, bed-rumpled and in all his early-morning glory.
Sage and Sawyer look at him in twin images of shock.
It would be absolutely hilarious if it wasn’t also completely freaking shameful. There’s no way I’m getting out of this without them making some comment that is going to make me want to die because one look at him, and they have to assume we’ve spent the whole night fucking like horny rabbits.
“Well, excuse the fuck out of us! Sage, we need to leave. Now. Move it.”
I groan as Gryphon stares him down, finally lowering the gun and stepping away to let them in, except Sage is cemented to the floor in shock. I climb out of the bed and rush over to attempt to explain that this is definitely not what it looks like.
I hear Gryphon rummaging around behind me so I assume he’s getting dressed, thank God, but the moment I open my mouth, Sawyer cuts me off, “We need to swap dick stories because there are a lot of rumors about him and I need to know which ones are true.”
Sage elbows him in the gut so sharply he actually groans and I grin at her. “Sorry, I forgot to set an alarm. I’ll be a minute while I throw some clothes on and we can grab food on the way, right? I’ll explain—”
Gryphon nudges me out of the way, his keys in his hands as he scowls around at the entire hallway full of gaping girls. “What’s there to explain? You’re my Bond.”
He then stalks off like he didn’t just casually confirm to the girls here that he fucked my brains out last night, and I want to die. Not that there’s anything wrong with us hooking up, but I’ve been so adamant about hating them that this feels like I’ve suddenly just bent over for him because he asked.
I sigh and usher the siblings in, groaning as I shut the door behind them.
Sage awkwardly stands there like she’s trying not to touch anything but Sawyer slumps down on my bed. “Dammit, I really thought you’d finally fallen into bed with one of them. I’m strangely disappointed.”
I quickly start throwing clothes on, crowing inside a little when I find Gryphon’s hoodie that he’s left behind. “Sorry, he was just here as pain relief. I didn’t think you’d believe me. I’m shocked at your trust, Sawyer.”
He rolls his eyes at me and picks at the sheets. “There’s no sex smell. I know the scent of a good fuck when I smell it.”
That’s oddly disgusting and when I finally sling my bag onto my back, I find Sage looking at me with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay? Should you be going to classes if you’re in that much pain?”
I’m fine now and there’s no way I’m calling North to get a sick pass. “Let’s just forget this happened. Gryphon still hates me, he’s just also a decent human being. He won’t be back anytime soon.”
A WEEK LATER, I’ve almost forgotten what my bed feels like without Gryphon in it. He’s much more discreet about his stays in it, always coming in after I’ve fallen asleep and leaving before I wake up in the morning, but there’s always little signs that he’s been here.
I get up and try to ignore the fact that my bed is empty again. I wish he’d stay to wake up with me, just once, but I also know how dangerous that is because he’s chipping away at my resolve to keep them all at arm’s length. I can’t afford to let that happen, no matter how desperately I want him.
The shared bathroom is full of girls and I have to grit my teeth to ignore all of the looks and whispers. You’d think they could all find something better to do than gossiping about me and my asshole Bonds, but nope, they love nothing more than talking about how great they all are in bed while I scrub my body like I’m trying to scour the devil from my skin. Just once I’d like to get clean without hearing about how amazing Nox is with his tongue or how big Gryphon’s dick is. Just freaking once!
The Gryphon comments burn a little more these days.
By the time I get back to my room, I’m so angry about how freaking rude every girl in this damn building is that I don’t even bother looking at my phone for my usual good morning text from Atlas. I just shove my legs into a pair of yoga pants and throw a hoodie over my head, nothing but a bra underneath. The hoodie is one of Gryphon’s, the one he wore here last night, and I tell myself I’m only wearing it because it’s cold out and not because I’ve become addicted to the smell of him. If Gabe spills something on me at lunch and forces me to wash it, I’ll freaking… stab him, or something. Hell, I’ll ask Sage to set his ass on fire.
I won’t tell her why I’m pissed though.
As I’m giggling to myself about setting one of my Bonds on fire, there’s a knock at my door and I roll my eyes, expecting it to be Gryphon coming back to steal back his hoodie or bitch me out over something, but when I fling the door open with a frown on my face and fire in my soul, I’m ready to unleash my shitty mood on him. I find my breath knocked out of my chest instead.
The photo Atlas sent me of himself did not do him justice at all.
I am stunned as I stand there and take him in. Tall, dark, and handsome. I check to make sure I’m not drooling at the freaking sight of him towering over me. He fills the entire door frame, his shoulders wide and defined in the tight tee he’s wearing. Hot-freaking-damn! His arms are covered in tattoos that creep up his neck to tuck under his chin and my eyes follow them up obediently. It’s only when I get to his face that I see the cheeky grin plastered across there at my swooning and I blush.
‘Well, damn! You look even better in person and I can tell you, I was fucking impressed with your photo,’ he drawls, and I scoff at him, recovering from my embarrassment now that his smart mouth is starting up.
‘You could have called ahead and let me know you were coming! I’m wearing yoga pants, for fuck’s sake! I could have at least attempted to look cute.’
He chuckles at me and grabs my hips in his big hands, walking me backwards into my room and kicking the door shut. I swear to God, my heart skips a beat or five.
‘If this isn’t your cute, I don’t think I’m prepared for it.’
I blush and grab my bag, the blush deepening when Atlas takes it from me and swings over his own shoulder like a lovesick teenager.
‘I can carry that, you know,’ I say, hoping the words sound flirty and not snappy. My mind is still whirling with the shock of him being here and the unspent rage of dealing with the other girls.
He grins and shrugs. ‘Yeah, but you’ll let me do it today. I was kind of hoping we could stay here for the day, let you get to know me a little better, but if you insist on going out, then you’ll let me take care of you a bit instead.’
The sweet grins he’s giving me make it even harder to look at him. ‘I’m not allowed to skip classes. The GPS tracker means North will know and he will personally come here to punish me.’
All of the teasing and playful joy melts off of Atlas. He goes from looking flirty and sweet to having the stone-cold glare of a beast who has smelled his prey. ‘Yeah, I’m going to fix that for the both of us pretty soon. North may be on the Council on this side of the country, but my family controls the Council on the East Coast. If he is going to a be a dick about this, then I’m taking you home with me and they can fucking rot here for all I care.’
A shiver takes over me. ‘If I thought we could get away with that, I would totally agree. But I get the feeling North Draven doesn’t ever lower himself to compromise.’
Atlas smirks at me, pushing the hair away from my shoulder and kissing my cheek softly. ‘Sweetness, I don’t give a fuck what North Draven wants. If he gets in my way or upsets you, I’ll royally fuck him up.’
Ok, now I’m definitely swooning.
I have to remind myself that I’m trying not to get too close to these guys and I take a half step back. ‘We should head to class. I don’t want to fall behind.’
He doesn’t look pissed off at me for pulling back, instead he holds out a hand and threads his fingers through mine. When he opens the door to lead me out, we find Gabe walking up to escort me to class, the smile on his face directed at the girl poking her head out of the room next to mine. It slides right off when he sees Atlas standing there, holding my hand and my bag.
Oh shit.
A giddy sort of giggle bubbles in my stomach, but I hold that sucker in. Atlas squeezes my hand gently and leans in close to whisper in my ear, ‘Lock your door, Sweetness.’
I side-eye him, he totally did not have to get that close to me to say that, but I do as he says, turning my back on them both to lock up with the extra-secure lock Gryphon installed.
A snarl rips out of Gabe and I fight my instinct to spin around to face him, trusting Atlas to watch my exposed back against my shifter Bond. I make sure everything is secure and then turn slowly, as if the idea of a freaking wolf tearing my limbs off isn’t at all concerning. There’s a whole lot of interest in what’s about to go down here. Every door is open and there’s girls everywhere. Even a few guys standing with their own Bonds and girlfriends, watching.
Atlas laughs. ‘Oli has no need for her pouting jailer today, Ardern, so fuck off.’
Gabe’s eyes start to glow and I suck in a deep breath. Who the hell do I call if he loses it? I grab my phone, Gryphon is going to be my best backup, but he never freaking answers my messages. Nox is a dick, and I’d rather gouge my own eyeballs out than speak to North. Well, fuck.
“Don’t fucking tell me what I can and can’t do with my Bond, Bassinger,“ he spits out between clenched teeth and Atlas drops my hand to instead sling his arm over my shoulders.
“No one wants a sulking dickhead trailing after them, so beat it, Ardern. Do it before I make you. You really don’t want me to make you.’
Gabe struggles to get control over himself, the shift rippling over his face as his eyes glow and the skin of his arms darkens into a soft pelt. I’ve never seen him actually lose control before, even when Martinez went for him, he’d kept his gift under tight control.
I really don’t want to do this, and certainly not in the hallway of my dorm with all of the gossiping girls here. “Can we just head to class, please? I don’t want to be late and I’m assuming you’ll need to get your timetable together, Atlas?”
He shrugs and holds out a hand for me to take. I hesitate for a second, because this time it feels like more than just a little sign of affection, but it doesn’t bother him. “You wanna go slow, then we’re going slow. Take my hand, Bond.”
Deep breath.
And then I take his hand.
