She was still there. That had to mean something.
I turned to face her. “I’m sorry.”
And then I crushed her to me and kissed her for all to see.
She didn’t exactly kiss me back, but she didn’t push me away either.
“I have some work to do,” she told me.
“I’ll walk you back.”
There was no room for argument, but I could feel her pulling away from me emotionally.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” I whispered.
“That wasn’t you, Monte. It was like you were possessed or something.”
“They say the bond makes you do crazy things, but I’d rip the throat out of anyone who touched you like that without your permission, with or without the bond.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but I knew it was there. That deep, dark part of me that took pleasure in scaring the shit out of that guy. But that wasn’t who I wanted to be, and I hated that Zoey saw me like that. Still, I would defend her no matter what.
She was quiet on the walk back to the Theta house. And it was clear that gossip was spreading like a wildfire through campus about how I’d attacked that kid. I would accept whatever consequences came from that, but I stood firm on my actions.
No one touches my mate like that.
We said an awkward goodbye at the door and I headed home. I needed some time to decompress, maybe even a good run.
When I walked inside, my entire fraternity was there waiting for me.
“Where’s Zoey?” Denny asked.
“I took her home.”
“Sit down, please. We need to talk.”
I looked around the room at all the nervous faces. I didn’t want to deal with this right now, but I knew I had to.
“What happened?” he asked.
I blew out a long breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“Some asshat walked up to us and asked Zoey out if she wanted a real man and then smacked her on the ass right in front of me. I don’t know. I just saw red after that.”
“You looked like your father,” Braxton said softly, slicing my heart in two.
I never wanted to be like that bastard. I was horrified, but I nodded.
“I know, but it wasn’t like that,” I whispered.
My father was mean to his core. He took sick pleasure in terrifying people. He beat me and my mom my whole life. He was cruel and a bit deranged, but when necessary, he could morph into the friendliest guy around. It was a mask, and I realized then that he was why it always bothered me when Zoey put on her mask when she was in business mode or trying to protect her image.
I didn’t want to think of them in the same way. But it was hard not to now that the idea was in my head.
“Dean Shannahan has requested, and by that I mean demanded, you to come to his office for a chat,” Denny informed me.
I looked down at the ground and nodded.
“Monte, are you okay?” Caleb asked.
