To my surprise, it was fairly even odds for Connor versus Andrew.
“Where the hell is security?”
Nina took the briefest look around before returning her gaze to the fight. “Someone would have paid them off to stay away.” She squeaked as Andrew tackled Connor to the ground, slamming his knee into the big guy’s gut.
A shudder raced through me; violence was a trigger, but I was keeping it mostly under control from where I stood. Only Nina kept edging us closer, until I could feel the breeze from swinging fists, which was far too close.
“What are you doing?” I shouted at her, and she just shot me a brilliant smile. Crazy bitch was enjoying this.
I mean, not to say that there wasn’t a certain poetry in watching these perfect specimens of the male species getting down to their base instincts. There was so much testosterone, Iwas surprised we couldn’t literally smell it, but all I got was fresh sweat and expensive cologne.
I blinked as I noticed the janitor guy who’d been tinkering with the vending machines in the mix, standing out as the tallest out of an already tall bunch of guys. He moved like a ninja though, ducking and diving, all the while annihilating anyone who gets in his way. And was that?—
“Is that Brodie fucking Keller?” Nina choked out. “Oh, bro, his agent is going to wring his neck if he damages his pretty face.”
Sure enough, the blond actor was in the midst of the chaos, cackling loudly as he threw punches left and right. I had no idea he could fight so well, and it didn’t look as if anyone had landed a blow on him yet.
“How’s he moving so fast?”
Nina shot me a salacious side-eye. “Girl, have you not seen how powerful his thighs are? They need their own fucking movie. I’d watch ten hours of him just flexing them.”
I was about to ask her when she thought I would have had a chance tosee his thighswhen she let out a muttered curse and, to my utter shock, raced into the midst of the fight.
“Nina!” I screamed after her, worried she was about to get herself killed. None of these guys were in their right minds to know who they were swinging at.
Cursing impulsive friends, I raced around the outside, my heart slamming in my chest as I dodged a few of the tables to keep her in my line of sight. Somehow, she didn’t encounter any of those swinging fists, and I had no idea what set her in motion until I saw Laura sitting at a table right near the edge, frantically waving and calling to Andrew.
At that stage, a lot of the other guys had cleared out leaving just Andrew, Connor, Brodie, and the big janitor. Oh, and Laura.
Nina snuck up behind her and, when she was close, fisted ahandful of Laura’s hair and slammed her face straight down into the cafeteria table.
The bang was so loud that everyone turned in that direction, to find Laura with her hand over her busted nose as blood trailed between her fingers…and no sign of Nina.
Somehow, she’d vanished, and as I bounced up on my toes, I thought I caught a glimpse of her down on the floor, sneaking away.
When Laura’s shock wore off and she finally looked around for her attacker, I was the only one close by, and she screamed and pointed my way. “I’ll have your head for this, new girl. You’re fucking done here at Meadowridge.”
I held both hands up, silently professing my innocence, but it was too late. A few seconds later securityfinallymade its way into the room, and I was still frozen in place, unsure if I should run or just face the music and explain I wasn’t remotely close enough to her to have carried out that attack. Fuck, I’d been twenty feet away. How fast did she think I could move?
In the end, I didn’t get to make the decision, as the four main instigators of the fight, Laura, and I were dragged off to the dean’s office. He was already waiting for us, and when security ushered us inside, they took up sentry at the door, ensuring no one was escaping their fate.
Dean Attworth stood behind his desk, expression thunderous as he glared at each of us. For the most part, there weren’t that many signs of the fight. Connor and Andrew were a little worse for wear, with bruises already forming, and Connor had a small cut above his right eyebrow that occasionally dripped blood onto his cheek. Brodie and Janitor boy sported busted knuckles and a few torn shirt buttons, but otherwise their faces remained completely untouched.
Oh, and then there was Laura. Who had two black eyes forming and what looked like a broken nose, which was a fucking excellent look on her.
“Can someone please explain to me what the hell just happened in my college?”
The dean didn’t shout. Nope. His voice was calm and reasonable, but there was an undertone that told me he was two seconds from losing his shit.
“That bitch slammed my head onto the cafeteria table,” Laura said, pointing a red-tipped finger at me. “I want her expelled and charged with assault.”
“What!” I gasped. “I wasn’t anywhere you, Psycho Barbie. Not even I could move twenty feet in a few seconds. I think that blow to your head might have rattled your few brain cells out of your broken nose.”
Laura lurched for me, but Andrew stepped into the way. “Laura had nothing to do with this,” he said shortly to the dean. “She shouldn’t even be here.”
To my surprise, the dean didn’t question that statement, waving toward Laura as if to sayyou’re dismissed.Laura looked like she was about to start raving again, until Andrew leaned down and whispered near her ear. She calmed almost instantly, and with a final dirty look shot my way, she flounced out the door.
No doubt she was off to regale her sycophants with the harrowing tale of her attack.
