He’d somehow calmed himself after his first shouted sentence and was now ultra-polite and intimidating. It would have been more impressive had it not been directed my way.
“Absolutely, Andrew Knightsbridge. It’d be my honor.”
He grimaced as he waved a hand for me to proceed first. A quick glance over my shoulder, and I found that Haze still stood in the same spot, watching our exchange. There was the sense that he debated if he should come along and save me.
Had that been what last night was about too? Haze saving me from my nightmares?
I’d assumed he just couldn’t sleep either, but as I spent more time with him, I found that Haze was popping up a lot right when I needed him.
In the end, no one followed me as I marched behind Andrew into the living area. We stood close enough for me to see the flare of green in his hazel eyes, and there was a simmering sort of fury tangled up in his expression now. “It’s common courtesy,” he stated formally, “to let your housemates know when you’re dropping off the radar for a full day. For all we knew, you’d been kidnapped and murdered, and we didn’t have a clue where to even start looking for your body.”
Morbid but not out of the realm of possibility considering I still bore the scars of a bullet through my back.
“Okay,” I said, keeping my argumentative desires under wraps. “I promise not to do it again.”
Andrew scowled. “Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay. Is that all?”
Confusion creased his perfectly handsome face, and amusement bubbled in my chest. He’d 100 percent come at me full-throttle expecting a blow-out argument, and I’d given him nothing. Diddly squat. No ammunition.
“Um…” He blinked a couple of times, squinting at me like I’d grown a second head. “Yeah. That’s all, I guess. Just don’t miss Sunday dinner again.”
“You meanfamilydinner,” I corrected, unable to help myself. That’s what he’d called it, even though they were all “enemies.”
Andrew’s confused gaze shot from me to Haze somewhere behind me, then back again. “Yes. Family dinner.”
I shrugged. “Got it. Can I go to bed now, or did you want to bend me over your knee and spank my ass for ignoring your messages?”Whoops, there went my plan to not poke the bear.
Whatever I thought Andrew’s response was going to be, it sure as fuck wasn’t the heated flush in his cheeks. I definitely hadn’t anticipated the way his pupils dilated, and his gaze flicked down my body like he was considering how that scene might play out.
Shocked, I took a step back, which snapped him out of…whatever that was.
“Funny,” he muttered with a brittle smile. “You can go.”
Dismissed. Literally. I was more than fine with it, though, scurrying up the stairs like my ass was on fire. To my surprise, my room was all put back together. The floors looked amazing, and instead of painting the walls, they’d hung wallpaper. Way less fumes, and it meant I could safely closeand lockmy door.
Thank fuck for that stiff, old passage lock.
16
EVELYN
For once, I didn’t get to class early. I dithered outside, drinking my iced coffee, until the very last minute before ducking into class and finding a random seat at the back of the room. I didn’t give Andrew and Brodie the opportunity to sit with me, and I sure as fuck wasn’t leaving myself open to chatting withProfessor Sullivanbefore class.
As it turned out, my effort was for nothing. Brodie spotted me, packed up his shit, and moved to where I sat. Except there weren’t any spare seats.
“Jessica, right?” he asked the girl I’d chosen to sit beside.
She looked up at him in awe, her mouth open and her eyes wide as she nodded.
Brodie flashed thatliteralmillion-dollar smile. “Can I sit there, Jessica?”
Poor girl nearly tripped over her feet she stood up so fast, and I stifled a sigh as Brodie slid into her place instead. Ethan had started the class and didn’t say anything about the commotion which was…odd. Wasn’t it? He didn’t usually tolerate shit fromanyone, but the last few days had proven he and Brodie had known each other a long-ass time.
“Hey, bestie,” he whispered as he got out his things once more.
Warmth infused in my chest, and I was finding it harder and harder to remember that Brodie was a world-famous, rich, gorgeous playboy who would most definitely break my heart when his fascination with me had run its course.
