Finally.
I jerk my head to the voice, and I'm met with a view of four campus police officers in full tactical gear, fixing their guns on me.
With my hand fistingthe barrel and fighting the urge to drop the gun like a piece of red-hot iron, I bend down, placing it to my right. I step away, and an officer rushes toward me, grabbing my wrists and slipping them into handcuffs. Against my better judgment, I glance over at Grant and Regina, who are watching me with dirty, smug expressions.
At least until they’re handcuffed, too.
That’s when all hell breaks loose.
Regina screams. She kicks. She tries to wrench herself away from the officer who handcuffed her, and somehow, she’s successful, at least for a few seconds. She makes a run for it, managing no more than five steps before she’s tackled to the ground by another two officers.
Even if I wanted to look away, I don’t think I could.
Grant, to his credit, has the smarts to stay silent.
What ashitshow.
“Come on,” the officer behind me says, nudging me to the left by the wrists. “Let’s go.”
“Am I under arrest?” I ask.
“No, you’re being detained. I want to ask you some questions.”
“I’m not saying anything further without legal representation.”
“Fine.”
“You’re a fucking whore, you dirty f—!” Regina yells at me, making me and the officer yank our heads up in surprise. “You’d better sleep with one eye open tonight, becausenobodygets to come between a mother and her son!”
That has to be one of the worst things she could have chosen to say, but I don’t tell her. If she wants to incriminate herself, she can be my guest.
“How do those handcuffs feel? I’ll bet?—”
Callum appears and cuts her off. “I’ll bet they’re a lot less comfortable than the ones we use during our long,ungodlysex marathons. Nowshut up.”
Regina screams and calls Callum a Satan-worshipping slut. The officer behind me chokes on a surprised cough, and Callum sighs.
I shouldn’t laugh right now.
But Callum said what he said. I don’t know how he managed that. This is not the time for humor.
Still, I can’t help but let out a restrained snicker.
I’m handcuffed, detained, and shivering. Laughing is the only thing I can do.
CHAPTER THIRTY
CALLUM
I curl my fingers around the crinkly plastic emergency blanket the police handed to me. It’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever worn, but it’s all I’ve got. My body shudders, not from any cold, but from shock.
What in the fuck just happened?
What in the fuckcould havehappened if Ian hadn’t shown up?
There’s a chance everything would have been fine. Campus police would have still shown up when they did, but my mom would have been a lot harder to disarm than Ian and that unloaded gun.
I shiver again. This blanket reflects warmth with a distinctly artificial quality—it’s too intense and insufficient at the same time. The real warmth I need right now can only come from Ian, who’s currently handcuffed and bent over a fence like the criminal he isn’t. My parents, on the other hand, are causing the biggest scene I’ve ever seen them start. That’s saying something, especially given the hell they raised when the school handed out sex ed pamphlets.
