“What the fuck?” I say. “Did you kick her out? Why are you telling this fucking story like you’re leaving shit out?”
Jeremy waves a hand dismissively. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Kalen looks like he might actually strangle him, but Juniper presses against his side, looking up at him. He looks down at her and lets his shoulders fall, bringing his hand up to cup the back of her head.
“Did you fight her? Is that why everything is all torn up? Is she okay? Like I know this is really bad she broke in here, but she’s such a nice person. She’s genuinely just…?” Livy asks, and I can hear the panic in her voice. “Ronan was being really weird with me the other day, asking to come in the bathroom while I showered and stuff, and she chased him off. I don’t think she would have come in here if she didn’t really think she was right.”
“I’ll fucking kill him,” I snap, but Livy brings her hand up to my chest and looks at me pleadingly. She’s genuinely worried about her friend. I pull my lips into a thin line, but otherwise let it go.
But I am going to fucking kill him and bury him in those stupid boat shoes he wears all the time.
Jeremy looks around the room like he's trying to figure out what to say. “Soph didn’t find anything, obviously because we wouldn’t do something like that. But she caught me watching her and freaked out. I was trying to calm her down, which was just making it worse. Girls don’t like when you pick them up in one arm, FYI. No one told me that. Anyway, I let her tie me up so she could ‘escape’.” He uses air quotes around the word escape.
Kalen’s head snaps toward me and then back to Jeremy. “Are you fucking with us?”
Jeremy shrugs.
“Relax, she got home fine. No one was hurt. She knows it wasn’t us, and now we can tell her it was what’s his face. He’s dead, I’m assuming, right? So problem solved.”
Kalen’s eyes widen. “Are you not at all concerned that some girl, presumably with no locksmithing skills, was able to just walk in here and none of us would have known?”
Jeremy leans one shoulder against the doorframe like he’s explaining something incredibly reasonable. “I mean that wasn’t really at the top of my list of things to care about once I saw her,” he says.
My patience snaps.
“Why the fuck not?” I snap back. “She can’t just be wandering around breaking into shit around here. If she picked the wrong dorm, someone could have hurt her.”
Jeremy’s expression hardens slightly. “That won’t happen.”
I take a step forward before I can stop myself. I’m going to knock him out and then I’m going back to bed with my boobie pillows and my girlfriend.
This is the most horrendous conversation I’ve ever been a part of and I’ve heard Winter tell Tristan he’s a good boy.
Ick.
I need to be sedated. The universe gives me one magical night and now I’m dealing with this shit.
Livy must sense what I’m feeling because her hand lands against my chest, holding me back with no force at all. She knows I’ll do whatever she wants.
She tilts her head slightly as she studies Jeremy, I think trying to feel out why he’s so fucking chipper when everything he’s told us is a shitshow. There was not one good thing about this twisted tale he’s spewed out.
“Was she okay when she left? Should we check on her?” My girl asks.
Jeremy’s grin returns instantly. It spreads across his face like he’s been waiting for someone to ask.
“Oh, she’s fine. I untied myself as soon as she left and followed her home. I’ve been out all night looking after her,” he says.
Kalen groans. “At least she knows it wasn’t us and she had the wrong room.”
“Yeah, that would be really awkward because I’m going to marry her.” Jeremy says, clapping Kalen on the shoulder and then looking at me. “I think you two should decide who’s going to be my best man. It’s not fair to make me pick between my two best buds.”
Juniper makes a strangled sound, and Jeremy ignores it completely.
“She doesn’t go to school here. I researched her last night when I was sitting outside her house,” he continues proudly. “I know where she lives. Her full name— Her parents are super nice, they volunteer at the animal shelter, which is sweet. Her sister is older than her, but you wouldn’t know that if you met them. Soph is very responsible and helps take care of her parents, but she won’t have to worry about that for long now that she has me.”
“We need to get her a plane ticket to the fucking moon so she can be far away from here. You sound insane,” Juniper says, swatting her hand at Jeremy.
Jeremy’s head snaps toward her and says, “No one is sending her anywhere. She’s mine now to protect, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
