I need to go to Masks and give myself over to the Butterfly for a few hours. There’s only one girl who gets to live rent free in my head and it’s not the bookworm upstairs in my house. I didn’t even get to see her this weekend as Beck and I were on babysitting duty while Tate and Jude were at an away game.
“Motherfucking piece of shit!”
It’s faint but I catch the rambling curse in her sweet…fuck…her voice, from upstairs. A few more swear words float down to me and there’s no fighting the stupid grin that forms on my face. Savy’s usually so contained, guarded almost, so to hear her letting loose and cursing a blue streak like that has me heading to the stairs to see what could have ruffled her so much. I frown as I climb the steps. For the first few times she was here, I was the one who ruffled her but then the night of the snowstorm, something had flipped with her and she stopped being afraid or intimidated by me and I got to see her claws come out a bit. This girl is so fucking layered and it infuriates me to no end that I want to peel each layer back to see what she’s hiding underneath.
When I get to her open door, I lean a shoulder against the door jam and watch her have a fight and argument with a huge sheet of instructions. I have to bite down on my lip to stop the laugh when she flips the floppy sheet upside down and then sideways, muttering something about a dick-sucking jackhammer.
While she wrestles with the instructions, I take a look around what used to be my fucking home gym. The queen-size bed Tate insisted on ordering for her is no longer just a bare mattress. It’s all made up with a thick puffy duvet the soft blue of her eyes and enough fancy pillows on it to get lost in. She has two of those plastic storage dressers and I can see them filled with clothing and a cheap student office chair in the corner. There’s a Macbook open on one of them with an e-reader next to it and on the other dresser is a jar candle that’s giving off the vanilla scent I smelled. It’s not quite a fully moved into room yet, but it’s close and it makes my skin feel tight seeing her stuff in my space. I finally take pity on her but my words come out more bark than helpful.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She flinches to the side and jerks her head around to glare at me, making that weird bun thing she always has her long silky dark hair up in bounce and sway. I step into the room and snatch the instruction paper from her hand, folding it to a manageable size. She lets out a frustrated groan and flops backward onto the carpet dramatically. I ignore the way the shirt she’s wearing stretches perfectly over her breasts as they bounce.
“Are your parents truck drivers or dock workers?”
She opens one eye and gives me a what the fuck look.
“ ’Cuz you swear like one,” I tell her with a smirk as her face screws up into a demonic-looking glare. “What? What does that look mean?” I ask her, amused at how hard she’s trying to glare at me and she gushes out another frustrated groan.
“You don’t like my swearing so I’m staring motherfuckerly at you instead.”
I lift the instructions up to hide the grin that brings. I don’t want to admit it but I like this version of bookworm better than the stuttering, red-faced one I first met.
“Come on, I’ll help you put this together. Pro-tip - it helps to read the English version.”
Savy pushes her glasses higher on her nose with her middle finger as she sits up, never breaking eye contact and this time I can’t not laugh out loud. We get to work putting the desk together. She holds the boards in place while I attach the brackets.
“So, it looks like you managed to replace most of your stuff today.”
Her glasses have slipped down her nose again and those blue eyes of hers lift to mine with a guarded, defensive look in them.
“Chill, Ash. I’m not staying. I just need a couple weeks to find a new place and then all this stuff in your space will be gone. I do appreciate you all letting me stay here temporarily, though.”
I tighten a screw and force myself not to tell her she can stay as long as she needs when she reaches past me for another part and I get a whiff of peaches. Her scent mixed with the vanilla candle burning makes my mouth water for a taste of peaches and cream and my dick stirs. Fuck, not happening.
“You and Jude? You’re a thing now? What about Tate?”
Her brow furrows as she lines up the next piece for me to attach. “Honestly, I have no idea at this point. I’m just taking it day by day and seeing where things go with Jude. As for Tate, we never were anything more than a show. It was all fake.”
I arch a brow as I lean in close to her to screw in the next bracket. “You sure about that? Seems like there was some heat between you guys. Hold that tighter so it’s not crooked. So, first Tate, now Jude, are you going to bounce over to Beck next? Go for the hat trick?”
Our faces are so close working on the desk and it gives me the perfect view of the pink blush that creeps up her neck to fill her cheeks along with the sharp anger that flashes through her eyes before her shields jerk back into place.
“I’m not bouncing or fucking as that’s what you’re implying, anyone in this house. But I’ll be sure to let you know if that changes, seeing as you’re so concerned.” She huffs out an annoyed breath. “I asked you before but you didn’t answer so again, Ash, why do you care?”
“I don’t.” I bark back at her. “Fuck whoever you want. I just don’t want them getting invested and hurt. There’s a history…” I say before she cuts me off.
“I’m aware of how other women have tried to use them for their status. I don’t care about any of that, trust me. Money, fame, none of that will ever influence how I feel about someone. As for getting invested, getting hurt? Pretty sure I’m the one with the biggest worry about that. I know how you guys burn through women like they mean nothing more than a temporary good time.”
A challenging look comes into her eyes that surprises me but not even close to the way her next words do. “Maybe that’s all I want too, a good time. Maybe I will have sex with all of them if they want me. How is that any worse than what you all do with the female population on campus?”
My mouth drops open to dispute that but then snaps closed again. I break eye contact and go back to working on the desk, ready to get away from her and this conversation because, fuck, she’s not wrong. The four of us have made getting laid a sport of its own. Not so much me in the last year but there were plenty of nights when we would all be with the same girl together. I’m an asshole but I refuse to be a hypocrite. If Savy does decide to fuck all of them, it doesn’t make her any worse than the rest of us, and fuck me, the thought of having her between all of us makes me rock hard. I tighten the last screw and push up to my feet as she moves back out of the way and then flip the assembled desk upright.
“There you go. Where do you want it?”
She points to an area under the window so I get it positioned and roll the chair in front of it, waving her over to sit in it. She slides past me and takes a seat so I rest my hands on her shoulders and nudge her and the chair up to the desk. My thumb sweeps over the delicate skin on the side of her neck and I feel a slight tremble run through her.
“There, a perfect fit.”
