Page 83 of Knot What She Seems
Fuck, I should’ve been in there with him.
I began to chew on my nail as I waited for my brother to emerge.
Come on, Ted. Come on. You can do this. Our parents are counting on you. Thecountryis counting on you.
I was so transfixed, staring out the window at the mansion, that I failed to realize someone had approached my window until knuckles tapped against it.
I jumped, accidentally biting down on my finger hard enough to draw blood, and whirled toward the stranger.
A handsome man stood there, staring at me curiously. Behind him were two more men, all of them eerily identical in appearance.
Triplets, I realized belatedly.
Sexy triplets.
They wore ripped jeans and flannel shirts and were carrying gardening equipment—shears, hedge clippers, and rakes. They must be gardeners for Byron Wallis and were probably wondering why I was staring at the man’s house like a creeper. Maybe they thought I was casing the joint.
“Can I help you?” The man who spoke had a deep voice. Husky almost. I felt heat surge up my neck and land in my cheeks at the sound of it.
Who would’ve thought that those four words would change my life forever?
And not for the better.
Since then, I’ve avoided love like the plague I know it is. Caring about someone has only ever led to heartbreak and pain. So much pain.
I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself to think of the pack who destroyed me. For so long, I’ve locked those memories away, barricaded them behind a steel door locked tight. Now, they’re all I can focus on, all I can think of, popping to the surface like corn kernels in a microwave.
Pop. Our first kiss.
Pop. The first time they said “I love you.”
Pop. The impassivity in their gazes when they sold me to the Noths.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
“Hey.” Sam arches an eyebrow from where he sits next to me in the amphitheater—one of the only rooms big enough to hold all of Eros’s students plus faculty. I don’t see Colter or any of the members of Alpha Team X, but I know they’re nearby. I can sense the former’s gaze on the side of my head like a physical caress, a hot iron brand that scalds and marks. “You okay…Ted?” He stumbles over the name. “You kind of zoned out there for a moment.”
I blink, forcing myself to claw out of the memories and back to the present. It takes considerable effort when every voice in my head demands I confront the demons of my past.
“Yeah. Sorry. It’s just been…a long night.” Understatement of the century.
“Yeah.” Sam’s leg begins to jiggle as he runs a hand through his floppy brown hair. “I texted my parents and brother about what happened, and they’re freaking out.”
“Huh. Must be nice,” I murmur, unable to disguise the acerbic bitterness that seeps into my voice. Teddie, of course, would care if I was attacked, but my parents? I’d be lucky if they even sent an advisor to check in on me.
It’s funny because my parents hadn’t always been like this. I could’ve sworn that, at one point, they were compassionate and doting.
Then I got kidnapped and rescued.
Nothing was ever the same after that.
You would think that my parents would become even more overbearing than before, but the exact opposite occurred. It was almost like they were ashamed I could allow myself to be seduced the way I was. That I could be weak enough to fall for such blatantly obvious tricks.
I swear the temperature in the room plummets in tandem to my racing thoughts.
Before Sam can comment on my obviously sour mood, Headmaster Graves moves to the center of the room, where a lone spotlight illuminates the bald patch on the top of his head. It’s kind of shaped like a crescent moon.
He clears his throat and brings a microphone up to his lips.
