Page 30 of Burned By Sin
Inside, though, my pulse thrums like a warning siren. Because if that note was hand-delivered, someone knows exactly where I sleep, what I’ve been up to and when I would have been out. Approaching the exit, I reluctantly click my receivers into place. Another benefit to the winter break was the silence, giving me a reprieve from the loud hustle and bustle of campus life. There’s nothing quite like a thinly-veiled threat to bring me back down to reality.
“I hope you haven’t unpacked. We’re getting your shit and you’re staying with me from now on.” The authority in his tone makes my head jerk up. I gape at him, looking to Clay for backup, but finding none. He watches on silently, his arms crossed.
“I can’t leave Addy to fend for herself,” I protest. “They wereat the dorm, Rhys.” Not humoring this conversation any further, I move in the direction of the cafeteria. Rhys grabs my forearm and drags me into the shadow of the building. Clay is by his side, glaring at me as if they are actually in agreement for once.
“This isn’t up for negotiation,” Rhys growls. The tic in his jaw is all aggression, but the flicker of worry in his eyes gives him away. I lift a brow, standing my ground.
“And what about Clay? He’s also the focus of these taunts. You planning to offerhima cozy spot in your bed too?” The mental image of the two of them arguing over who gets to be the big spoon spreads a grin across my face. They both make the same strangled sound of disgust perfectly in sync, suddenly jerking away from each other.
Patting Rhys’ bicep, I brush off his concern as if I can manifest the same within myself. Someone is playing pranks that are, admittedly, going too far, but I can only put it down to jealousy. We just need to see it through, show we won’t be bullied and they will grow bored. Eventually.
“Look, I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine.” Rhys’ face contorts, his rage rising to the surface.
“For once in your goddamn life, Harper, do as you fu—” Clay halts Rhys’s words by shoving his shoulder aside and stepping closer to me. His hand cradles my cheek, forcing my eyes up to his.
“We just want to make sure you’re safe. If something were to happen to you because of me, I would never be able to forgive myself.” The fight drains from me at his gentle words, my hackles lowering as logic overtakes defiance. I guess I hoped if I kept denying the truth, I could diminish the seriousness of it all.
“Okay, fine. I’ll agree to an escort when moving around campus,but I’m staying in my own dorm and continuing my routine like normal. I came here for freedom and independence. I won’t be stopped from going to classes and studying in the library on weekdays.”
“No fucking way!” Rhys barges his way in between us once more. His hands close around my shoulders and his chest brushes mine, halfway between a hug and a cage. “The library’s a goddamn maze, too many dark corners for creeps to hide. You can study at my place. I’ll get pizzas, go down on you as you type, whatever the fuck you want but there’s negotiation on this.”
I can see he’s trying, and a tiny part of me is swooning for it, but keeping me from a library is like cutting off a limb. The smell of pages and the millions of words waiting to be devoured sooth my soul. It’s the only place I can silence my thoughts and truly escape.
“Rhys,” I breathe, pleading with him to see it from my perspective. He wouldn’t be told where to go and what to do, and I’m equally as stubborn. “I’m not going to hide away, and I need access to all of our source material that’s in there. I doubt you have books on the clinical correlations of biochemistry stashed beneath your bed.”
Clay reaches for my hand, brushing my knuckles reassuringly. I’ve missed his presence, the feeling that someone always has my back.
“Clay will look out for me during our study sessions and I promise I won’t wander off.”
I take Rhys’s huff as acceptance, leaning up to place my lips on his cheek but he steps away. I blink at him in confusion, seeing none of the worry he couldn’t hide a moment ago.
“I see how it is,” he nods, distancing himself from our quiet conversation. Spreading his arms wide, he walks back into the cold like a lone soldier fighting a solitary battle. “You have your loyal protector back now, so what the fuck do you need me for?” He levels Clay with a stare that could melt iron, the rigid edge to his jaw back like an old friend.
“Rhys, wait,” I call after him, but he’s gone, his retreating footsteps like nails piercing my heart. I stand there for a moment, suspended inthe silence he leaves behind, doing all I can to resist leaning on Clay for support. The last thing I want is to create a situation where one is always stepping in when the other can’t, but Clay doesn’t have the same inclination.
His arms wind around me, his chest supporting my cheek as a bitter chuckle escapes me. The first day back, a day that started with such optimism, has fallen flat on its face. Not the best omen going forward, but even without the note, it wasn’t going to be easy going. Nothing ever is when Rhys and Clay are close to one another.
Chapter Nineteen
A strange sense of satisfaction hums within at seeing the frat house full again. I didn’t care for the drunken squabbles and revolving door of jocks until they didn’t exist anymore. That’s when I discovered what I’d been doing all this time was filling the silence so the doubts in my head didn’t have to. I don’t like my own company, and after this, I won’t have to endure again for a long, long time.
Sneakers thump against the hardwood, arms filled with bulky textbooks and paperbacks. I’ve got the entire football and basketball team at my disposal, the promise of extra credit looming over their heads. Ferrying books from the library to my living room, each one tips their head to me on the way in. I’m leaning against the staircase, a lollipop in my mouth, feeling far too smug for a man who’s whipped enough to swap out his usual cigarette for candy.
Harper refuses to stop visiting the library, so I’m relocating it to where I can keep a close eye on her. And should I become distracted, as is a regular occurrence in her presence, the newly installed surveillance system I’ve set up will catch any suspicious behavior. The week I spent here alone after Christmas was not wasted.
The scent of paper and graphite soon seep into the walls. Stacks upon stacks of hardcovers, paperbacks and journals with cracked spinesbuild up around the sofa and cover the coffee table. It’s taken all afternoon, and I’m not sure how long we’ve got before the librarian returns from the vets.
For the record, I did not run over her cat. I just told her I did. She was an obstacle that needed to be temporarily removed whilst I effectively stole the entire science section, from Organic Chemistry to Molecular Biology, and everything in between. And just so Harper can’t insist there’s something missing, I’ve got Joey clearing out the dark romance aisles and taking them straight up to my bedroom.
“Ahh, Rhys,” a guy with short hair and tattoos of spiders over his huge biceps shoves his hands into his pockets, “We’re about to bring in the last batch, but there’s no room left unless you want to block the walkways or take over the sofa.”
Pushing upright, I follow the jock back into the living area. He’s right, something is going to have to be sacrificed. We can’t put any of the books on the kitchen island, because Harper’s new coffee machine is there. Call it a late Christmas present, now that I understand the meaning of ‘practical gifts’. I’d thought my present in the cabin was extremely thoughtful, but Harper has made sure to have a talk with me about boundaries since.
Twisting my lips, I look back and forth across the room and nod, deciding there’s only one thing for it.
“Cover the sofa, and restack those books in the corner to create a throne.”
“A throne?” Jockey Boy questions and I hit him with a hard stare.
