Page 92 of Perfect Sin
“You should see your face,” she giggles. “Relax, I haven’t missed a single one.”
I smirk at her. “We shouldn’t let all that trouble go to waste.” I toss her over my shoulder and head straight for the shower. No matter what kind of hell this day brings, at least I’ll have the memory of her body wrapped around mine to get me through.
* * *
There area lot of gawkers hanging around as the three of us arrive on campus. Even more when Ford joins our group before classes start. Raven and I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, and even still we made it to campus earlier than usual. Enough time for us to grab a coffee and be seen.
Tessa stands in the middle of the crowd, watching us. There’s a look of longing that comes over her face when she sees Ford, but it morphs into envy watching him interact with Raven. I’d written her off as a nuisance, but seeing her reaction prompts me to label her as a threat. Tessa has the strongest motivation to go after Raven I can think of, lost love.
Lucien steps up next to me. “You’re seeing that, right?” He gestures toward her with his coffee.
“Yeah. We don’t need another complication, but we can’t ignore her either. She’s already proven herself to be manipulative. How far do you think she’ll go?”
Ford catches her eye and looks away quickly. “Hard to say. She’s not used to not getting her way,” he says, joining the conversation.
“Keep an eye on her,” I tell everyone.
“Let’s just go to class,” Raven sighs. “I feel like a zoo animal standing out here on display.”
We split ways, Raven heading off to class with her brother. Ford and I have class in the same building, so we continue on past them. A couple of guys from Jesse’s unofficial fraternity step in front of us.
They look like stereotypical douchebags, both wearing polo shirts and khakis. “So how does it work? Do you take her at the same time or trade days?”
My fists clench, the desire to feel my skin strike against their teeth wells up inside of me. Ford makes a show of clapping me on the shoulder. I force myself to remain still and see what he has planned.
“Do your moms still buy your clothes? Please tell me the two of you didn’t think this was the look that was going to get you laid.”
“At least we don’t have to share a woman,” one of them sneers.
“I bet you couldn’t find one woman to be interested in one of you, let alone both of you. Although you’re pretty interchangeable. I bet it burns your ass that we could have any woman on this campus.”
“If that’s true, then why share the scary bitch?” the other one snaps. His name is probably Thad, or something equally as douchey.
Ford points his thumb back at me. “Does he look like the kind of asshole who shares a woman? He’s ready to pound your faces in for just talking about her.”
I shrug. “It would be extremely satisfying.”
“You’re a lunatic,” probably Thad says.
I smile, and I know from experience it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. “I’m a jealous fucker too.”
“He’s not kidding,” Ford replies, and rubs his stomach where I hit him a few days ago.
I chuckle. “Sorry,” I say to Ford. We’ve made up, but I’m still not completely sorry. It was something we had to work through, and I communicate best by hitting things.
They continue to block our path. “Did you have something else to say, or has that voice in the back of your head that tells you you’re risking your life kicked in yet?” I ask.
“We aren’t scared of you. Jesse told everyone you let that chick fight your battles,” Thing One says.
“She’s really amazing,” I say, pride clear in my voice. “Since you don’t seem to have a lick of common sense, let me break it down for you. There’s not a single one of us who would hesitate to end you, including my wife. Keep a wide berth and you might make it through the rest of this year.”
“We’ll see how smug you are after you see Jesse. He’s got connections you can’t imagine,” probably Thad says.
“You mean with the governor of Illinois?” I watch their faces and see I’ve guessed correctly. “Do you really think my own father will support you?”
He shrugs, but his confidence is fading. “I’ve heard you aren’t close.”
“Care to test that theory?” I taunt.