As I added another book to the teetering pile on the table I’d commandeered, I turned around to see a small group enter through the electronic sliding doors.
Ocean eyes arrowed straight to mine. Caiden looked almost angry to see me. Shocker. I squared my shoulders and approached the table where he was now lounging with Cassius and a couple of girls.
Cassius’ face broke into an easy grin when he saw me standing there. “Hey, babe. I was just talking about you. You up for a party at our place on Friday? Just a small gathering. You can bring Kinslee if you want—tell her to wear something short and tight.”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “Yes to the party, and I’ll ask Kinslee, but it’s a hard no for asking her to wear something short and tight.” I thought for a moment. “Although knowing her, there’s a good chance she’ll be wearing something along those lines anyway.”
“Why are you inviting her? That’s scraping the barrel, Cassius.”
Bitch. I took a good look at the blonde girl who was sulkily pouting at Cassius like a petulant child.
I made my voice syrupy sweet. “Aww, sorry, hon, didn’t you hear? Cass is my BFF. And maybe more—who knows what might happen.” I smiled widely and slid onto his lap, both to piss her off and to see what Caiden’s reaction would be. I knew Cass would play along, shit stirrer that he was.
Cassius chuckled in my ear and put his arms around me. “She’s right. Winter here is not only a very good friend of mine, but I’m working on us becoming very, very good friends, if you catch my drift.” The blonde girl looked genuinely shocked, her mouth falling open, and I laughed to myself, stealing a glance at Caiden. He was acting like I wasn’t even there, his attention on the other girl, but I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw, and his posture was tense and rigid. In some small way, I managed to affect him, as much as he clearly disliked it.
“Anyway, it’s been a pleasure, but I have work to do. Call me later, babe.” I jumped up from Cassius, and he blew me a kiss as I walked off, grinning.
I looked up from my laptop about an hour later and noticed it was fully dark outside. Cassius and the girls had long gone, but Caiden was still sitting at the same table, staring at his laptop and every now and then running a hand agitatedly through his dark, messy hair. I saw him let out a breath and rub his hand tiredly over his face, before he shut his laptop lid with a bang and stood up to leave. I should do the same.
Gathering up my pile of books, I headed for the stacks to place them back where they belonged. I spun around the corner and collided with a solid body, books raining down onto the floor, and all the air was knocked out of me.
Flustered and winded, I raised my head to see Caiden standing there. He still had that same dark stormy look on his face. Fuck.
I licked my lips, suddenly feeling parched.
His eyes flashed, and he bent his head towards mine. Grabbing the back of my neck roughly, he slanted his lips on to mine in a hard, angry kiss. My arms reached up of their own accord, tugging on his hair and drawing him closer. Pressing his chest into mine, he pushed me into the stacks, and I distantly heard books crashing to the floor, but I was too caught up in him to care. He set me on fire, and I was burning up.
He moved his hand from the back of my neck to lightly grip my throat, biting at my bottom lip. I moaned and scraped my nails down his back, making him shiver.
Abruptly, he wrenched away from me. Breathing hard, we stared at one another, the mixture of confusion and lust that he seemed to spark in me making my head spin.
“Caiden, what the fuck is going on? Is this a game to you or something?”
“That shouldn’t have happened.” He turned on his heel.
“You don’t just get to walk away from me like that!” I grabbed his arm, spinning him back round to face me, seriously pissed off.
“Leave me alone,” he gritted out. “I want you to stay the fuck away from me.” He shook my hand off his arm as if I’d branded him.
“Fuck you, Cade. You’re the one who keeps instigating the kisses!” He. Was. So. Infuriating. How dare he act like that? He was the one who had kissed me first, both times. And yet he claimed to hate me. “Do you know what I just realised?” I got all up in his face, practically breathing fire. “I. Don’t. Like. You. At all. I want you to stay the fuck away from me.”
“Good. Fine.”
“Fine!” I stormed off, uncaring that I’d left books scattered all over the floor. King Asshole could pick them up.
Men.
SIXTEEN
Tuesday, Cassius leaned over during a long, tedious economics lecture and asked if I could bring the file with me to their party and stay over so we could go through it at the weekend.
Wednesday, I skipped my afternoon classes and drove to the locker I rented at an out-of-town storage unit around ninety minutes’ drive away from Alstone and retrieved the file.
Thursday, I was feeling overwhelmed with everything, and I rode my borrowed bike to the castle ruins, where I spent a couple of hours trying to untangle my thoughts. Something about the fact the ruins had been standing there for hundreds of years, plus the sound of the sea against the cliffs, soothed me like nothing else.
Friday was the party…
Strolling up the pathway, arm in arm with Kinslee, my overnight bag slung across my shoulder, I had a strong sense of déjà vu. We’d turned up slightly early so I could get settled in and talk to the boys without the others being there.
So, here we were. I’d parked my car next to Caiden’s, the contrast between the two ridiculous: my tiny car with the word “whore” in huge letters, next to his perfectly buffed and polished R8. I wondered if he’d notice if I swapped our car keys…I laughed to myself, thinking about him squashed into the driver’s seat of my car. “Compact” was a generous description.
Kinslee lifted her hand to the huge metal door knocker, painted matte black and shaped like a skull, and rapped it against the door. The door swung open, and we entered the house, and I noted the security camera facing us. Knowing what I knew now, it was laughable that I’d even attempted to graffiti Caiden’s car when it was parked right outside, but at the time I couldn’t have imagined the surveillance they had going on. It wasn’t like I had any experience in that—my old university apartment block had an intercom buzzer, and that was the height of technology.
“Where’s…” Kinslee’s words trailed off on a breathy sigh as we entered the foyer and looked up the curving staircase to the landing.
The Four stood, staring down at us. They hadn’t bothered dressing up—not yet, anyway. All I saw as my eyes greedily licked over them were bare torsos, muscles, and tattoos. I wondered, not for the first time, how exactly I’d ended up involved with them.
“Come on up,” Weston called, and that shook me out of my trance. I smiled up at him and led the way up the stairs, Kinslee following behind me. As I reached the landing, my entire focus turned to Caiden, helplessly.
Shorts. A sheen of sweat on his golden, tattooed skin, muscles rippling as he stretched his arms above his head. His raven hair was all tousled like he’d been running his fingers through it, a pair of headphones around his neck.