“Sit on my face then. Alright, my queen. I’ll drop it with the fresh meat. It’s good to have you back running this place with us.”
“Sweet talker,” I mumbled, but gave him an appreciative smile.
Jade looked confused as fuck, but she thankfully kept her questions to herself.
Morning classes passed quickly, and by lunchtime I knew everyone was talking about me.
Big fucking surprise.
I wandered into the cafeteria and headed towards my usual table, finding Caden and Tyler towering over Jade as she clutched her lunch with angry hands.
She looked ready to punch them both, and I’d almost pay to see the looks on their faces.
I sighed as Tyler barked something nasty at Jade, who snapped back instantly.
Caden seemed to be enjoying the argument, because he got in her face with his famous cruel smirk and flexed his fists.
He’d never hit one of the girls, but newbies didn’t know that.
People were all laughing at whatever was going on between them, but they all went dead silent when I walked over and spoke, my voice flat but demanding.
“Holloway, back off.”
He scowled at the interruption until he realized it was me, then a smirk took over his face.
“Hey, baby. Don’t you worry about this. Go and sit down with your lunch and…”
“I said, back the fuck off. You alright, Red?” I asked, surprising everyone within ear shot.
Caden and Tyler gave me a strange look as if I’d grown two heads, but I jerked my chin for Jade to follow me to the table so we could eat lunch together.
Caden stalked behind us, standing opposite me at the table as I sat down and pulled Jade down beside me.
He scowled, a seriously unimpressed look on his handsome face.
“Rory, what the fuck are you doing?”
I met his angry green eyes and gave him a one-shouldered shrug.
“Eating lunch.”
He gritted his teeth at my sarcasm, his eyes flicking over Jade angrily before looking back at me.
“You know what I fucking mean. We don’t just let anyone sit up here and…”
“Like I told Jense this morning. You guys all took me in, so now I’m doing the same for Jade. She doesn’t deserve to be bullied either, so drop it. Save it for Claire’s fucking posse.”
“You’re serious?” He asked, annoyance thick in his voice, but he knew he’d lose if he continued to argue with me.
I pointed to the seat in front of him, giving him a no-nonsense expression.
“As a heart attack, Holloway. Now sit down and stop picking on girls,” I ordered, stuffing my sandwich into my mouth and waiting for the others to all sit down and eat.
Lukas kept glaring at me, but I ignored him.
He was still pretending to hate me, but I wasn’t going to cause a scene at school over it.
I glanced down the table, speaking to Tyler with curiosity.
“I haven’t seen Claire today. Have you?”
He smirked, leaning back and crossing his arms against his chest.
His bicep muscles bulged slightly with the movement, making me want to run my tongue over them.
“Yeah, I have. Trust me, she’s seen you and bolted plenty today. She thinks you’re out to get her because of the bullshit that went down with Mandy.”
“I am out to get her,” I muttered, downing some water angrily, but Caden sighed and reached across the table to take my hand.
“Hey, leave it a little while until shit settles, okay? Besides, you have a visitor who looks way too fucking happy to see you.”
I glanced over my shoulder and smirked as Skeeter sauntered towards us, making a possessive show of grabbing my throat and kissing the life out of me.
He made room for himself beside me and threw a tattooed arm around my shoulders lazily.
“Hey, baby girl. Staying out of trouble?”
The guys all snorted, and he raised an amused eyebrow.
“I take that as a no? Who’s the lost puppy?”
I rolled my eyes, not surprised he’d spotted Jade so quickly.
She kind of stood out with her bright red hair.
“Skeet, this is Jade. I saved her from the clutches of the bullies.”
Caden muttered under his breath, but Skeeter laughed.
“You? Saving people? Babe, you hate people.”
“I also hate it when people are bullied that don’t deserve it,” I replied, patting his chest more firmly than necessary.
I’d probably pay for it when he got me alone.
When Jensen took my hand, Lukas snorted and stood, storming off without a word like a fucking drama queen.
I assumed that he and Jensen had sorted their shit out, but Lukas obviously wasn’t thrilled to have me back in the picture.
Jade frowned, giving me a look of confusion.
“Is he okay?”
Jensen sighed, but I gave her a small smile.
“Word of advice? Don’t ask questions.”
She nodded, finishing her lunch in silence, but Skeeter spoke up with amusement in his voice.
“So, did you guys know that Rory fucked one of Hunter’s friends in lock up? That bitch is as mean as she is, mind you.”
Caden choked on his drink, but Tyler laughed loudly.
Too fucking loudly.
“You fucked a girl in prison?! Who?!”
People glanced over at his outburst, and Caden elbowed him in the ribs hard to remind him we were in public.
“My bunk buddy who did my tattoos while I was in there,” I shrugged, earning a strange look from Caden.
“You seriously got prison tats?”
“You’ll see next time you strip her off,” Skeeter winked, making Jade frown.
“Isn’t she with you?”
Caden levelled his gaze on hers, giving her a nasty smirk that caused her eyes to widen a fraction.
“What did Rory just say about asking fucking questions?”
I took pity on her as she started looking tense, and I shot Caden a dirty look as I spoke to her.
“Ignore him, he just needs to get laid. Which won’t happen if he keeps being a prick.”
Jade still seemed confused, but I gave her a small smile and changed the subject.
“You wanna come hang out at mine? You don’t have classes this afternoon, do you?”
“No, I think I’m done for the day. You wouldn’t mind?” She asked, her body relaxing slightly.
“Not at all, c’mon. Holloway, is your mom home?” I grinned.
Caden frowned, not appearing at all impressed by the direction the conversation had taken.
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m using your pool,” I grinned wider, standing and waiting for Jade to follow.
I wasn’t surprised in the slightest when the others all did too.
They wouldn’t want a stranger in Caden’s house, even with me there to keep an eye on her.
Lukas
Without Rory around for those couple of months, Jensen and I had been pretty happy together.
I knew things would change the moment she came back, but I didn’t think half the problems would come from me.
I wanted to keep trying to hate her, but it was ripping me apart.
Watching her and Jensen together made me realize that I could lose both of them again, and I couldn’t handle that shit.
When Rory had been arrested, Jensen had raced up my driveway and literally thrown himself at me the moment I’d met him in the kitchen.