“How are you feeling?” she asks, as I sit down next to her, and she pulls out the text books and mock exam questions.
“Nervous, in a few short weeks all this will come to a head, and I’ll find out if I’ve done enough. Okay, maybe nervous doesn’t quite cover it.” I laugh weakly, as she smiles at me.
“You’re going to be fine, girl. You’ve got this. Soon, we’ll be graduating and then no more Academy. I can get back to the life I want to live, and you can start a bakery. The one that always brings a smile to your face every time you talk about it.”
“Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.” She gives me a fist bump, before we get set to work.
The weeks pass in a blur of preparation, mock tests, movie nights with D and Caitlyn, and trying to support Elena. Not to mention sharing my nights with Emmet, Aeron, and Thallon. Tucker always grabs a few hours during the day, and although it’s hard to not see him as much, I’m still happy with the few hours we get together.
“Star, over here,” Em calls, as I go to drop my food at my regular table. With finals next week, I thought I’d be able to spend my meals with D and Caitlyn, to try and get as much time with them as I can. Guess he has other ideas.
I walk over, before placing my plate beside his. He doesn’t let me sit beside him though, instead he pulls me into his lap, and rests his head on my shoulder.
“Hey, Em,” I say softly, with a bright smile, only slightly forced. I meant what I said, I don’t need him to say it back, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt though. Guess I lied when I said I was okay with unrequited love.
“Hello, my Star. You ready for next week?” he asks, as his fingers trail up the inside of my thigh, but he doesn’t go too high, and I appreciate that.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I lean my head against his, and shoot a smile at my other guys. Thallon’s the only one who doesn’t return it, but I can’t take it personally.
“Hey, Em,” Seven calls, from a table not far from ours, batting her lashes, as his grip tightens.
Sin snickers, as Tucker watches on with interest. I’m not sure what's about to happen, but I squeak as Em stands up and drops me down into his seat.
He stalks over to the table, and doesn’t even bother to keep his voice low, as he spins her chair around, and tips her out of it.
“Don’t ever call me that again, you cheap ass whore,” he growls, before he looks at every girl, one at a time. “Only one woman is allowed to call me that, because I’m fucking hers. Do I make myself clear, or do I need to make my point easier to understand?”
“N-no, I’m s-sorry. I d-didn’t know.” The girl looks as though she’s either going to start crying or piss herself at the dark look he’s giving her. She scurries up from the floor, and darts out of the room.
He smirks as he comes back over to us, picks me up, and settles me back down onto his lap. That seems a little uncalled for to me, she didn’t know that it was a term of endearment. It doesn’t mean I want anyone else to call him that, but he didn’t have to scare her.
“What’s wrong, Star?” He glides a finger over my cheek, and along my jawline, drawing out a shiver in response.
“Maybe she’s not happy about the way you just overreacted. Not that you would care if you insulted Vanilla’s feelings. Right, Emmet?” Thallon smiles wide, but it doesn’t hit his eyes.
“Stay out of it, no one was asking you,” Em growls, and I concentrate on my plate, hating the level of animosity between the two.
“Is that true, Star? You don’t approve of my reaction?”
“I have no opinion on it,” I say quietly, and he scoffs. Yeah, I don’t believe that either, but I don’t want to make a scene.
“So much for a Harkwright girl. They’d never be too scared to tell you to rein your bullshit attitude in,” Scott laughs hard, and I cut my eyes to him. Wondering if he knows about Elena. She hasn’t mentioned it, and I haven’t asked.
“Maybe that’s because she has more respect then the rest of them,” Sin drawls, and I look at him through my lashes.
“Yeah, sure. That's the reason.” Laughter rings out, and I can feel the growl reverberating through Emmet’s chest, so I link my hands with his on my hips, bringing his arms around until his hands are on my stomach.
I can feel him start to relax, and I’m glad I was able to stop him from hurting anyone else. I don’t know how Elena would feel if she saw Scott getting beat on. Plus, there’s already too much violence in this world and this place, without us adding even more.
“Come on, I’ll walk you to class.” We get up, and he threads our hands together. Someone plays the whipped sound on their phone, the room goes silent, and I know I’m not the only one whose mouth is hanging open as Emmet laughs.
“Proud to be,” he breathes into my ear, before claiming my mouth with his, and leading me away.
We head towards my class, before he pins me against the wall, holding me in place with his body, caging me in with his arms placed either side of my head.
“I know you don’t approve of the way I handled Seven, but only you can call me that. They have to know what will happen if they try it again.” He kisses across my jawline, and my eyes flutter closed.
“I know, I’m just hoping no one else will get hurt before we leave.” I gasp as his hand falls between us, disappearing into the waistband of my skirt.
I should stop him, I don’t want anyone to catch us, so why can’t I push him away?
He steps away with a glint in his eyes, before dropping a kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“I meant it you know, I am yours.” He swaggers off, and my heart feels as though it’s never going to slow down.
I get back to my room to find Sin and Thallon squaring off. I roll my eyes, as I drop my bag by the door, and pop my hands on my hips.
“What’s the matter now?”
“Tonight is mine, and he won’t fuck off,” Sin says flippantly, not taking his eyes off Thallon.
“Why should I? You slept in here with Emmet not long ago, that gave you an extra night.” Thallon smirks, and I shake my head.
“Well, can you sort this out somewhere else? I really need to study,” I walk between them, and they both grab one of my hands.
“You choose,” Thallon says, and Sin nods his head.
“No way, I am not choosing between you two. That’s just asking for trouble. You work it out, and let me know what you decide.” I pull my hands free, and pat them both on the cheek, before settling down on the sofa.
“Why don’t we both stay?” I spin around to look at Thallon, but he isn’t smiling. Fuck, is he being serious?
“I wasn’t exactly planning on keeping this night PG,” Sin blurts out, rubbing at his neck.
“Neither am I, but I’m not leaving. So either you do, or we figure out a way to make this work.”
They both look at me again, and I think they might have broken my brain.
“I’m not sleeping with both of you, I know what goes down in the books, but I’m not sure I can do something like that.” I chew on my lip as I look between them both. “I’ve never even thought about it,” I squeak out. Liar.