His jaw clenched, though, and his eyes hardened with anger. I stifled a sigh. He hadn't even remotely learned his lesson.
"Scott..." I groaned, ruffling my fingers through my hair in frustration.
"I'm fine," he growled with an edge of anger. "I just tripped and face-planted into a wall."
I rolled my eyes. Fell into a wall. Like how Bark had fallen into his car door a few months ago? What a shocker.
"Dude," Bree commented with a snicker, "you forget to transfer your brain here with your body or something? Did you listen to nothing MK said about how dangerous those three are?"
Scott just scowled and folded his arms.
I drew a deep breath, thinking, then released it in a heavy sigh. "Okay, here's how it is. I'm not putting you in harm’s way for my own revenge plans. You got off fucking lucky with that." I indicated to his bruised face. "And I have no interest in being responsible for worse."
His brow dropped lower, and I didn't miss the way he flinched in pain when it pulled on his bruising. "Are you trying to say we can't be friends? Because that's bullshit, Maddie. They're fucking criminals and abusers, and you shouldn't let them get away with that shit. Babe, they lied to you for how long? And used you for sex all that time. They deserve to see you move on and be happy without them."
I flinched at his oversimplified version of events. It wasn't that cut and dry. They hadn't used me... no more than I had used them. I'd gone into those sexual relationships knowing full well they were hiding shit from me. I’d known all along that one day it'd all come crashing down around me and did it anyway. So no. They hadn’t used me. But they had betrayed me and broken my heart. And that was a thousand times worse in my book.
"I didn't say we can't be friends, Scott," I replied, carefully calm so I didn't shatter into a million pieces all over the library floor. "but you can't play this fake boyfriend card. It's going to get you killed."
His chin tilted with stubborn pride, and I groaned inwardly. He wasn't going to make this easy. "So, what if it wasn't fake?" he pushed, a glimmer of excitement in his hazel eyes. "Be my girlfriend for real. You deserve someone who treats you better, Maddie."
Bree shifted in her seat and cringed when I shot her a glance. "This is awkward," she whispered. "I should really go and leave you to discuss this alone."
She didn't though.
I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my forehead. Like I seriously needed another pig-headed, stubborn-ass, prideful male in my life.
"Scott," I said finally, sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time. "No. I thought I was super clear about this when we met. I'm not interested in dating anyone right now. My life is way too complicated." Not to mention I'm still legally married.
Of course, I hadn't told him that part. Even when I’d been drunk and spilling my whole story, I couldn't voice that part out loud. That my father had sold me. That I’d been bought and paid for, property of Archer D'Ath.
Nope, even thinking it made me almost break out in hives. I'd just told him that they'd been hiding a life-changing secret and left it at that.
Scott wasn't backing down easily, though. "Maddie, I just want to be there for you," he said with a hurt frown. "You're so much better than those muscle-bound idiots. You need someone who respects you and worships you. I could be that guy."
Frustration took control of my tongue. "No, you can't."
Scott sat back, looking like I'd slapped him, and Bree let out a sound that seriously wasn't helping the situation.
"I just mean," I continued, trying to smooth over that clear insult, "I don't want you getting hurt. Look what happened this morning, for fuck’s sake! You got off easy, too. I half expected to find you in the hospital when I heard they'd already gotten their hands on you." Scott opened his mouth to argue again, and I shook my head. "No, I'm serious, Scott. This is my mess to deal with. I don't want your life on my conscience just to make them jealous. Because that's all it'd be." I hammered that point home with a steady stare.
His frown deepened. "Well, that's not your choice, Maddie. If I want to do my part to help you make them pay, then that's my decision to make and my risk to take." He folded his arms again, and the look on his face was pure determination.
Fuck me.
I shot a glance at Bree, seeking help, but she just shrugged. "I say go for it," she offered with a smile. "You've warned him enough; if he still wants to stick his neck on the line to make your boys crazy with jealousy, then fucking let him."
I groaned. That wasn't what I'd been looking for from her. "Scott, they could literally kill you and clean it up so no one would ever know. This isn't some sort of game."
"And you've made this all perfectly clear, Maddie. I'm aware of the risks, and I still want to help. And who knows, maybe you'll realize I'm the right guy for you along the way." His smile was joking, but his eyes... not so much.
I shook my head. "This is a terrible idea."
Somehow, I convinced Bree and Scott to take lunch off campus with me, avoiding any more tense run-ins with the guys. After my last class of the day ended, I found all three of them lurking in the parking lot. Scott wouldn’t finish for another hour, but thank fuck Bree was with me. She did exactly what I’d thought about doing a thousand times over the past four weeks.
“D’Ath,” she snapped, storming up to him where he lazed against the side of his car. I wasn’t dumb enough to think it a coincidence that he’d ended up parked right beside Bree. Not when he had his own reserved space directly in front of the main building.
Archer cocked a brow at Bree, giving her a dismissive once over. And then she punched him in the face.
It was utterly brilliant. He hadn’t seen it coming, so he made no attempt to dodge the strike. Her balled fist hit him straight in the eye, but then it was Bree who howled in pain because my poor, foolish friend had no idea how to throw a punch.
“What the fuck, Brianna?” Archer roared, clapping a hand to his face and glaring with his other eye.
Bree was moaning and clutching her hand to her chest but gave it a break to glare back at him. “You know you deserve worse, Archer,” she snarled back at him. “Be thankful it wasn’t your balls.”
Steele and Kody just stared, shocked and way too amused.
I mean, I understood. I was barely containing laughter myself.
“Come on, Bree,” I said, giving up on concealing the laughter in my voice. “Let’s go. I’ll get you some ice for that hand at my place.” I took the keys from her pocket and unlocked her car, holding the door open in a clear message to hurry the fuck up.
“Your place?” Kody repeated, his amusement dissolving with a frown.
I gritted my teeth and refused to answer him. Kody was too fucking good at sliding past my defenses. Too good at cracking my resolve to ice them all out of my life. Permanently.
“Bree,” I said when my friend just gave me panicked rabbit eyes and clutched her hand to her chest. “Come on, let’s go.”
She cringed. “I don’t think I can drive, girl. My hand really hurts.” Her voice was tight with pain, and as she spoke her eyes welled up with tears.