I nodded. "For sure. Come by the house? Kody will be training Arch until dinnertime, so we can—"
"Perv over their insanely hot bodies while they wrestle around on the ground, all sweaty and delicious?" Bree beamed at me like a damn shithead. I glared, and she nodded enthusiastically. "I'll take that look as agreement. Catch you later, babe." She hurried out of the dining hall, snickering to herself, and I rolled my eyes.
I knew she was just teasing, but apparently, I was also turning into a jealous psychopath because I wanted to threaten her with permanent blindness.
Standing up and picking up my own bag, I started at the sound of a voice behind me.
"Shouldn't you be in class, Miss Danvers?"
My bag almost knocked my can of Coke flying, but Professor Barker's hand shot out and grabbed it just in time.
"Uh, I had a fifteen-minute gap in my schedule," I told him, carefully taking the can from his outstretched hand. "Thanks."
He just smiled at me, but it wasn't a professional sort of smile. It was too intense, too interested, too... creepy.
"Well, that works out well. I wondered if I might speak with you in my office?" He held his arm out, indicating that I should walk with him out of the dining hall, but my mental danger-meter was beeping like crazy.
Giving him a tight smile, I shouldered my bag properly and ducked away from his reach. "Sorry, my next class starts now. I need to get going."
My professor's eyes narrowed slightly, then his expression faded into a watery smile. "Of course. I'll be sure to catch you again another time."
Something about the way he emphasized catch made my heart pound with nervousness. Surely he didn't mean... No, not Professor Barker. He was just a run-of-the-mill predator professor. Nothing more than that.
I nodded with a noncommittal smile and hurried out of the dining hall, tossing my Coke in the recycling on my way out. Call me crazy, but I was more than a little suspicious of anyone even remotely touching my food or drinks.
"Good gossip session?"
I jumped so hard I almost screamed, then whirled around and punched Archer straight in the chest. And immediately regretted it because, holy crap, his chest was hard.
"What the fuck, you lurker?" I demanded, cradling my now injured hand.
He just fucking laughed at me while rubbing the spot I'd hit. "You don't have a terrible punch on you, Princess. Maybe you should let me show you a thing or two..." His brows dipped suggestively, and I backed up a couple of steps.
"Uh-huh, I just bet you'd love that. A little bit of ground and pound, huh?" I gave him a knowing smirk, and he answered it with his own.
He gave a pained groan. "Hearing you talk dirty with MMA terms is unfair, baby girl. You're lucky I'm not dragging you into a supply closet and fucking you stupid right now."
My pulse raced. "Why haven't you?"
His teasing smile evaporated, and the look he gave me in its wake was dead-set caring. "Because you're afraid of small spaces, Kate." He reached out, twisting one of my braids around his fist to pull me closer for a kiss that was shockingly tender. "Now, get to class and learn things."
Archer released me and sauntered down the hall to his own class like he hadn't just blown my fucking mind and left me with a damp patch in my pants. Fucker.
The next couple of days passed pretty smoothly, all things considered. Bree came over that first afternoon to catch up on my weekend with Archer, but we ended up doing exactly what she'd joked about. Except with cocktails.
I had to hand it to her, watching Kody and Archer punch, kick, and wrestle each other in their home version of an octagon was insanely great entertainment. Especially after Steele became our personal bartender.
Bree enjoyed it so much that the next day she turned up with Dallas in tow, offering him up as a new sparring partner for Archer.
Shockingly, the boys were fine with this arrangement—probably because they’d known Archer would hand Dallas his ass, but my old friend didn't make it an easy win for him.
Come Wednesday, I'd evidently avoided Scott as long as I possibly could. He was waiting for me outside my second-to-last lecture of the day and looked all kinds of pissed off.
"Oh good, you are alive," he sneered when I stopped dead in front of him.
"Don't be dramatic, Scott," I replied with a flat glare. "I need to get to my psychology lecture. Can we talk later?"
His nostrils flared, and he grabbed my arm in a bruising grip before I could take off. "No, Maddie, we can't talk later because you'll just avoid me again." His grip tightened as he tried to drag me along the hall, but I dug my heels in, resisting.
"Scott," I snapped in a harsh tone, "let me fucking go. This is not okay."
There were enough students around that my demand drew attention, and Scott's cheeks heated with embarrassment under their curious stares. Still, he didn't release my arm.
"Scott," I hissed, harder this time. "Let. Go."
His eyes darted around at our audience, and he reluctantly peeled his fingers from my upper arm, where he was sure to have left bruises. Great. Now I'd have to explain that to my three overprotective shadows.
Scott let out a long breath, but his whole body radiated anger as he glared at me. "Maddie, I want to talk to you in private for five fucking minutes. Is that seriously so much to ask for? I transferred schools for you."
Annoyance flared inside me. "I never asked you to do that, Scott. And I don't have five minutes to give you right now; I'm late for my psychology lecture, so just..." I shook my head, wanting to say just leave me the hell alone.
"Just what?" he snapped, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "Just stand back and watch my girl get used by three guys who think they own this fucking city? They don't even care about you, Maddie. You're just the latest in their long line of desperate sluts, and the second they're done fucking you, they'll toss you aside for the next tight cunt to catch their attention."
Smack.
As it turned out, I would need to skip psychology anyway. My hand needed ice from punching Archer earlier and now from popping Scott in the face.
"What the fuck?" Scott roared, clapping his hand to his face where my punch had landed. I made a mental note to send Cass a text, thanking him. I doubted I could have hit half as hard a couple of weeks ago.
The other students who'd gathered around to witness our argument all cheered and whistled at my punch, but I was just furious.
"Next time you call me a desperate slut," I told Scott in a low voice, not even caring who overheard, "I'll cut your fucking dick off. Now leave me the fuck alone."
I spun on my heel, pushing past a couple of cheering jocks on my way to the exit. My step faltered, though, when I spotted Steele storming toward me with a face like an avenging angel.
"I took care of it," I told him quickly as he reached me. He clearly wanted to go past me and deliver some hard truths to Scott himself, but I blocked his way with my body, looping my arms around his neck. "Max, babe? I need ice for my hand. Help me out?"
He scowled but huffed a sigh and nodded. "I'll kill that fucker later, then. Come on, I'll take you home early."