Jaws became firm, more stares, mostly toward Victor, for daring to cross a line they themselves had probably told themselves they wouldn’t. Not yet. Not when she’s gone through so much. Kota felt the heat rising to his face, knowing that while he pushed those same thoughts from his mind, he was always thinking of it.
And he couldn’t blame them. She was beautiful, sweet, and they’d all be idiots not to want to get closer.
Mr. Blackbourne didn’t have to say it. They could go on dates with girls they met if they wanted to. The problem usually came from the girls they asked out. Academy members often had to disappear because of Academy business, sometimes for as long as a week, and had to lie to cover that up. Most girls couldn’t understand and didn’t trust them. Often enough, the guys were flat out too busy to date anyone.
They could date other Academy girls, as many Academy members sometimes resorted to doing, but most of the local Academy girls weren’t to his taste. He’d dated a couple, but it was short lived. He knew the others sometimes had done so, on and off, but they mostly had the same reaction.
And there were so few Academy girls that they were often taken.
Now they had Sang. Sang was an exception. She knew about the Academy, and she willingly accepted their absences and excuses. She was the only one who had gotten so close. Part of it was because she needed it. And she was so vulnerable. One look at her and you could tell what she wanted without her saying so. Didn’t she say she was lonely the night before and stayed with Nathan because of it? She preferred to be with them, even when given the choice to be alone. That meant something, Kota knew. Kota wondered if she would have gone to him if he had been around.
If she had an avoidant personality, like Mr. Blackbourne said, she was breaking through it. She was starting to call them for what she needed. She didn’t reach for his hand, he always had to reach for hers, however, she seemed to be warming up to them. He thought showing up at Nathan’s house when she felt lonely showed she wanted to break through that isolation.
“This is the problem,” Mr. Blackbourne said. He jabbed his finger at the table to make his point. “Supply and demand. There’s nine of us and one of her. What happens when more than one person develops feelings, and possibly false feelings, towards her? I’ll say what. Anger and resentment and jealousy.”
“That’s not what’s going to happen,” Gabriel grumbled.
“It’s already happening,” Mr. Blackbourne snapped, striking his finger in the air at Gabriel. “You’re already fighting over who gets to spend the night with her. You’re breaking cover while on missions to text her or respond to her calls. That girl has the power to bring us all to a crashing burn. Everything we’ve established, all the things we’ve done, and it can be over in a moment because of her.”
“We don’t have to let it happen,” Dr. Green interjected.
“No, we don’t have to let it,” Mr. Blackbourne’s voice rose. “Because it’s stopping right now.”
“We’re not getting rid of her,” Kota said.
“That’s not what I mean,” Mr. Blackbourne flashed those silver eyes at Kota’s face. “I mean everyone being mature about this and not taking things too far with her.”
“If we stop some things, she’s going to notice,” North said. “We’ve been holding her hand. I know the rest of you do it. If we back off of that, she might not understand.”
“This is what’s going to happen,” Mr. Blackbourne barked, his order-giving voice dominating over the others. It was the voice Kota often tried to replicate. “You follow the rules, or you bow out of anything to do with her on a group level. It’s the only way this can work out. As I see it, there’s only one option. Stop where you are, and don’t go any further with her.”
“How the hell do you come up with this shit?” Gabriel called out. “What do you mean?”
“It’s real simple, Mr. Coleman. No one is allowed to become romantically involved at all. Unless you want to risk scaring her, you’ll stop at whatever place you are with her. And you’ll have to deal with the others still holding her hand and going from whatever level they’ve already established.”
“You mean sharing her?” North said, his head reeling back as he glanced around. “With all of us?”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “If you can all agree to share her attention, it might be the only way for her to trust us. You also can’t date anyone else right now. She’s too susceptible. It’s a complicated situation now and bringing another bird into the picture could make her back off permanently.”
To Kota, that wasn’t a problem. Ever since he’d met Sang in person and gotten to know her, she was all he’d thought about. He’d taken fewer side assignments just to be around her. He wasn’t interested in anyone else.
Dr. Green stood next to Mr. Blackbourne. “It’s too early to try to date her now, anyway. Feelings are running wild because she’s new, she’s vulnerable and everyone wants to try to protect her and include her. She may discover she doesn’t want to be with us later. That’s her choice. If she chooses to stay with us, you’d want to make sure it is her true desire to stay with us and not because she feels it’s her only option.”
Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “Unless we’re willing to approach the Academy and they want to draw her into another group. If they were going to do it, they’d need to do so right now to start establishing trust. I’m not totally opposed to it if it means her safety is assured, but I have a feeling I’d be outvoted in this.”
Kota sighed, running his fingers through his hair. This wasn’t at all what he pictured this meeting to be about.
Part of him was tempted to go back and talk to her. Maybe he could run off with her. That didn’t seem right, either. For one, he wasn’t sure she would. The other thing was, he couldn’t abandon his family. He cared about her, but he loved his brothers, too. He’d sworn his life to them.
Maybe he should have kept her to himself. It was too late now.
“So it comes down to this,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “You can share her or not, that’s up to you. You’ll have to come to terms with what that means on your own. Until a time when she’s less vulnerable and we’ve got her in a safe position, we have to establish some ground rules.
As far as holding her hand and touching, you can take her as far as she’s allowed you so far, but every next step she has to initiate herself. Has she kissed anyone yet?”
“No,” a few of them said at the same time. Eyes darted across the table for someone to disagree with this statement, but it was pretty obvious. They’d had this argument already. Sang’s revelation at the sleepover made it clear no one had tried and in the last couple of days, no one would have attempted it.
“Good,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Her
e’s the rules. No one is to touch her further than already established. Let me make that clear. Holding hands, fine. Letting her sit in your lap, fine. Anything platonic, that you’d do to a sister, fine. Beyond that, she has to make the first move. That means any touch, kiss, everything.”
“But she’s never done it before,” Gabriel said. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Which is why this is important,” Mr. Blackbourne said, touching the brim of his glasses. “It’s the only way you will be able to establish if she really wanted to or if she’s just letting you to please you. If she makes the first move, you’ll know.”
“What about dating?” Victor asked.
“You can take her out, but I prefer you did it with a group or in a public place. If you want something more private, she has to tell you what she wants. Just remember, though, if you’re taking her out, you have to allow the rest of us, too. We need time to get to know her anyway.”
“So we can kiss her and stuff if she says we can?” Gabriel asked.
Kota’s eyes flared. He wanted to kiss her? He stared off at the table, biting his tongue, but his ears strained to hear the answer. He’d wanted to ask the same question.
Mr. Blackbourne shook a finger at Gabriel. “You can’t goad her into telling you she wants to. I mean it. No tricks. No trying to talk her into it.”
Silas cleared his throat for attention. “What about spending the night? We’ve already done that. She prefers when we sleep next to her.”
Mr. Blackbourne frowned. “Why am I answering questions as if you’re all looking for a way to get around the rules and date her? You can’t all date her.”
Kota leaned against the table, putting his head in his hands. Was he ready for this? He’d been putting the thoughts off for a few weeks... or a month? How long has it been since he first started watching Sang?
He loved his Academy family. They meant everything to him. For years they’ve supported each other. They shared a lot. Now they were sharing Sang’s attention. How far was this going to go? Would he have to fight off the others?