But if I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the men to go back to hating me and fucking with me, there’s no indication of it on the horizon.
Setting my palette down, I rest my forehead against the cool plaster of the wall, waiting for the dizziness to pass. It begins to clear after a few more breaths, and I blink my eyes open slowly before pressing away from the wall and making my way to the couch.
My phone buzzes as I sink down onto the cushions, and a smile tugs at my lips as I glance at the screen.
I swipe to answer and raise it to my ear. “What do you want? I’m very busy making amazing pieces of art.”
“Good.” Gray’s voice is a satisfied growl, and even over the phone, it manages to travel directly to my clit. “When do I get to see them?”
“I dunno.” I stretch out sideways on the couch, letting the last of the dizziness fade from my system. “After finals?”
“That’s five days from now.”
“Yeah. Just think how excited you’ll be to see them by then.”
“I’m thinking about how excited I’ll be to tear your clothes off.”
I bite my lip, grinning up at the ceiling. “You can do that first.”
He makes a low humming noise in his throat. “I’ve never wanted finals to be over so damn bad.”
Heat pools in my belly, and I find myself nodding in agreement. “We’re close. You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” There’s a pause, then he says, “There’s a party on Friday to celebrate the end of the semester. Come with me.”
I groan. “You know my track record at Hawthorne parties isn’t great, right?”
“What are you saying, Sparrow? Are you planning to strip naked at this party too?”
“No.” I snort. “I think my stripping days are behind me, thanks.”
“Good.” His voice drops a little lower. “Fuck, the minute I realized what you were doing, I started getting hard. By the time you kicked off those sexy black panties, I thought I would fucking die. Part of me wanted to murder every wide-eyed asshole in the room just for looking at you.”
“And the other part?” I ask, tugging my bottom lip between my teeth.
“The other part of me wanted to bend you over and fuck you in front of all of them. To eat your hot little cunt until you screamed my name so loud everyone in the goddamn house heard you.”
My entire lower half throbs, and I press my legs together, trying to ease a little of the ache between my thighs. “Jesus. You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
His chuckle is dark as sin. “No more than you’re trying to kill me, Sparrow. Friday?”
“Friday,” I agree.
We ha
ng up, and I say a silent little prayer that the week will fly by.
I know I’ll see Gray and the other two men plenty in between now and then, but I’m actually getting excited for the winter break. I want to spend some time with them without having to worry about classes or studying or anything Hawthorne-related.
Cliff’s face still sports fading bruises, and although he hasn’t said a word to me since he returned to campus after his attempted assault, he and the other Saints shoot baleful glares in my direction from time to time. Caitlin, too, seems to hate me more than ever—probably because the whole campus knows by now that Gray and I are regularly sleeping together.
I try not to let the assholes and haters get to me, but the truth is, I’m ready for a break from it all.
And as it turns out, my prayer is answered. The week is so crammed full of tests and last-minute studying that it whips by in a blur. Before I know it, I’m walking out of my last final, feeling like a thousand pound weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Look at that. I made it through my first semester of college. And held my own at an elite, fancy-ass private school, no less.
A little swell of pride fills my chest, and Max bumps my shoulder with hers as we walk across campus toward our dorms, like she knows what I’m thinking.