“Is there anything you can do?” Samson asked.
I couldn’t help but feel like that was a dig at me. “I can fuck your mother so good she’ll worship me like a god.”
Hawke and Rem burst out laughing. I tried to keep glaring at Samson, but their laughter was infectious.
“Good one, Corpse,” Rem said, wiping her eyes. “But I want to draw you.”
“I don’t see how—”
“Naked,” Rem said.
I contemplated it. Not that hard, and it wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen my body already. The memory of sending that picture naked with Hawke flashed through my mind. “Fine.”
“What do you want, Hawke?” I tried to look at him, but he kept me facing the others as he played with my hair. The rhythmic motion was lulling me into a ball of safety that I just wanted to sink fully into.
“Pass.”
“This isn’t a game show,” I groaned as his fingertips massaged my scalp.
“I have to wait on what I want. Need to find a way around your no-killing thing.”
“There is no workaround.” I relaxed further, choosing to ignore the killing part of the conversation.
Hawke’s hands couldn’t be covered in blood. Even if they were, why should I care? He was nothing to me, but that didn’t feel right either.They are making things complicated.
“Samson?”
He stared at me. “I want a secret.”
Sitting up, I studied him. He looked serious. “What kind of secret?” My pulse thrummed loudly, and my fingers twitched under the table. What did he want to know?
“For every study session, I will ask you a question, and I want an honest answer.”
“And if it’s a secret I don’t want to give?”
Samson shrugged. “Then you will give something else up.”
Why did that sound so ominous? I sighed heavily and gave in. “Fine.”
He passed over a worksheet he’d been reviewing. “I see where you’re getting things mixed up. I marked all of them and explained what went wrong in your thinking process.”
I grabbed it and looked it over, readjusting on Hawke’s lap. He rested his chin on my shoulder as he kept writing next to me. Was this normal Hawke’s behavior? Glancing up, I caught Samson and Rem watching us keenly. I wanted to ask, but the last thing I wanted was for them to think I was interested in anything to do with them.
A comfortable silence settled over us as they each attempted to assist me. No one had ever helped me with my schoolwork. Not even my mother. It felt weird but also good.
I shoved down the overwhelming emotions that bubbled up inside of me. This was nothing but a study group. Except they were all doing great in their classes, and we focused solely on my problems. Warmth radiated through my chest, and I closed my eyes for a moment.
This is not the time to have a mental wall breakdown. Suck it the fuck up, Keegan.
If any of them noticed my momentary slip-up, they said nothing. “Did anyone tell Lux that Corpse was here?”
“Nope,” Hawke answered and pointed to the equation I needed to know. He’d broken it down so much a third-grader could understand. I’d be insulted if it wasn’t helpful. “You need to focus on this section first before moving on to the others. It’s just like a body. You want your prey to stay alive as long as possible.”
I side-eyed him. What in the hell went on in his head?
“Right, Samson?” Hawke asked
He nodded. “You want to cause damage but not enough to end the moment.”