by Lila Rose
“Got it.” Only then I realized that Lucas didn’t know that Death knew. I wasn’t sure how Lucas would take it. All I could imagine was him bumbling over his words while blushing and maybe growling in the back of his throat when he got frustrated. Smiling to myself, I knew no matter, I couldn’t wait to see him.
Looked like what I’d told him would be out the window soon. I’d told him I wanted to keep it between us while we got to know one another, yet Death knew, soon West would, and fuckface. At least with Death there, we’d be able to scare the others shitless to keep their mouths shut before Saint got between us with his threats. I wanted us to be stronger before that happened because I didn’t want to worry that Lucas would listen to his brother.
Chapter Fourteen
Lucas
“Why do you keep looking over at the door?” West asked while we waited for the rest of the group.
Because my, ah, boyfriend was going to show and probably make Gregory pee himself. I wanted to speak with Gregory as soon as he showed before Wade arrived. I just prayed Gregory would get there first.
“Um, no reason. Just waiting on the others,” I told West. A hand stopped me bouncing my pen up and down on the table. I looked down and then up to West.
“You’re nervous. Why? Is it because of Gregory? I thought the date went well. Unless… are you excited to see him?”
I laughed nervously. “I wouldn’t say excited. I think I might throw up.”
“Did he do something?”
“No! He was fine. It’s all fine, and we will be fine.”
“That’s a lot of fine. Lucas, you’re scaring me. What’s going on? And why are you wearing a turtleneck in here? It doesn’t get that cold.”
Right, why was I wearing one? Because my boyfriend—there was that giddy feeling in my stomach at that word—left his mark on my body, and I had to hide it. Which made me all types of buttery on the inside because he felt he had to leave me marked.
“I just thought, since it’s cold outside, it might be in here.”
West looked at me like I was an alien. “How many times have you been here in the winter and it’s not freezing enough for a turtleneck?”
“Well—”
“Hey, sorry I’m late. Lani can’t make it either,” Gregory announced, and I yelped at the sudden new voice to the table. Then when he dipped down as if to kiss me, I pulled back so fast my chair tipped, and I fell on the floor.
“Ow,” I moaned.
“Shit, are you okay?” Gregory asked.
West was too busy laughing to get up and help me. Gregory held his hand out toward me, but I didn’t take it. I got to my feet slowly, knowing I probably resembled a lobster.
“Sorry about that,” I offered Gregory.
“Have I done something?” he asked, reaching out to take my hand. I went to pull it back, but I felt terribly guilty for my actions already. It wasn’t Gregory’s fault. I was the one being an ass and dating Wade instead of him. Especially when I’d kissed Gregory a week ago, and we’d shared a small peck on campus about four days ago. He’d even had his arm around my seat in class like we had been dating.
My stomach twisted in an ugly way for the way I was.
“No, it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry,” I said, taking his hand. I glanced at West. “Can you give us a moment, please?”
He was busy holding his belly from the laughing he was still doing. He nodded, got up, and walked off into an aisle.
Gregory and I sat. Gregory took my hand again, and I glanced at the doors. I didn’t know what time Wade would show, but what I did know was that Wade would definitely show.
“Um, look, I, ah, there’s no easy way saying this, but I think I’ve led you to believe we’re something more than what I saw it as, and I’m so sorry about it. I didn’t mean to. I would hate to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
Oh, dear God, he looked like he was about to cry.
“Lucas,” West said behind me.
I squeezed Gregory’s hand and looked down at the table because I didn’t want to see the hurt on his face anymore. “Gregory, please forgive me, but I can’t. We won’t…. I’m not looking at dating anyone right now….” A throat cleared. “Actually, that’s not true, and I want to be honest with you. I am seeing someone. It was unexpected, but… um, you see, I… he was an ass just before we went out, and then he redeemed himself and now… well, I’m kind of stuck on him.”
“Lucas,” West hissed. He even pinched my side.
I glanced up and over my shoulder, glaring at West. His head tipped to the side a couple of times. I shifted around in my seat to look and froze.
Dang it all.
Wade and Death stood there. One glared, and the other grinned down at me.
I wheezed a little, then coughed, and finally asked, “How much did you hear?”
“I think we arrived at the table just in time to hear all of it.” Death smirked.
“You want to release him now?” Wade growled.
My hand was dropped like it was on fire, and I looked back at Gregory to see him staring up at Wade and Death like they were soul suckers coming to take him to hell.
“Ah, hi!” I said cheerily. “How are you both? West, do you remember Wade, I mean Wreck and Death? You remember them, right?” I nudged West in the leg with my elbow.
“Sure,” West drew out. “Except I haven’t met Death before.”
Death’s hand came out, and West shook it. “Nice to meet ya.” Death nodded.
“Likewise. But can I ask why you two are in the college library?” He paused, and I could feel him look from Wade to me, to Wade and back again. “Hang on, are you and—”
“Lucas,” Wade said, still in a growly tone, and if I didn’t lock my body down, I would have shivered because it reminded me of the noises he’d made while coming.
“Uh, Lucas, you’re burning up there,” West said before laughing quietly.
“Right, um…” I stood. “Anyway, it was great to see you both, but we’re just going to study.” I nodded and rested my hands against Wade’s chest to push him back. He didn’t move.
Instead, he took hold of my arm and moved me to the side where Death spun me to stand behind him. I peeked around to see Death was no longer smiling.
Wade leaned forward, resting his fists onto the table. “You understand what Lucas said?”
Gregory nodded.
“Wade,” I snapped low.
“Good. He didn’t mean to lead you on. I fucked up with him, but now I know I want him, and he wants me. What you gotta understand is I don’t like anyone to fuck with what’s mine. I don’t like anyone to touch what’s mine. Lucas is mine.”
“Holy shit, this is awesome,” West said.
“All right.” Gregory nodded.
“Wade,” I bit out.
“Shh,” West said to me.
Wade leaned in more, and Gregory whimpered in fear. “Saw you outside before.” Gregory’s eyes widened. “Call him here.” Gregory gulped. “Now,” Wade ordered.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
When Gregory didn’t move, Wade hit the table. We got a lot more attention from people around us then. I looked over to the counter and thanked God the librarian wasn’t there, or she would have been over quickly shushing us and then kicking us out.
“Look away,” Death warned, and people went back to whatever they were doing.
It was magic, or they were scared. Probably the latter because if I didn’t know them, I would be as well.
“Call,” Wade said again, and Gregory took out his phone, pressed something in, and put it to his ear.
I moved from behind Death to Wade’s back and touched him. “Wade, what’s going on?” I whispered.
“Just wait, Lucas, please,” he asked, still staring down at Gregory.
West shifted closer to me, and out of the corner of his mouth, he asked, “This is epic. I didn’t hear things, right? You and him?”
I nodded. West smiled widely.
“H-Hi, can
you come inside the library so we can talk? N-No, he’s not here. Okay.”
When Gregory hit the End button, Wade said, “Death, over by the door and make sure he comes over to the table.”
“On it, brother.” Death walked over near the door and stood just inside it with his arms crossed and a cranky look on his face.
Wade then ordered, “You move, I’ll fuckin’ end you.”
Gregory nodded. He glanced at me and pleaded, “Lucas, I didn’t mean to do this, but I had to. I had to because he has something on me, said he would show it publicly, and if my dad finds out, I’ll be dead. Please, I didn’t mean this.”
“What is this?” I asked.
Wade straightened. He turned to me and cupped the side of my face. “You know I have your back, yeah?” I nodded. “I’ll always protect you because you’re mine.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Lucky bastard,” West muttered.
“Good, now kiss me and just watch. Don’t say anythin’. I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay.” I nodded, lost in his words, in his warm eyes that were just for me.
“Lucas,” Wade said with a smile.
“Hmm?”
“Fuckin’ kiss me,” he demanded.
Lifting to my toes, I pressed my lips to his. I heard gasps and murmurs but ignored them all. I didn’t care who saw that Wade was into me. He was mine, and like he’d said, I was his.
Except then I remembered Death was in there. I pulled back and looked over my shoulder to find Death grinning at us.
“He knows. He’ll keep it quiet until we tell Saint.”
“Oh, um, okay… he’s okay with it?”
Wade chuckled. “Yeah. Now go sit down around the other side of the table.” He turned to West. “Go sit with him.”
“Yes, captain.” West saluted and guided me around the table with a hand to my lower back.
“Know you two are friends, but keep the touchin’ to nothin’, yeah?” Wade said.
West grinned and gave him both thumbs-up. “You got it.” We both sat down and waited for this mystery person to arrive. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew Wade didn’t like what he’d obviously heard, so he was fixing it.
My heart felt like it had taken over my whole body with how much giddiness I was feeling.
I admired Wade as he stood in front of Gregory, facing the door with his legs spread a little, and his arms crossed over his chest. God, he looked good.
My mind still hadn’t settled on the fact he and I were dating. I’d found it easier just to call him my boyfriend, but to know we were dating, courting, in a relationship. Yes, my brain was still taking time to process.
I could have second-guessed what we’d had, but in front of West and Death, he’d claimed me as his to Gregory, and they’d heard. Heck, he’d even wanted a kiss in front of everyone. He didn’t shy away from public displays of affection. That still had me grinning like a maniac. All I wanted to do was jump him, but I didn’t think the library was the right place to do that. A kiss was okay in front of people, but screwing wasn’t, unfortunately.
“I want to know all about this later,” West whispered.
“Maybe,” I teased. I would let him know the minor details, but not all of it. That was just for Wade and me.
I glanced at Gregory, and he looked green. I was back to feeling guilty. I should have waited before I started anything with him, but then again, I never expected Wade to come to me asking for a second chance.
West knocked his knee against mine and nodded to the door. We both turned that way. My eyes widened when Mitch Henry, my nemesis, walked in. He took one look at me, then Wade, and turned back around, but Death was there waiting.
“Get the fuck over there,” Death ordered.
“Stop it. What is this?” Mitch asked, his voice high in worry. He tried to push back at Death, but Death didn’t move. When they were close, Wade grabbed the back of Mitch’s shirt, twisted him, and sat him in the chair next to Gregory. Death stood behind him and placed a hand on Mitch’s shoulder. When he went to get up, Death pushed him back down.
Wade took the seat next to Mitch and stared down at him while Mitch waved his hands around. “I don’t understand any of this.” He glared across at me. “This is your fault. I just know it. I’m going to make sure you suffer.”
“Stop,” Wade snarled. “Shut the fuck up,” he added.
“I didn’t say anything to them,” Gregory said in a small voice. “You can’t blame me for it. They overheard us outside.” He pointed to Death and Wade.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mitch said, clasping his hands in front of him on the table. On the outside, he tried to act cool, unaffected. But I could easily see he was peeing himself. He was pale, sweaty, and he kept shifting his gaze to Wade.
“Don’t fuckin’ bullshit me. You wanna fuck Lucas’s life, and I wanna know why. You got a hard-on for Lucas? This a weird way to show you want in his pants.”
I screwed up my nose at the mention of Mitch having a hard-on. Thinning my lips, I wanted to know exactly what Wade heard from them outside since he knew Mitch liked to mess with my life.
Mitch scoffed. “Shit no. He’s a faggot. I wouldn’t touch him, ever.”
Oh shit.
Wade grabbed the back of Mitch’s head and slammed his face into the table. Mitch screamed and grabbed at his face as blood sprayed from his nose. I caught the librarian coming our way, but Death intercepted her, talking low.
Wade leaned close to Mitch, his voice low and rough, “I like fuckin’ guys. You gonna call me a faggot?”
He shook his head and winced. The librarian was buying whatever Death was saying since she wasn’t on the phone or looking over here. She was listening to everything Death said and then giggled. Magic again or just Death’s charm.
“Then if I ever hear you say that word or any derogatory word like that again, I’ll make sure it’s not only your nose that’s broken. Now fuckin’ tell me why you sent fuckface there after Lucas? Why you wanted fuckface to date Lucas?”
“He what?” I breathed.
West tapped my leg. I looked to him, and he shook his head. He wanted me to keep quiet, but heck, I needed answers as well. However, Wade seemed to have it under control, so I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest.
Wade, using his hand on Mitch’s neck, shook him a little. “Talk, motherfucker.”
Mitch made a noise in the back of his throat. He dropped his hands from his face, exposing the blood dripping out of his nose. “Fine, all right… Lucas has everything I wanted. I was the best at everything until he showed up. Then I was always second best, and it was never enough for my father. ‘You should be more like Lucas,’ he would say after checking with school about grades and shit to see who was the best.” Mitch glared at me. “I wanted one last chance at being better, so I got Gregory to date Lucas, make him fall for him, and then he was supposed to break up with him. Break him. Then I would be on top.”
He made me feel sick. I laughed, shaking my head at the fool. “This is why you’ve been sending death threats to me?”
“What?” Wade snarled.
Mitch glanced from both of us before settling on me. “I didn’t send you anything.”
I shook my head. “Mitch, I’m not stupid. You know this, and you’re the only person who had it out for me, so I know they came from you.”
“Why didn’t you do anything about them?”
I huffed out a laugh. “They didn’t scare me. I knew you wouldn’t follow through with them.” I left off the “Duh” part. I shook my head again since I couldn’t believe what all this was about. I knew, just knew, it would be something silly. “I never got better scores than you on purpose. If you had talked to me, told me what you just said, maybe I would have helped.”
Mitch snorted, then cringed. “What? You would have got a lower score?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But you didn’t come to me and tell me what a dick your dad was.
” Sudden anger had me reaching out and flicking his broken nose. Mitch howled while the others around us chuckled. I would have liked to have done more to him after everything he’d done, but I didn’t. Instead, I finished with “If you had been nice, reached out to me, instead of acting as you had, things would have been different. I just hope you learn from all this, and if you still have a problem with me, you need to get over it because I don’t want to have to see you again.”
West tapped the table. “You mean to tell me jealousy had you be a dick to Lucas for years?” He laughed again. “You’re a piece of work.” West clapped his hands once. “Wreck, you should beat him up some more. Maybe you’ll knock some sense into him.”
Wade snorted. “If he’s stupid enough to mess with Lucas again, then I will.” He leaned closer to Mitch, who flinched. “Are you stupid?”
“No. I won’t say or do anything to Lucas again. I promise.”
“Smart. Now, whatever you have on Gregory had better disappear or be given back, or that’ll piss me off. Do you want to piss me off?”
“No,” Mitch said. He opened his mouth and then closed it, then opened it, and asked, “If I pay you, will you kill him?”
We all fell silent.
“What the fuck you askin’?” Wade demanded.
“He… my father,” he snarled. “He… lays his hands on my mother and me to… to keep us in line.”
My stomach dropped.
It wasn’t just about jealousy. He needed to be at the top of his classes because he got beat otherwise. My belly twisted in guilt. He was desperate. I could see it in his eyes. Desperate for help.
If I would have known this information, I could have done something—or at least tried to—but Mitch wouldn’t have said anything unless he had reached his breaking point. With his words to Wade, they screamed he was finished putting up with what he had and needed to do something, anything.
Wade glanced to Death, who caught his eyes and made his way over after saying something to the librarian. Wade then stood, whispered something to Death and Death nodded.
A moment later, Death looked down at Mitch, grunted at something Wade said, and said to Mitch, “Come out the front. You and I will have a chat.”
