43. Thea
43
Thea
D espite a crust of snow on the ground, the planned bonfire party was in full swing. I guess everyone thought with a few drinks inside them, the cold wouldn’t matter. And sure enough, with the fire lit, it felt warmer than I expected outside. At least near the fire.
More than ten feet away, even with plenty of space heaters working overtime, every exhale turned into a cloud of ice crystals.
“I need a drink,” Eden muttered as we followed the path toward the bonfire. Flames roared into the sky, casting an orange glow over the nearby trees. Music blasted out from hidden speakers, almost deafening me as we approached a table piled high with booze.
“We have mulled wine, punch, vodka, or beer. What’s your poison?” The warm wine looked good, but I wasn’t drinking anything someone else had made. Being roofied was not on my bingo card for tonight.
“Beer.” The guy manning the drinks station passed me a bottle of beer and I popped the cap. Eden asked for mulled wine. She took a sip and coughed.
“Strong,” she croaked before guzzling it down and requesting a refill. I cocked an eyebrow. “What? I plan to have fun!”
“I’m not carrying your ass back to your room when you pass out.” OK, that was a lie. I would never leave her incapacitated if she drank too much. Eden was my first official friend. I couldn’t afford to lose her or I’d be friendless once again.
Well, maybe not. When I looked up, Landon had spotted us and was strolling over. That fucker seemed to think we were best friends because he’d taken care of me after my beating from Torrance.
I was mostly OK now, but nothing I said to that effect made one iota of difference. He texted me morning and night, and if our paths crossed on campus, he was there. Checking if I needed anything. Making sure I wasn’t in pain. Trying to feed me.
A small part of me loved the attention. Adored how cared-for he made me feel. And I positively melted when he looked at me like I mattered. But then I reminded myself this place was temporary. Soon, I’d be leaving.
Verity was more important than some fleeting crush on a pretty boy like Landon Rothmore. He’d forget about me once I left. They all would.
“Hey, future wife.” Landon’s flirty smile warmed my cold, dead heart.
“Did you look up mariticide?” I asked sweetly.
“Baby, you’ll be way too satisfied to think about murdering me in my sleep,” he purred, sliding an arm around my shoulder.
“Dear Lord, spare me the disgusting PDA. I need more booze to listen to your shit, Landon,” Eden grumbled, guzzling her wine.
Landon ignored her. “Wanna dance, wifey?”
“Not really.” What I wanted was to eat and then go back to my room, but Eden had insisted I come with her. She pointed out if she came alone, she’d look like a sad bitch. I mean, she had a point. Everyone here was hanging around in small groups.
The bitchy girls, with Olivia as their evil queen, stood close to the fire, gossiping like old crones. I caught her watching Landon and me, her lip curled up in a sneer. She’d mostly steered clear of me since she’d lost her shit over Cassian, which I was grateful for.
From what Eden had told me, Olivia had finally accepted Cassian’s engagement and backed off. Unfortunately, she’d switched her attention to Landon. Presumably because he was the next eligible bachelor on her list.
Landon shrugged. “OK, no dancing then.” He leaned in and tucked me under his arm like a girlfriend. Had I missed a memo saying we were in a relationship? Eden looked at him and then me with a what the actual fuck expression.
“Are you two, like, dating now?”
“Yes.”
“No!”
“We are, but she refuses to admit it,” Landon told Eden. “Thea has commitment issues,” he added. “This is me losing patience and officially hard launching our relationship.”
Eden took one look at my angry face and smirked. “Um, I think perhaps you guys need to have a chat, so I’ll, um, go grab more wine.” I glared at her as she backed off, but she just laughed.
“We are not in a relationship, Landon!” I whisper-shouted.
“It’s OK, wifey.” He patted my arm and smiled down at me. “I’ve been reading about commitment issues on Psych Central. I have a secure attachment style, so we can work through your issues. It might take a while, but ChatGPT says I should be patient, give you space, and not be all judgy about it.” He booped my nose playfully while I considered the merits of stabbing him in the dick.
Then I remembered he had a very nice dick and it would be a shame to disfigure it.
“I have no words,” I muttered eventually. Were we even on the same planet?
“My little gadyuka ,” a growly voice purred in my left ear before someone yanked me away from Landon. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
“No, I haven’t,” I grumbled. Being caught between the two of them was too much. My hormones had gone into overdrive and my pussy throbbed, desperate for attention. Even though it was well below freezing out here, sweat trickled down between my breasts.
I yanked down the zipper on my thick jacket for relief from the hot guy furnace pressing into me. Only that was a mistake because the sweater I wore underneath was skintight and my nipples were harder than bullets.
Kyril’s large hand rested on my stomach, his fingers brushing against the waistband of my jeans. “ Kotenok , you’re cold.”
“I think she’s hot,” Landon smirked as he tugged me forward, causing Kyril to growl like someone had stolen his favorite toy. “But all in favor of warming her up some more say Aye. AYE!”
“How about you both fuck off and die? I’m here with my friend!” I looked around and then spotted Eden chatting animatedly with a tall guy in a red jacket and beanie hat.
“Eden’s fine. Michael will take care of her.” Michael looked our way and nodded before hooking an arm around Eden’s waist. She wobbled and then giggled. OK, so she wasn’t in danger. Good. I didn’t need another body to dispose of. It was way too cold to be digging a grave tonight.
I tried to shove Landon out of my way, but between Kyril’s arm anchoring me to the spot and Landon’s wall of muscle, I had no chance. Not without hurting my ribs, anyway. And I wasn’t in the mood to try taking them both down.
My body still ached and if I was being truly honest with myself, I kinda liked being the filling in their sandwich.
“Wanna Netflix and Chill, wifey?” Landon winked. “I’m totally down for that.”
“Wifey?” Kyril did not sound happy about Landon’s term of endearment.
“Yeah, Thea is my future wife, but it’s OK. I don’t mind sharing.”
“If you two have quite finished divvying me up like a cake, I’d like to go now.”
“Ooh, cake. Now that you’ve reminded me, I am feeling rather peckish .” Landon licked his lips and moved closer. The hard ridge of his cock pressed against my sensitive pussy and I whimpered.
“Me, too, my vicious little gadyuka is sweet as fuck.”
“Seriously? You’ve tasted her? How do I not know this!”
My cheeks burned with shame.
“Now you know. You lose, you snooze, mudak .”
“Wifey, you’ve been holding out on me,” Landon scolded. “You’ve been a bad, bad girl.”
Literally nothing about that statement turned me off. I was so fucked.
“Where’s Milo?” It belatedly occurred to me I hadn’t seen him for two days.
“Need a third member for your harem, wifey? I’m hurt. Are we not enough for you?” His hand slid up toward my breast and as Kyril moved his hand lower, my lungs stopped functioning.
“He’s on his way over,” Kyril said in my ear before licking my neck. I looked up to see Milo appearing from the shadows like a dark wraith, his legs wrapped in skintight jeans and a bulky jacket covering his chest.
From the way his white teeth flashed in a quick smile, it didn’t faze him in the slightest to see me pressed between his two friends.
“Is Cassian showing his face?” Landon asked, stepping back when Milo reached our little party.
“Not yet. Our new roomie has arrived.”
Landon looked surprised. “Really? I assumed he was a permanent no-show. It’s been weeks!”
“Me too.” Milo shrugged, not seeming to give a shit about this mysterious new roommate. I thought it was only the four of them in their apartment. “Cassian’s been trying to get him assigned somewhere else, but there are no spare rooms, apparently.”
“Never mind the mudak , I’m more interested in my little gadyuka ,” Kyril said. Landon grinned.
“Now the creepy voyeur is here, let’s move this party somewhere warmer.” Before I could voice a protest, Kyril had picked me up like I weighed no more than a feather and tossed me over his shoulder.
While I could have stabbed him, I chose to shriek like a girl instead.