35. Cain
Cain
A fter school, I walk into the house to find a mess. Not an actual mess because Nox is an absolute clean freak, but a figurative mess. Enzo is in the living room, yelling about ‘stupid little bitches’ while Zane, Sloane, and Nox are smiling down at a manilla envelope.
Enzo sees me and marches over. “Have you heard about the shit that little bitch pulled?”
My eyes swing around the room to find Viv looking bored. When she sees me, her eyes roll. “He’s overreacting. This is Enzo going mama bear. He’ll calm down once Nox gets some French toast in him.”
“I’m going to shove it up his ass if he so much as looks sideways at my walls again.” Nox huffs.
Sloane laughs, “I’ve never seen you move so fast. You actually took Enzo to the fucking ground. It was glorious.”
Nox narrows his eyes at Enzo. “Fucker was going to punch a hole in my wall.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demand, tossing my bag onto the edge of the couch.
Viv skips over to me and grabs my hand. She leads me over to the other guys to show me the folder they’re looking at. “Look at all the cute pictures Chlamydia took of us.”
I look down, and have to admit that the photos of the four of them are pretty cute.
A pang goes through my chest at not being included.
I try really hard to keep distance between us, especially in public, but after I had her under my control for an entire day it’s been hard to stay away from her.
I clear my throat. “Why did Carol take these photos of you?”
Viv smiles up at me. “To try and get me expelled. It’s all good though. I threatened to sue and the dean apologized.”
All I can do for a moment is stare at her. Why does she always have to so casually mention things like this? “Okay… I’m going to need you to back up the story a bit and explain everything that happened.”
Viv matter-of-factly goes over the entire meeting she had with the dean. Once she’s done she gives me a little shrug, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Why would you change her name in the school system?” I ask.
She huffs. “I didn’t.”
My eyes narrow at her. “You want me to believe you had nothing to do with it?”
A small smile curves her lips. “I never said I had nothing to do with it. I just said I didn’t do it.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I look around the room because someone else here has got to be as lost as I am.
“I did it for her,” Nox clarifies.
And now I’m back to pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why would you get involved in something so petty?”
He shrugs. “Because she asked nicely.”
Morons. I am surrounded by morons. I should have stayed at work so at least I would have a desk to bang my head against. If I don’t just go along with their antics I’m literally going to go insane. So I just let my hand land on top of her head as I say, “Good job not getting in trouble.”
She beams at me, and I turn around to head up the stairs. “Did he just pat your head?” Nox asks.
“No fair! I never get head pats from Caniac,” Zane complains, and my eye twitches at the nickname.
Finally, I get to the quiet of my room, only to realize I’ve left my bag with all the papers I need to grade downstairs in the living room.
Fuck it. I can just do extra work tomorrow.
Flopping into my bed, I tuck myself under the covers and bury my head in the pillows face first. I close my eyes and try to drift off.
Before I get even half a chance to fall asleep, there’s a soft knock at my door.
When I don’t answer, there’s another, slightly louder, knock.
After a minute of me still refusing to answer, the door is pushed open.
“Oh, you’re in here. I figured you were in the shower.
” Viv’s voice carries to me where I’m now trying to suffocate myself in my pillows.
“You forgot this downstairs. I just wanted to bring it up to you.”
I turn my head to look at her where she’s standing in the doorway, holding my bag in one hand. “Thanks.”
Her head tilts to the side and she carefully places the bag on the floor beside the door before walking over to me. “Are you okay?” she asks, reaching forward to place her hand against my forehead.
Reaching up, I grasp her wrist, rolling over in the bed to pull her in after me. She doesn’t put up a fight as I settle her into the bed beside me under the covers. “I’m just tired,” I tell her.
She hums in understanding and just lets me hold her. The scent of her fruity shampoo is soothing in a way I hadn’t realized before, even though I’ve never been a fan of sweet smells and usually go for more musky and earthy scents for myself.
Before my grandma died, she used to take me to a strawberry patch every summer where we would pick our own strawberries.
We would spend the rest of the day after in the kitchen baking shortcakes for strawberry shortcake.
The scent of her hair reminds me of that time in my life.
And as I drift off to sleep I wonder if I could convince the others to go to a strawberry patch together. As a family.
I wake up warm and well rested. When I open my eyes I find Viv using my arm as a pillow, still asleep. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a good night’s rest. I’ve been running on fumes the last couple weeks.
Having a TA was supposed to lessen my workload, but he’s always asking for clarification on this or that.
He keeps giving me run throughs on his study groups and complaining that some students decided not to sign up.
He’s even mentioned Viv on more than one occasion and it’s starting to make me feel uncomfortable.
While she hasn’t complained to me directly, the fact that she dislikes him is not a well kept secret.
Besides, Viv isn’t really a group study type of person.
She likes to study independently or in a small group with the other guys and Sandy.
I’ll have to make sure she isn’t struggling too hard with all the stress of her family and school work.
My alarm goes off and Viv jerks upright in bed like someone has invaded the country starting with my bedroom.
She rubs her eyes and looks over at me with her brows pinched together. “Why am I in here?”
I grin. “You brought me my bag and then I bored you to sleep.”
Her eyes widen and a blush tints her cheeks.
I’m not sure what I did to make her blush like that, but she starts muttering about something not being fair.
She stretches her arms above her head, the hem of her shirt rising to show off a couple inches of skin.
She stands, and I realize she was wearing her jeans still when I pulled her into bed.
How did she fall asleep like that? At least my slacks are stretchy.
She see’s the clock on the wall and frowns. “Why didn’t Sloane get me up for the gym? Also, who keeps a clock on their bedroom wall?”
“Leave my clock alone, it was made by my great-great-grandfather.” Her mouth forms a small ‘o’ before I continue, “And Sloane probably didn’t want to come in here and chance getting stabbed or shot.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “I’ve only attempted to stab someone when they woke me up. Nox said no shooting in the house.”
I sit up. “I wasn’t talking about you shooting him. I’m not a morning person.” I sigh, realizing she’s taking me seriously. “I wouldn’t actually shoot someone for waking me up. That was a joke.”
Her brows crinkle. “I don’t get it.”
Another sigh leaves me. “I didn’t think you would. Now go get ready for class, you don’t want to be late.”
She stands in front of the door wringing her hands together, and after a moment I finally break. “What?” I ask.
“I was just wondering if it would be okay… Umm, If I could have a kiss?” she says finally, avoiding eye contact.
I stand from the bed in one fluid motion and stalk after her. Her eyes connect with me and she watches as I approach. When I reach her, my hand cups the back of her head. Since she was such a good girl and asked nicely, I have no problem giving her what she wants.
When my lips meet hers she relaxes, allowing her weight to fall into my arms. I kiss her gently at first, like she might break, but then I scoop her up and brace her back against the door.
Her legs wind around my waist automatically and her arms wrap around my neck as I nip at her bottom lip.
The moment she starts to dip her fingers into the opening of my shirt, I pull away, and she grumbles out a displeased sound when I place her back on her feet.
I open the door for her. “Have a good morning, princess.”
She leaves the room almost like she’s in a daze, and I have to close the door behind her, leaning my weight against the wood to keep myself from following.
This whole being involved with a student thing is a slippery slope, and I’m pretty sure I’m making the decline at a steady pace.
Fuck. The fact I’m even thinking this way just proves I’ve already hit the ground, penetrated through the earth’s crust and am well on my way to hell.