27. Parker
PARKER
Rage courses up and down my arms, bunching and tensing my muscles as I try to breathe through it.
I’m failing miserably, and Sable just stands there, staring at me like her gaze alone can condemn me to hell.
I didn’t do anything wrong in this situation, and I certainly didn’t expect her anger to match mine.
Maybe she’s right about being able to damn me because her derision burns, and I nearly beg her to stop.
“Let’s go,” I say, grabbing her hand to lead her to my next class, forcing her to stop glaring at me.
“Who the hell was that, Parker?” Her voice holds more authority than a tiny woman like her really has. I could kill her with my bare hands, him too, and something deep inside me screams for me to prove I’m too tough to be questioned. How dare he show up here?
“He’s no one,” I spit.
“You’re so angry you can’t even look at me. He has to be someone.”
I glare at her for no reason other than to prove my point, but she’s right; looking at her makes me shake.
“See, I can look at you just fine. You’re here to look good.
” I turn and keep moving. A math class I don’t pay attention to waits for us.
I have a deal with all of my professors.
Show up, sit there, don’t interrupt, then win.
The rest of it is gravy, and I never earn less than a B.
“He said I belong to him,” she insists from behind me. “That means he’s one of you, doesn’t it?”
She’s not like the others; she didn’t get the same details or sign the same contract, but she is our Offering all the same. Technically, she’s right, and when my animal instincts are sitting so close to the surface, technically correct feels like a personal assault.
“He doesn’t get anything, anything from us, or you.”
“Ouch, you’re hurting me,” she says, and it’s only then that I realize just how tightly I’m squeezing her hand.
“I’m sorry,” I grit, loosening my grip and truly regretting causing her pain unintentionally. There are many ways I’d like to hurt her a little, but that’s not one.
“I know his name is Hadrian. I’ll find out from one of the others if you don’t tell me.
” I don’t respond to her threat. “I deserve to know if he has a door to my fucking room with twenty-four-hour access, don’t I?
” she shouts, and people walking down the halls stop to stare at us.
I don’t answer her, just keep walking and tugging her along with me.
My rage only grows as people watch us pass, record, and snap photos.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I mumble to one of them, and he has the good sense to yelp in fear.
She’s quiet as we pass the thickest area of people, properly embarrassed by her own antics and back to trying to blend in.
“Does he have an all-access key to my goddamn bedroom, Parker?” Her voice may be low now, but it carries just as much weight.
“Yes. Are you happy now?” I turn to face her, my chest pressing against hers.
“I’m never going to be happy again.” Her face falls, and the gut punch makes me hate myself and Hadrian in equal measure. How could she think that? Every single thing I’ve done is for her.
We take our seats inside a large lecture hall.
The projector screen is already displaying different mathematical equations, and I’m running over plays in my head to try to forget about fucking Hadrian.
He and Sable may be working together to ruin everything, but this game depends on me.
I can’t have my father showing up here again, especially not now.
Everyone around us takes out their computers, notebooks, and pencils.
Some of them even have small, clear dry-erase boards so they can work out sections of the equations over and over.
None of them even realizes I am perfectly capable of keeping up, but if they don’t expect that of me, why the hell should I bother?
I’d much rather surprise them all when it suits me best. Popular, football-playing Parker, exactly what they all want me to be.
Sable looks around the room and then to both of us, clearly trying to add the situation up, but she doesn’t need to worry about it either.
She’ll get credits for the classes she attends with us this year, but if she wants to actually learn anything, she’ll need to retake them in her own time.
I’m too pissed to explain things to her or reply when people greet me.
I tuck my chin to uphold my reputation, but I don’t have it in me to wish anyone a good anything with Hadrian here.
He can’t possibly think he’s going to get a day with her.
Soren already isn’t interested, and he gets a day.
I won’t lose more time with her to fucking Hadrian.
“What’s going on, Parker?” she whispers as the professor strolls in and starts class. People around us type, pulling out their scientific calculators.
“We’re attending class.”
“We’re not doing anything.” People around us start to pay attention to us rather than their work. “Shouldn’t we be working?”
A nerdy brunette who I’ve never so much as looked at says, “Obviously, but none of the founders bother with doing the right thing.” Sable chuckles.
“Mind your own business,” I snap, but the little smile around Sable’s lips is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a while.
A few minutes pass, and the girl hands Sable a pencil and a notebook. “It might be hard to keep up, but at least you can take notes.”
“Thank you,” she says, and there’s so much gratitude in her voice I’m even angrier. I have done everything for her. Why would she care about such a small gesture?
The class comes to an end, and I lead her back out. We’re done with learning for the day, but I have to get ready for the game with the team. I lean against the wall, pulling her hand so she’s forced to stand in front of me.
“Will you come to the homecoming game tonight and cheer me on?” My jaw clenches, and I hate how vulnerable I am right now.
“Why are you asking me? It doesn’t seem like I get a choice in anything around here.” She tries to keep her eyes on the floor, and I grab her chin to force her eyes up to mine. She looks over my head instead, and my heart squeezes a little.
“Not too much,” I agree, and the pain on her face hurts me too.
“So why are you asking?” Everything about her hardens, and the sweet, soft girl I’m so obsessed with is somewhere far away.
“Because I want you to cheer for me, wish me well. I need you to mean it.”
She scoffs, and the sound cuts me. “You think I would root for you after today? Bring me to your game. I have no choice anyway, but I will be hoping you lose. I will be hoping someone embarrasses you like you guys keep embarrassing me.”
Rage shakes my hand, and I watch the nervousness flash through her eyes.
I close my own, take a deep breath. “Fine, I have to get ready. I’ll take you back to your room.
” I walk off ahead of her, afraid to touch her because I’m even less in control of myself than when I squeezed her hand too hard.
I don’t turn to speak to her or check she’s behind me, but she’s there when we get back to our wing.
I let her in through the hall door, not wanting her Briarwick Curse energy seeping into my room on game day.
I’m so fucking angry I want to break something, but a part of me is still hoping for any time I can get with her.
“Should I get you to run tomorrow?”
“Fuck you, Parker,” she says, then slams the door in my face.