Chapter Five
“WHAT’S UP, MJ?” YURI greeted her cheerfully the moment she came out of her class. Yuri wasn’t alone, either. Together with him were the other officers of the club, the wickedly charming Kellion Argyros and bad boy Andreus Economou.
Crowds of girls had gathered around them, near enough for MJ to hear their giggles and whispers but not so near they were within touching distance. Unlike other bike racing clubs, the Afxisi did not like being surrounded by groupies all the time. They took their privacy very seriously, and only the chosen few were privileged to be invited to their headquarters.
The chosen few being those who were lucky enough to play housekeeper to the club’s members , MJ thought ruefully, remembering the days she had spent in the club’s HQ. “Why are you guys here?”
“We thought we’d walk you back to your dorm,” Kellion said in a gallant voice. “You can’t have too many escorts, right?”
MJ rolled her eyes. “I don’t need an escort.”
Over her head, the three men exchanged looks. It appeared that Helios had not yet let MJ know of the danger she was facing, which was also one of the major reasons why Helios had chosen to work as an R.A. in her dorm.
“You’re right,” Andreus said. “The truth is, we just want to have an excuse to drop by and see how Helios is doing as an 'ordinary guy'.”
A blush stole over her cheeks at the Afxisi treasurer’s words. “You know about that?”
All three grinned.
“You didn’t really think we’d let him leave the club without finding out why, did you?” Yuri asked.
Kellion was grinning broadly. “Oh man, the ribbing he got from the boys. Helios being ordinary? Like fuck that’s possible.”
Their amusement was so infectious that she couldn’t stop herself from smiling a little, too. “I am kinda worried about it, too. Being an R.A.’s no joke.” They started walking together, with MJ flanked on one side by Yuri and Kellion and Andreus on the other side. The sight of it had all the girls they passed by dying with envy, but it was something MJ was oblivious to. In MJ’s mind, the three bikers were more like big brothers. In MJ’s mind, only one man could make her heart race.
Yuri and the others knew that, too, and the fact was both amusing and comforting. It was nice to be in the company of a girl whose mind wasn’t completely consumed with thoughts of either seducing them, or worse, making them fall in love.
“How did you find Helios’ new look?” Yuri asked.
“It was okay.” She looked up at him, asking, “Do you know why he had it cut?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head. She was about to say something else when something was thrown towards them. “What was that?” She tried to pick up whatever was thrown at them, but Andreus kept her from bending down.
“Don’t bother looking,” Kellion told her.
But she had always been the stubborn type. Even as the three tried to drag her forward, she still looked over her shoulder, and a choking laugh escaped her. “Did someone just throw her panties at you?”
Not one of the guys answered her, and not one of them appeared surprised at what she said. She gasped again. “Does this happen to you all the time?”
No answer.
A thought occurred to her, and she asked uneasily, “Does this happen to...also?”
Kellion asked innocently, “Who is “Also”?”
MJ just glared at him in response.
Kellion threw his hands up. “I absolutely have no idea—”
She growled, “Helios.” Color flamed her cheeks the moment she said his name, feeling like she had betrayed herself by doing so. Where had her vow of living a Helios-free life gone?
“No one does it to Helios.” It was Yuri who answered. “You know how serious he is. Everyone knows he’s likely to sue them for sexual harassment if they’re stupid enough to do it to him.”
She was about to sigh in relief, secretly of course, when Kellion added, “But it’s different now.”
“Different? Why is it different now?” The words came out as a squeak, a result of the anxiety pangs that were suddenly constricting MJ’s chest.
Andreus rolled his eyes. “Because you wanted him to be normal, didn’t you?” By this time, they had reached the street of her dorm, and that was when MJ saw the huge crowd of students that had gathered in front of her place.
“A normal Helios is someone who knows how to smile, someone who’s not arrogant as hell, and someone who’d be forced to talk more than a few times.” Andreus nodded towards the street party that seemed to have spontaneously started. “You think that crowd of groupies will stop at throwing panties?”
“But I didn’t tell anyone about it...about what we talked about.”
Andreus snorted. “You dumped our President in public, MJ. Did you really think no one would care to eavesdrop while you guys were talking?”
“KNOCK, KNOCK,” A VOICE caroled outside MJ’s room before the door was opened and Katya came sashaying in. She smirked at the sight of her dorm mate trying to study on her desk, trying being the operative word.
“You’re hopeless.” Perching on the side of MJ’s table, she grabbed the textbook in front of her friend and tossed it to the bed.
“Katya!”
“There. I got your attention. Why are you hiding here when your man’s being eye-gang-banged by every girl in school?”
“He’s not my man.”
“See? You should have said ‘who’. Who’s being molested by the crowds of hungry women outside ? But you didn’t so yeah, he’s your man, whether you admit it or not.”
MJ was tempted to cover her ears. Since she had come home, she had been tortured by the squeals and shrieks that had come from the crowd of girls, all of them ostensibly interested in checking out the one vacant room at the dorm. But of course, everyone knew that they only wanted more time spent with Helios.
And now here was Katya, torturing her even more. “Do I have to remind you he’s Greek?” she asked her friend. “You shouldn’t care about him.”
“I don’t,” Katya answered right away. “But I do care about you.” She jumped off the desk and walked to the window. Taking a peek, she saw that the lineup for girls queuing to see the room hadn’t gotten any shorter. News about Helios Andreadis’ newfound “friendliness” had definitely spread.
“Can you tell me one thing? Why did he decide to change?”
MJ mumbled the truth.
Katya’s eyebrows shot up. “Does that mean not being arrogant, too? Because trust me. That’s impossible for Greek men.”
MJ lifted her shoulders in an awkward shrug. “I wouldn’t know. It’s not like I can put it to a test—” Katya grabbed her hand and dragged her out of her seat. “Hey, what? What are you doing?”
“Let’s go put it to a test then.” Katya’s normally carefree smile became sober. “You were the first girl who didn’t care how bitchy I was. I felt terribly alone before you became my friend, you know. I’ve always wanted to return the favor, and now’s my chance.”
Thirty minutes later, MJ found herself saying ‘hi’ to a friend of Katya’s at the sidewalk. Jack was a good-looking junior with an almost obnoxious air around him. As Jack introduced himself, MJ threw Katya a panicky look. This is really your friend?
Trust me, Katya mouthed back and winked.
MJ had no energy to wink back.
Jack slung an arm around MJ’s shoulders. “So, Katya was telling me about a vacant room here in your dorm. Maybe we can check it out?”
Yuri, Kellion, and Andreus were still out in the small yard in front of the dorm, surrounded by women as usual. When MJ and Jack walked past them, she could feel the trio following them with cold looks. Jack said loudly, “Those three are Helios Andreadis’ watchdogs, aren’t they? Do they bark when he gives orders?”
Behind MJ, she heard a commotion, and then Yuri speaking in Greek in a low voice, probably calming the hot-headed Andreus down.
MJ tried to get out of Jack’s hold, disliking the way he seemed to have fun baiting her friends. But when she looked up, she saw the way Jack’s eyes were twinkling and knew that somehow, all of it was for show.
Jack bent his head down, murmuring in her ear, “I owe Katya a favor.”
She whispered back, “And she made you pay by acting like a jerk?”
Jack’s chuckle tickled her ear. “Something like that.”
When Jack moved away, that was when she saw Helios standing at the main entranceway of the dorm, a stony look on his beautiful face.
She opened her mouth to explain, but Helios beat her to talking. “Visiting hours are over.”
Instead of her lips moving, her jaw dropped instead. “It’s only six in the evening.”
Helios said indifferently, “New R.A., new rules.”