Chapter 37
Wyatt
I stared into the floor while the dormitory elevator took its sweet time getting to the penthouse floor. This was my second time coming to the dorm alone, and it still felt weird to be walking into a dormitory building as a staff member.
Luckily, no one had seen me either time I’d come…although, I wasn’t actually sure if I’d be in trouble if caught. My research on student and staff relationships had yielded unclear results. Mostly, it just seemed frowned upon.
Of course, my life wasn’t complicated enough already. It seemed I was the first staff member to ever find themself in a Chain with a student.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, stopping quickly when the elevator doors opened, just in case someone was there to witness my frustration.
The foyer was empty as I stepped into the penthouse, loosening my tie even though it made me feel awkward.
I ended up completely removing the tie, tossing it onto the back of one of the couches in the media room as I made my way toward the kitchen.
I hadn’t gotten an update about Skye from today, so I considered no news to be good news. I’d decided if she continued to refuse to eat, I was going to to have to do something.
Not that I knew what that something was. Skye was not receptive to me unless I had her in a sensual position. Except for the one time, where I’d managed to pull her onto my lap and feed her some cheese and crackers from my hand like she was some baby animal.
I rubbed my eyes, then paused as I could hear voices. My heart leapt as I heard Skye giggling while a deeper voice was speaking to her. For a moment, a spike of anxiety shot through me. No way was Isaiah making her laugh like that when none of her Links could get her out of bed.
I made my way to the kitchen quickly ready to do…something stupid, probably, then slowed when I realized it was Aiden’s deep laughter along with Skye’s giggles. I mentally prepared myself for them to freeze when I came into the room.
They did freeze, but Skye recovered first, smiling hesitantly. “Hey.” She pushed some hair behind her ear, but it still spilled over her shoulder like a sheet.
“Hey,” I replied, opening the top button on my dress shirt. Skye seemed to focus in on that.
Aiden was in the middle of drinking straight from Rafe’s jug of juice again, and he stopped upon seeing me, grimacing when he realized I’d seen him. I only gave him a bored look.
“‘Sup,” Aiden rasped.
I shrugged, deciding to act normal. Or…however I envisioned normal to be. As normal as we could be after Skye had been nearly catatonic for several days. “Fine. Had another meeting with Coach earlier. He’s really trying to get out of being headmaster.”
Skye nodded, apparently deciding to play along. “Oh. That’s dumb. How’d he even get picked for that job?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered as Aiden rummaged through the fridge. “I had to rearrange so many reports to keep Mia from getting in trouble for the shit with River. What’s going on?”
Skye and Aiden both froze for just a moment before Aiden buried himself back in the fridge. Skye picked at invisible dirt on the countertop.
“Hello?” I said when neither one responded. “Is something…going on with River?”
Aiden looked at Skye, and she hugged her arms. “No.”
I looked back and forth between them again, not believing that in the slightest.
“So, Aiden just decided to jump the dude for no reason? And now, one of your best friends has also physically assaulted him during an affinity-only sparring exercise, and I’m supposed to believe nothing’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to know,” Skye snapped suddenly, sending my blood pressure through the roof. “Fuck, Wyatt. You just started acting like you want to be here a month ago, and now I’m supposed to just trust you?”
“Yes,” I snapped back. “Because that’s what we decided in the shower, right? Or did I somehow completely misunderstand that when you were pressed up against me? Or…maybe I really misunderstood things in my office last week.”
Skye hunched over the kitchen island, bracing her elbows on the countertop and hiding her flushed face.
Aiden snorted. Loudly. I glared at him.
“What?” He scoffed. “You can’t seriously be pissed she doesn’t trust you. Especially not when you keep making excuses.”
I spluttered. “Excuses?!”
I stared at him. He stared back, then took a bite out of an apple, still holding my eye contact even as juice dripped down his chin.
I blinked, shaking my head. “Just say what you want to say,” I growled. “You’ve never held back before.”
Aiden wiped his chin with the back of his hand before gesturing with the apple. “I’m holding back because I don’t want to upset Skye again, but okay. You’re the only one in this Chain who doesn’t live here. It bothers her, she just doesn’t want to start shit.”
My eyes darted to Skye, who was now staring at us with wide eyes.
“Is that true?” I asked.
“Oh, my God. Do you hear yourself? Stop sounding like a dickhead counselor! You’re her Link, not her dad!” Aiden snapped.
My jaw dropped, but Skye’s lips were rolled between her teeth like she was trying not to laugh.
“Baby, tell him how you feel, I can’t keep doing this.” Aiden said.
Aiden was a dick, but he had a point. Maybe I’d been approaching this situation all wrong.
A woman like Skye didn’t respond very well to authority anyway, and now that I really thought about it…
that was probably one of the biggest obstacles between us.
Even going back to the day Aiden was harmed…
my authoritative tone had made a flip switch inside Skye.
Now that she was dealing with the bullshit with Zephyr, which I’d inadvertently caused, I…probably needed to be a little nicer to her.
“Skye?” I prompted, my tone much more gentle than before.
“It…um…it feels pretty weird you’re not living here,” Skye’s voice devolved into a whisper. “Feels like…you don’t want to live here. With us. The Chain. Or…me. Especially after your office last week, I just…I don’t know.”
My heart sank.
“That’s not true,” I started gently.
Aiden cut me off. “So move in.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face. “I don’t know if I can, Aiden. Relationships between students and staff are very strictly forbidden. I could get fired.”
“That’s more important than this?” Aiden hedged, and fuck. He sounded like Zephyr. Those two hanging out so often was going to be a problem.
Or maybe not, now that things were shaky with Zephyr.
“Can you not?” I snapped.
Aiden glared at me, but Skye didn’t get between us, so that was a good sign.
“I understand where you’re coming from with your job,” Skye spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully.
“But it does feel like you’re telling me that’s more important than us.
Willow still thought the two of us were on the outs.
She had no idea anything had changed between us even though she’s seen us together. ”
I should’ve received applause for how hard I held back my snarl.
Of course my sister was somehow involved in this. She couldn’t stop meddling in other people’s business if her life depended on it.
“I just…” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
“Everyone’s going to find out who’s in Rafe’s Chain eventually. They’re going to see you’re in it with me, and…I don’t know. Has there ever been a Chain between students or staff?” Skye asked.
“I have no idea,” I replied honestly. “I would ask Coach, but…”
“I’ll ask Coach,” Aiden offered, pulling out his phone. “I text him all the time.”
I gaped at him. “What? Why?”
“To annoy him,” Aiden replied slowly, like I was stupid. “It’s his punishment for making me his TA.”
“Rafe is the one that told him to make you his TA,” I said.
“Well, Coach didn’t have to agree.” Aiden argued petulantly.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. We weren’t getting anywhere with Aiden interjecting constantly. “Skye–” I started.
“Angel,” Skye practically purred, cutting me off. Aiden and I froze, our eyes darting toward her. “I need to talk to Wyatt about this alone. Okay?”
Aiden was bobbing his head up and down before she finished speaking. “Of course. I mean, obviously. I’m being annoying.”
“No, you’re not,” Skye said at the same moment I said, “Yeah, you are.”
Skye glared at me, and I gulped as Aiden chuckled. They hugged and kissed for a second, murmuring things to each other while I awkwardly stood near the wall. I looked around, wondering where Isaiah was. He’d made too much of a fuss to stay here yesterday, so where was he now?
Irritation skittered down my spine. Why was Isaiah comfortable leaving Skye alone with Aiden but not me?
Skye’s silver gaze met mine, and all thought about Isaiah evaporated.
We were alone.
It was terrifying.
Skye was unlike any woman I’d ever been involved with, which wasn’t saying much in the grand scheme of things.
I’d never really been with anyone long-term besides Carissa, and the two of us argued more than anything else.
With Skye, we argued frequently, but there was something charged behind it, like we liked arguing.
I considered it a type of foreplay, though I didn’t know if she felt the same.
Maybe that was part of the problem. Between being simultaneously irritated with Skye and yearning for her touch, I’d missed out on the important part. We really didn’t know each other too well.
It was a hell of a realization to have after I’d already fucked her with a crystal while she was bent over my desk.
“We should play your question game again,” I said.
“Game?” She repeated as she wandered out of the kitchen. I followed her like a dog attached to a lead.
“Yeah,” I said. “We played it during Zephyr’s party.”
“We were just asking each other questions, Wyatt.” Skye said with a giggle.
Skye plopped down on the couch, tucking her feet up under her leg while propping her elbow on the couch arm and resting her chin in her hand.
“Okay, well I like thinking it’s a game.”