Chapter 22
Mia
Something shifted while I was gone. It’s more than Parker and Leo finally getting along.
I can see the stolen glances, the lingering touches.
I know it was only a few days, but something changed while they were in the isolation trial.
I suspect they were put in it together. Which means they would have been forced to spend that time isolated together, without me as a buffer.
Maybe the school really has my back, after all.
I got back from Aspen Ridge an hour ago and was desperate for a caffeine fix.
I noticed a change in them right away. Parker keeps looking at Leo like he’s wordlessly checking on him, which he needs.
Desperately. And my sweet Leo? He’s staring at Parker with a look that I’m very familiar with.
One that says he’s completely enamored. What happened while I was gone?
While I loved being home, I hated the lack of communication. They both are such a huge part of my day-to-day life that removing them from it is practically unbearable. I’d never be able to live without one of them, or both.
The three of us sit at the café on campus, Leo sipping on his cappuccino, Parker nursing a plain black coffee.
My nose turns up at the memory of the bitter taste on my tongue when I had the brilliant idea of trying his one day.
Both of them seem the same, but different somehow, more relaxed, especially Leo.
I take a sip of my lavender latte, enjoying the way it slides down my throat and warms me from the winter chill outside.
I watch them suspiciously, trying to pinpoint exactly what I’m picking up on.
Not wanting to get my hopes up. I’m extremely intuitive, and my gut is usually always right, but I’m scared to be right about this.
“So, either of you going to tell me how it went?” I ask with my lips hovering at the rim of my steaming mug. I gently blow against the foam. Leo’s the first to make eye contact with me, followed by his hand combing through his dark locks. His tell.
Parker, on the other hand, is more difficult to read. Ever so calm and collected. His lips purse, that cocky, sexy grin that makes me weak in the knees my only clue that he knows something I don’t.
“You know we can’t talk about any of that in public, little rebel,” he tsks.
“Isn’t that what Leo said?” Leo looks at Parker at the mention of his name, and I’d be blind if I didn’t notice the way he slightly melts.
Of all the times I imagined them sharing me, I never imagined a scenario or a life with them falling for each other, too.
My heart rate picks up at the thought, finally giving in to what I’m seeing.
That we could all really be together. Not just them tolerating each other for the sake of having me, but finding love all together.
The door chimes as more students start to flow into the café, a familiar set of eyes heading our way.
I gently kick Parker’s leg under the table, giving him a heads up that we’ve got company.
His best friend, Asher, and his new boyfriend, rugby jock, asshole extraordinaire, Silas, stop at our table as they see us.
Asher has dark hair similar to Leo’s, but his is perfectly coiffed and styled expertly, rather than Leo’s shaggier look.
Silas is wearing a beanie, rubbing his bare hands together, and blowing into them.
His face looks softer and not so contorted in pain like it was prior.
Maybe being with Asher has made his piss-poor attitude level out a bit.
Parker used to hate Silas, still kind of does, but he cares about Asher, and he’s done a really good job of putting his annoyance with the dickhead behind him for the sake of his friendship with Asher.
I’m still on the fence. Silas was terrible to them, and hiding who he was, secretly crushing on Asher for years, doesn’t just give him a pass for being a huge douchebag.
“Hey, Park,” Asher says. “Can we pull up a table and join you?”
“Yeah, as long as you two don’t mind,” Parker answers, looking to me and Leo.
As if I’m going to be a bitch and say no, even if I want to.
Asher and Silas walk to the counter to order their drinks, and while they’re out of earshot, I level Parker with an evil glare.
He just smirks in return, sipping on his burnt tar.
“It’s fine,” he says to placate me. “Silas is actually a good guy, and he’s damn good for Asher. Trust me. People act out in different ways when they’re hiding who they are, when they’ve got secrets they’ve got to keep tight. If you give him a chance, you may like him.”
“I still don’t have to like him, though.”
“No, you don’t, but can you be nice for the sake of me and Asher?”
I raise my eyebrows at him in a challenge.
“Are you two going to tell me what happened while I was gone?” Parker just winks at me over the rim of his mug, and I roll my eyes in response, instead choosing to look out the large window next to me and into the quad.
Snow flurries trickle down from the sky, dancing around in the wind before melting on the cobblestone walkways.
My eyes scan over the delicate tracery and the aged, stained glass windows that will soon be dusted with snow.
Corvus in the fall is hauntingly beautiful, but in the winter?
It’s dark, Gothic architecture stands out against the barren, white landscape the snow creates.
Asher and Silas take their seats with us, and everyone falls into comfortable conversation. Leo finds my knee under the table, giving me a gentle squeeze, while Parker’s foot nudges mine. Every so often, I catch their eyes meet. No words are spoken, but so much is communicated.
“How’s tutoring going?” Leo asks after a discussion about plans for winter break.
Asher is one of the more brilliant minds at Corvus College, and he was tasked to tutor Silas by his father .
. . who happens to be the president of the school.
The forced proximity and the fact that these two seemed like enemies probably helped push them toward each other.
“Well, I’ve got the best tutor Corvus could offer, so even though I’m still struggling a bit, especially with the literature, it’s getting easier. Plus, I can’t complain when I get to spend all my free time with Asher.”
Silas throws his arm around Asher’s shoulder, who sinks into his side. I can’t help but smile at them and the way they openly share affection. Asher has never had trouble finding hookups for as long as I’ve known him, but I’ve never seen him so happy.
“So, are you three like a thing now?” Silas asks as he takes a bite of his croissant.
Leo practically chokes next to me, and my heart sinks into my stomach, a hard knot forming in my throat.
I know we all agreed that we wouldn’t do this relationship thing out in the open, but I don’t want to hide my love for both of them.
We’re all in this unfair situation, and I’m not completely sure what to do about it.
Silas puts his hands up like he comes in peace. “I clearly hit a touchy subject. Not my intention at all.”
“It’s fine, you didn’t know. We’re just all trying to figure things out,” I respond, doing my best to hide the emotion currently clogging my throat.
Silas nods. “Got it. Got it.” He pauses for a minute, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth like he’s deep in thought.
“You know, if it means anything to any of you, I let fear run my life, well, up until recently, actually, and it held me back from a whole helluva lot of happiness. Whatever you’re hiding, whatever you’re going through, don’t let fear stand in your way, just . . . live.”
His words hit home for all of us, and the air seems to evaporate.
The dim candlelight dances in the sconces next to our table, a shiver running down my spine, and when I look back out the window at the quad, I swear I see three ravens sitting on a heavy bough of the Veritas Tree, looking back at me.
We all finish our coffees and pastries, and then say our goodbyes to Asher and Silas, who, I admit, isn’t such a fuckface anymore, and I can kind of see the appeal for Asher.
The cold air assaults us like pins and needles as we leave the warmth of the café, and I reach for either side of my coat to button it.
Parker beats me to it, bending his knees in front of me to be at my height and nimbly working the buttons through the holes.
Leo takes up my side, pulling on my beanie to cover my ears.
Warmth fills my veins despite how chilly the elements are.
“I love you. Both of you.”
The winter wind whips around us, but I don’t feel any of it.
Both men look down at me with so much adoration, reverence, and love that I swear my heart could burst. It’s killing me not being able to reach out and be affectionate with them the way I want to be.
Parker must read the look on my face because he slips his hand in mine and pulls me forward toward Crimson Keep.
“Let’s go, little rebel. I think the three of us need to get away from prying eyes.”
Together, we walk along the old cobblestone sidewalks, past the Veritas Tree that I’ve spent so much time confessing and sharing my hopes with.
There’s always been quiet whispers of the things Corvus is capable of, that the school itself is a living, breathing thing that manipulates our fate.
So, day after day, while I visit her, I whisper my love for both Leo and Parker, and hope that she has sway as the lungs of the school.
That she’ll breathe my wish into whatever greater being is at work here, and everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.
With the three of us together.