Chapter 4
Four
Ethan
I can't get the girl with the odd colored eyes out of my head. The outer rim of her eyes were blue while it lightened to green toward the middle. I was too distracted to notice much else outside of her multicolored hair. Seeing her again threw me off balance. There’s only one other person that I’ve ever met with eyes like that and I doubt I’ll ever see her again.
My step-sister always seemed to live inside of her head, and spent a lot of time outside when her mother wasn’t hunting her down.
“Proper young ladies don’t climb trees, Nina .”
I can hear Vivian’s voice now, and the answering snarl at my thoughts as I walk across campus to my car makes several undergraduate students look away and give me a wide berth.
Dad is going to yell at me for scaring people again if he sees me like this.
Stretching my neck to release some of the tension, I think about how unprepared for this weather that girl was.
Everyone around me is bundled up in coats and warm clothes, while she was in ripped jeans and a hooded sweatshirt.
It’s none of my business, but many of the students here have money, so it’s unusual for me to see someone like that. I want to ask Dad about her, because if she’s a scholarship student, I want to ask him what the school’s programs are like.
I don’t want to add another project to my plate, but maybe I can talk to Dad about donating a stipend scholarship for the school.
Frowning as I think, I walk to the parking lot. I typically only do things lately because it’ll either be good for my career or I’m bored, and I’m not sure where this fits in. I see a girl who is clearly struggling and then decide to create an entire new scholarship so this won’t happen again?
Fuck, that’s not like me at all.
Checking my phone, I see that Dad texted me.
Dad:
I’m stuck at the office. I have one more student and then need to do some research on something. I’ll see you at home later.
Hmm. Smirking, as I look down at the phone, I wonder how red his poor assistant’s ass will be after this “research.”
Me:
Is this code for destroying your poor assistant’s pussy?
Text bubbles start and stop several times, making me snort in laughter. Maybe I should tease my father more about his sex life. It’s doing wonders for my mood today. I hardly ever get to tease him.
Sure we talk, but we’re both busy, and I walk around with a dark cloud over my head ninety percent of the time.
I think one of the only times I’ve felt anything other than annoyance is when I’m tutoring, because I actually want the people I’m helping to succeed. Otherwise, I’m so focused on what I’m doing, I walk around terrifying the people around me with my resting bitch face.
Dad:
Not today, son. I’m frustrated enough to fuck her face for hours though.
Turning on the car, I wonder which of his students managed to piss him off. Dad is usually pretty good with them, though his colleague leaving in the middle of the semester is rough for the department.
Leaving him to his research , I decide to take advantage of my good mood. I have a few people I’m friendly with, and I haven’t been great company lately.
Picking up the phone, I call Riley as I shift the car into drive.
“ Am I hallucinating right now?” Riley asks.
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head as I start driving to his place.
“No, you’re not. I’ve been in a shit mood and I’m finally shaking it. I figured I’d bless you with my presence,” I chuckle.
“ Consider me blessed,” he snarks. “ Are you coming over? It’s Wednesday night so we aren’t partying, but I can throw together some dinner and a poker game?”
I can definitely get behind that. This weather sucks tonight. “Yeah, I’m in, thanks. I’ll see you in a bit,” I tell him .
“ It’s good to have you back. I’ll tell the guys, we were just talking about you,” he chuckles.
I need to make sure I spend less time lost to the haze because I’ve kind of missed them too. I wasn’t always such a moody fucker, but the last few years everything seems to piss me off.
I hang up without saying goodbye. I know he’ll give me hell for that too, and I don’t even mind it. Turning on the radio, I let myself even sing to whatever is playing, ignoring the fact that I keep wondering what a certain blonde is doing with her night.
Riley
Medical school should be harder than it is. I wanted a challenge when I enrolled, and yes, I also wanted to see the puzzle pieces of an injury or infection to see if I could put them together.
I could do anything, but the human body and mind fascinates me. Its ability to heal itself is unprecedented, but when things go wrong, they spiral hard. I enjoy figuring out how to get the body to do what it's supposed to do and find myself caring too much when it won’t.
I’m in my third year of medical school and started clinicals this year.
I’m glad for the colder months beginning to roll in because it means it’s an excuse for more chill evenings.
Nights of gaming, drinking with friends, and expelling some pent up sexual tension is exactly how I want to spend my down time.
As someone knocks on the door, I glance at the food on warming trays on the long dining table ready for people to grab and go. My mother taught me everything I needed to know about entertaining people, I simply choose to do it on a much smaller scale.
My long sleeved shirt hides my tattoos typically, but I have the sleeves pushed up tonight. I wanted to be able to maintain a completely professional demeanor when I got the ink, and so they’re all in places that clothing will cover them.
Walking over to the door, I pull it open. I live alone in an apartment near the school so I can get to both classes and the hospital easily. It suits my need for quiet when I need it, but also forces me to reach out when I’m feeling stifled and need company.
“Hey, Ethan,” I say, stepping back to let him in. Right on his tail are several more of my friends, and they greet me as they head in for food and a night of gaming.
My mother would say it’s uncouth, but we all come from money and know how to conduct ourselves. It’s nice to not need to behave in a certain way.
“It’s been a while,” I tease Ethan as I make myself a plate of food and grab a beer.
Everyone else is already immersed in a game as I sit down with him as he rolls his eyes.
“It feels as if every second of my day is scheduled,” he groans, taking a bite of his burger. Despite it snowing, I was craving burgers and fries. “This is the best fucking thing I’ve put in my mouth in a while, Riley.”
Snorting because if I have my way, he’ll have my cock in his mouth at some point tonight, I shrug.
“Sounds like you need to be more careful about what you put in your mouth,” I murmur, beginning to eat. Groaning, I nod, because I really do make a mean fucking burger.
There are rounds of nods and raised plates from the guys in tribute to the chef as they eat, making me smirk.
“I swear, you guys only come over here so you can eat decently,” I murmur, popping a French fry into my mouth.
“It’s also for the sparkling personalities,” Hugh says in the corner with a chuckle as he plays. “Ah, fuck. Don’t shove me in that corner!”
“You put yourself there,” Cal grunts, killing him in the game. That’s a feud that will age interestingly tonight .
“So what’s new?” I ask Ethan. He seems a lot more relaxed than he usually is. He’s typically a prickly bastard, which makes fucking with him so much fun.
“I almost ran a girl over with my car,” he blurts out, appearing surprised that he told me that.
By now, no one is paying attention to us, so I don’t bother to hide my amusement.
“Finally got so sucked into your own head that you stopped paying attention and became a worse driver than you already are?” I ask him. “How did you almost hit her?”
“I was in a hurry,” he grumbles. “She came out of nowhere with her pink streaked blonde hair and her ratty fucking jeans.”
“She sounds cool,” I admit, shrugging. “Not exactly the kind of girl we get at our school usually though, unless she’s a scholarship student. The school has been making an effort to give out more scholarships I’ve noticed.”
“She’s not,” Ethan agrees. “I don’t know her name but I’m calling her Rainbow Brite in my head. Ah, and to her face apparently too. She ran into me on campus too and landed on her ass. I can’t get her out of my head.”
“So why don’t you shoot your shot?” I ask noncommittally. I’m not really the settling down type. I don’t believe that there’s an omega out there for every alpha. It feels like the unicorn scenario that only lucky sons of bitches get.
I know a lot of people who aren’t that lucky, or those who settle for the wrong mate. I would rather be alone forever than choose badly.
“For the same reason that I’d rather prowl the bars or come over here when that’s not something I want,” Ethan sighs.
We met when he was a sophomore in college and have fucked around a bit over the years. It’s been very casual, but he once said that if he did ever settle down, that person would need to be able to handle what we have.
It’s the only time he’s admitted that we’re more than fuck buddies. His father’s ex-wife really fucked over more than one person in that divorce. Ethan never wants to feel as betrayed as his dad was.
“Okay, well ratty jeans don't say rich bitch to me, Ethan,” I remind him. “Though, I should probably also call her Rainbow Brite so I don’t start calling her Ratty Jeans.”
Chortling, he shakes his head.
“You’re impossible,” he mutters.
Maybe, but he’s back to being in a good mood, and that means I may get laid tonight. I’ll take it.
Ethan
I’m glad I hung out with Riley and the guys tonight. I have to remember to do this more often. My edges are so jagged now, normal nights like this help to soften them.