23. Chapter 21 #2
Snapping my head up, I stare into the corner of the room, trying to figure out where the camera is. It takes several up-and-down glances between my phone and the wall to figure out that the camera is attached to the underside of the corner shelf thingy that Oakley bought last week.
Nerves flutter in my stomach as I close my laptop and set it on the couch, then pat Will’s knee. “I’m going to get a glass of water. Would you like one?”
Will offers me that perfect smile of his. “That would be great.”
I keep my movements calm and even, doing my best to not let on that my heart is hammering like I have a hummingbird responsible for each beat.
Oakley shoots me a look as I walk into the kitchen and grab two glasses to fill with water, her conversation with Vinnie going quiet, which would have made the whole interaction awkward, but I’m so in my head, I barely notice them.
“You all good?” Oakley asks, her gaze a little too assessing for my liking.
“Uh-huh,” I reply, because what the fuck am I supposed to say?
Oh yeah, the deranged NU professor who decided to move in earlier this week has set up cameras in at least one of our rooms and is actively watching us all right now?
Once the glasses are full, I swipe the hand towel and head back to the couch. As I pass the corner shelves, I casually drape the towel directly over the decorations on the shelf, making sure to also cover the tiny camera.
Stomach turning with a mix of anger and impending doom, like I’m the one who actually did something wrong, I go back to Will and offer him the water. He accepts it with a preoccupied smile.
I sit back next to him, and thankfully, his hands are now both full with the water and his phone, which seems to have his complete and utter attention.
Another notification from my phone grabs my attention.
Xavier: *Screenshot of an app with three video feeds, titled Emery’s Dorm.*
I clench my jaw so tightly, my headache threatens to flare up again. He has clearly edited the other two feeds with big black boxes so I can’t work out where the cameras are.
How fucking dare he? The invasion of privacy is insane. My chest goes cold at the thought of not having a single private moment to myself. This man is insane. How can he think this is okay? What about Oakley? And where the fuck are those cameras?
A horrible thought pops into my head—is there one in the bathroom?
My fingers fly over the screen.
Me: What the fuck, Xavier? This is so not okay.
Xavier: I know.
Me: Either you take them down, or I will.
Xavier: No, that won’t be happening, little dove.
My heart tries to defrost at the pet name, but I force myself to remain strong. This asshole thinks he can fuck with me like this? Watch my every move while he isn’t physically in my space?
Fuck that.
Once everyone else is gone, I’ll go on a hunting spree until I find them all. But for now, I’m going to give him a reason to be as pissed off as I am.
“Hey, Will?” I ask, changing my phone over to my camera app and swapping it to the front camera.
Will breaks his stare with his phone to look at me, the frown pulling at his features smoothing out when he sees my smile. “What’s up?”
I take his water and place it on the coffee table. “Is it okay if I send a photo of us to my friend? I was telling her about you.”
His lips quirk into a smirk. “Been talking about me, Ems?”
I huff out a fake little laugh, pretending like I’m a little embarrassed at having been caught. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
He grins, blue eyes twinkling, but drops it. “How are we doing this?”
Taking his arm, I drape it over my shoulders again and snuggle all the way into his side. Literally. I can feel his chest expanding with each breath.
“Smile,” I order as I hold the phone up and snap a selfie of us.
Then I look up at him, making sure my smile is still in place, and take another one. Will looks down at me, and we are so close, I can feel his breath on my lips. My thumb taps the screen to get that photo too before I slowly lower my arm as Will’s eyes flick down to my lips and back up again.
Alarm bells blare in my head, but before he can lean down and actually kiss me, Vinnie calls out to him. “Alderidge, we gotta go. Dushane needs us.”
Will drops his head back onto the couch and inhales deeply as Vinnie comes back to the couch and starts packing up his stuff. I blink furiously and turn away from him, trying to calm the fuck down.
Will stands, taking his things with him and quickly packs his backpack before he turns to me and crouches down by my knees—again—one hand landing on my thigh and giving it a squeeze. “Message me if you need anything, okay?”
With how tight my throat suddenly feels, I don’t trust it to work the way I want it to, so I nod.
He stares at me for an extra second, starting to say something else, but Vinnie’s already at the door. “Dude, we gotta go. Now.”
With a sigh, Will heaves himself up and takes off, closing the door behind him. Oakley must have disappeared back to her room.
Why does it feel like I went through a washing machine on a spin cycle?
I raise my phone and go back into the messages with Xavier and send him the pictures of Will and me. Then I lock my phone, grab my sleep things from my bedroom, and head into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
If there are a dozen missed calls when I get back to my room, I wouldn’t know, because I click the button to clear all the notifications and then put my phone into Do Not Disturb mode.