35. Vanessa
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
VANESSA
The three of us make our way to the garage attached to one of the many buildings Cupid owns on the block. My heart squeezes in my chest when I see my Street Glide parked amongst the many bikes.
A cruise to school would really calm my nerves.
Riding has a way of chasing away my anxieties.
I may be back to my normal routine, but I’m dreading returning to campus.
It will be my first time being near where I was attacked, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t uneasy about it.
I didn’t dare say a word of it to Cupid.
He’d insist I’m not ready, keeping me home where I’m safe behind the club’s walls.
“Can I ride my hog?”
“No,” Cookie and Crypt say in unison.
Cookie adds, “And don’t even ask to ride with us. Cupid would have a coronary if he found out you rode bitch on either of our bikes. We’re taking one of the club’s SUVs.”
I figured as much. Cupid’s territorial with me and he definitely would lose his shit if I rode with anyone other than him.
Nor has Scalpel released me to drive yet.
My head feels fine at the moment, but who knows how I’ll feel with a helmet on my head and rocketing down a bumpy road.
For all I know, I could get sick on the car ride to school.
It’s best to wait a few more weeks until I feel more comfortable traveling.
The ride to campus is uneventful with Cookie listening to some sports show on the radio, Crypt staring out the window in silence, and me going over my notes in the backseat of the SUV, cramming as much info into my head in case my morning professor gives our class a pop quiz, something she routinely does at the beginning of the week.
When Cookie pulls into one of the public parking lots near my first class of the day, I count to ten in my head, attempting to steel myself for the day.
Cookie opens my door with a glower when I take too long to exit the vehicle. “Are we skipping this hour or what?”
“Calm your tits,” I snap, climbing out of the vehicle. “I’m feeling a bit on edge, that’s all.”
Crypt closes in behind my back. “No one will get to you. Not without taking us out first.”
Reassured that these two have my back, I head to my first class with the guys bookending me. I’m opening the door to the building my lecture is in when I hear an annoyingly familiar voice.
“Vanessa! Oh my god!”
Rolling my eyes, I turn towards the grating voice calling out to me. My eyes roll harder when I see the couch-fucking homewrecker jogging towards us with her big boobs swaying with each bounce.
She’s huffing when she reaches me. “Have you ever heard of picking up a phone?”
“Have you ever heard of wearing a bra?”
Cookie chokes on a laugh, covering his mouth with his fist. Crypt frowns, not understanding who this bimbo is. He watches her closely as if he’s cataloging every detail about her in case it’s important later.
Riley’s mouth drops open, surprised by my rudeness.
She shouldn’t be. Riley has earned all the rudeness in the world from me.
Riley recovers quickly, blinking her irritation away. “I’m being serious, Vanessa. Boden has been worried sick about you. You should have called to let him know where you’ve been.”
“Why?” I ask, my nose turning up in disgust. “We’re over. He shouldn’t give two shits about me. And why the hell would I call him? He fucked you. He’s your problem now. Go away.”
“Be for real, Vanessa,” she snaps, annoyance creeping into her voice. “Boden’s been out of his mind searching for you when he noticed you weren’t around campus last week. He went to your apartment, freaking out when he found out you had moved. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Aw. And you’ve been so gracious to help your fuck buddy track me down? How sweet of you,” I say mockingly.
“Ugh, I’m trying to be nice here and you’re being such a bitch.”
“You bring it out of me,” I snap back.
“Careful, Psyche. Remember what Romy said? You’re going to crack your paint if you sneer any harder,” Crypt says beside me, his voice etched with concern.
“Thanks, Crypt,” I mutter irritably before readdressing Riley with more venom in my voice. “You hear that, you pick-me? You’re making my face peel. Fuck off already.”
“I’m not fucking off anywhere,” Riley fires back, putting her hands on her hips like she’s settling in for the long haul.
Cookie leans against the building, watching our public showdown with the biggest grin on his face. Crypt’s scowl grows more pronounced, pivoting to stand more in front of me, as if he can sense things are escalating and wanting to be in the best position to keep me safe.
“What do you want from me? An apology? I’m sorry I’m not sorry I slept with your boyfriend, but I don’t enjoy seeing him this upset thinking something happened to you when clearly you’re fine.”
“Golly gee, if it’s not Saint Whore’Riley reading me the riot act. Go whine to Boden about it.”
I turn to head into the building when a hand clamps hard around my arm. I glance down at it to find Riley has her talons wrapped around my wrist. “The hell? Let go of me.”
Riley shakes her head, her blonde hair swaying with agitation. “I can’t do that. You need to come with me.”
Losing my cool, I yank against her hold, but she hangs on like a nasty sea barnacle. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Take your hands off me.”
Riley’s grip tightens to the point of pain. “Boden wants to see you. We need to go find him.”
I hiss with impatience when she tries to yank me along with her. My heels dig into the cement path, refusing to move. “I said no. Let go of me, you weirdo.”
The two of us are playing a game of tug of war on my arm when Crypt steps in, clamping a hand around Riley’s forearm.
She looks down where he holds her in place before fearfully raising her eyes to his, looking at him for the first time like she hadn’t noticed him standing with me during our entire exchange.
“Let her go or I’ll break your arm,” he says in a truly menacing voice.
Riley’s eyes go wide with alarm.
Can’t say I blame her. Crypt is a terrifying sight, a Goth giant with the aura of a Grim Reaper. If a ginormous Brandon Lee’s Crow look-alike threatened to snap one of my limbs, I’d panic, too.
“Easy, Crypt,” Cookie says calmly, trying to tame a beast from going on a rampage. He eases off the wall, joining the conversation with cautious steps, as if he’s afraid any fast action will push Crypt into aggression. “You don’t want to hurt any woman.”
Crypt looks at Cookie, expressionless, saying, “I’ll hurt anyone who hurts one of our own. Only children are untouchable.”
Yikes. Spicy Grim Reaper.
Riley lets go of me with a terrified squeak, retreating as far away from Crypt’s reach as she can. “I’m going to find Boden. You can’t avoid him forever.”
“The hell I can’t,” I mutter, turning my back on her and yanking the building door open to head inside. I’ll be damned if I let that bitch make me late for my first day back to class.
Cookie is chuckling, shaking his head as he follows me. “Crypt, you’re an animal, buddy. Pretty sure you made the chick piss herself.”
“She had it coming,” I say uncaring, speed-walking to class to make it on time.
“Who was she?” Crypt asks me, his voice lethal, as if he’s still deciding if she’s a threat.
“Someone easy my ex fucked on my couch when we were still together.”
“Damn,” Cookie says with a disgusted tone. “He downgraded on that trade.”
Aw. I guess Cookie can be nice…when he wants to be. “That’s sweet of you.”
He snorts. “I’m anything but sweet.”
“But your club name is Cookie,” Crypt points out. “Cookies are sweet.”
“Yeah,” I say, backing up the enforcer and ruffling Cookie’s feathers some more. “Take a compliment, Cookie. I don’t give them out often.”
“Sweetness is not why I got my club name, and you know it,” he says, grumbling.
Crypt’s face puckers, thinking about something. “Leaving your couch behind makes sense now. Prez was insistent on not moving it.”
I nod, approving of my ole man’s choice. “He gets me. Still, I wouldn’t have minded burning it for funziez.”
“It would have made one hell of a bonfire,” Cookie says approvingly.
“I don’t like the woman who grabbed you,” Crypt says on the other side of me, pivoting us back to Riley. “She was too pushy.”
Cookie hums in agreement. “She was, wasn’t she?”
“And I’m concerned with this Boden guy,” Crypt continues, his voice growing tighter. “He seems obsessive for an ex. Do I need to kill him?”
Arriving at the doors of my lecture hall, I gently pat the enforcer’s arm. “No need, Crypt. He’s a non-issue. He’s just a bad chapter in my book.”
Crypt scowls, not convinced as I head into class.