Chapter 6
Guinevere
A s Damian and I head for the exit of Mallory Center, he grabs my upper arm and pulls me to the side and out of the way of oncoming students.
“Ow! What the hell?” I rub the spot on my arm he just assaulted. He lets go and looks around as if he’s making sure no one is around to hear what he’s about to say.
“Do you know who that was?” I shoot him a quizzical look.
“No?” Damian rolls his eyes.
“That was Ryker Steele. He’s an Elite, and you just got on his bad side.”
Now I roll my eyes.
Ah, yes. The Ellington Elite. The king pricks of Ellington University. The wealthiest men on campus and the most ruthless. I don’t know much about their little club, but I know it’s bad news. My dad didn’t tell me much about his days as an Elite, but I do know to stay away from them.
Since most of them come from money, they think they’re untouchable. They can pretty much do anything they want and get away with it since their parents have more money than God and can pay off any witnesses.
Girls beg for their attention and grovel at their feet to give them a chance. It’s pathetic, honestly. They’re nothing special. But in this life, money is power, and they have a lot of it.
“I’ll be fine. He’s just another douchebag with more money than brains.”
Damian stifles a laugh.
I walk toward the exit with Damian trailing behind me. I turn back to make another comment on the situation at hand, but I’m interrupted as I run into something hard.
I look up, and up, and up. It’s him again. Ryker Steele. God, he’s tall. I take a step back and take him in. Why is he standing in my way?Again.
Damian steps up beside me as if he’s ready to throw down with Ryker if he tries anything. Damian has never fought a day in his life, so he’d definitely get his ass kicked, but I appreciate the gesture.
Ryker glares down at me, his green eyes dark. He towers over me. He must be at least six foot two. His arms are crossed, and I can see the veins underneath his tan skin.
“You make a habit of running into people?” he asks. My body stiffens and I narrow my eyes.
“Do you make a habit of standing in the middle of walkways?” his jaw clenches as he crosses his arms over his chest, making the muscles ripple underneath his skin.
“So… Just another douchebag with more money than brains, huh? That’s a new one,” I should be embarrassed that he heard me, but part of me is actually glad he did.
“Really? You don’t get that all the time?” I give him a sardonic smile, looking directly into his eyes. They’re an unbelievable shade of green that I’ve never seen before, complete with a black ring around them. He has a bit of dark stubble around his jaw that matches the dark hair on his head.
His lips curl into an arrogant smirk.“Maybe, but never to my face. Words hurt ya know.”
This guy is unbelievable.
My pointer finger taps on the side of my leg repeatedly as I try to calm myself. “I didn’t say it to your face. You were eavesdropping. Now, can you please move out of my way now so I can go home?” I go to step around him, grabbing Damian’s hand to follow, but Ryker follows, blocking us from leaving.
“Just hold on a minute,” he studies my face for a moment, and I can feel my cheeks heat under his assessing gaze. “You don’t like me very much, do you?” he asks, cocking a dark eyebrow. Is he kidding?
“I don’t even know you,” but if I did, I’d definitely hate him more than I already do. I cross my arms over my chest.
Ryker holds his hand out for me to shake. I don’t take it. Instead, I just stand there glaring at him, hoping he’ll get the hint that I want nothing to do with him. His arm falls and he chuckles.
“Okay, fine. I’m Ryker. And you are? Guinevere, was it?”
“Who I am doesn’t concern you. Have a nice day,” I grab Damian’s hand again and begin to pull him with me and away from the asshole in front of me that is Ryker Steele, but I decide to say one more thing before I go. “Actually, no. Have a shit day.”
I continue on my way, Damian in tow, but before we get far, Ryker grabs my forearm, halting my steps. Damian stops at my side, glaring at Ryker.
I stare at the spot on my arm that Ryker is holding, the heat from his hand scorching my skin. My eyes move from his hand to his face. His smug expression has turned into something darker as his gaze moves over my face.
“I think you owe me an apology, Gwen ,” the way he says my name sends a tingle down my spine.
An apology? I do feel kind of bad for what I said in class. I’m usually very calm and contained. But then I remembered how he treated me after I ran into him before class. He deserved every word.
“I don’t owe you anything,” I swipe my arm away from him and begin walking again. This time Ryker doesn’t stop me.
Damian throws his arm around my shoulders as we walk down the sidewalk.
“You should really teach that girlfriend of yours some manners,” Ryker calls after us. I flip him off without looking back.
Girlfriend? He thinks Damian and I are dating? Interesting.
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My house off campus is only about a block away so I usually walk home after class. In the winter, I’ll typically drive to campus to avoid freezing to death.
It doesn’t take Damian and I long to arrive at my house, and when we do, I head straight for the couch in the living room while Damian heads to his self-proclaimed spot on the little chair in the corner.
Tossing my bag down on the ground, I slump next to Lainey and our other roommate, Ellie. We have one more roommate, Haley, but I’m pretty sure she’s at class right now.
Letting out a loud groan, I fall forward, cradling my head in my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ellie and Lainey exchange a look of confusion.
“Gwen? You okay?” Lainey asks cautiously.
I peek up at her through my fingers and glare. “No.”
“Okay…” she holds out the ‘ay’. “What’s going on?” she asks. Sitting up straighter, I pull a pillow onto my lap and play with the torn edge.
“She got into it with Ryker Steele in class today,” Damian butts in. I send him a death glare, causing him to slouch down into his chair.
Lainey and Ellie jump out of their seats at the same time.
“ The Ryker Steele?” Ellie replies, unimpressed.
“No freaking way. You got into it with an Elite?” Lainey squeals. She shakes her head, clearly in awe.
Lainey has this crazy obsession with the Elite, and I find it incredibly weird. Ellie knows who Ryker is because her twin brother is also an Elite member. I’ve met her brother Holland a few times and he’s nice enough. Lainey and Ellie go to some of their parties once in a while, but I’ve chosen to opt out of those events.
The only thing I know about their group is their names. There’s Holland, of course. Then Mason, who is Holland and Ellie’s cousin and who I know from high school. We never really spoke, but we hung in the same circles, so I knew of him. Finally, Patrick, Logan, and worst of all, Ryker.
“Wait, why didn’t we know he was in your class?” Lainey asks, looking offended that I’ve withheld this information from her for so long.
“Well, for starters, he’s missed almost every single lecture. Also, I have no idea who he is. I didn’t know his name until I ran into him outside Mallory after class,” I shrug, plucking the loose strings on the pillow that I’m still holding in my lap. Lainey looks like she’s about to combust.
Damian shifts in his seat, sitting up straighter with a mischievous grin on his face. “She literally ran into him. Like full on crashed into his chest,” Damian chuckles and Lainey and Ellie’s eyes widen.
I really don’t know why they’re making such a big deal out of this. The guy is a major prick. “She also called him a douchebag,” Damian adds. Lainey spits out the water she just took a sip of, then pulls her long, curly brown hair up into a bun on top of her head.
“You called an Elite a douchebag? To his face?” Ellie asks at the same time Lainey asks,
“What did he feel like? Was he all muscly?” I roll my eyes.
“Technically I called him a douchebag with more money than brains, and it wasn’t to his face, he overheard me. And Lainey, I’m not even going to acknowledge that question.” Lainey pouts.
“Seriously?” Ellie leans back into the couch and laughs uncontrollably. Lainey shifts, turning her tiny body more toward me.
“Wait… did he say anything? After you called him a douchebag?”
“He told me to teach her some manners. Gwen really held her own. I was thoroughly impressed. Oh, he also thinks we’re dating,” Damian laughs.
Lainey throws her head back in a fit of laughter, as if me being Damian’s girlfriend is hilarious. To be fair, it kind of is. Everyone knows Damian and I could never be anything more than best friends.
“That’s fantastic. Why would he think that?” Lainey directs her question to Damian. He shrugs.
“Probably because I had my arm around her shoulders when we walked away.”
“Low bar,” Ellie says. Damian blows me a kiss and I pretend to catch it, smashing it on the floor and stomping it into the ground. His hand flies up over his heart, offended. Lainey looks back to me, her hand on my knee.
“Ryker Steele may be an ass, but did you even look at him? That man is fine as hell. That dark hair and those green eyes. I mean seriously, the man looks like a Greek god. There’s no way you didn’t notice,” Lainey scoffs. Honestly, I didn't take a good look at him. I just wanted to punch his stupid face.
“I was too distracted by his arrogance to notice,” I shrug. Lainey rolls her eyes as she lets out an exasperated sigh. Her way of saying she’s given up on the conversation.
Ryker and I clearly have different views on things. Like how actually showing up to class is important. Or, how to be a human being.
Honestly, who does he think he is? Just because he’s an Elite, and because he has money, he thinks he can demand things of me? Well, I have money too. But I don’t go around demanding things from people or treating anyone poorly.
Ryker Steele has another thing coming if he thinks I’m one to bow down and give in to demands. Especially ones that come from his arrogant ass.