Chapter 20
TWENTY
VIX - PRESENT
We get back to campus just before noon on Christmas morning and unpack from our mini getaway.
Leah and I are alone for the first time in the last couple of days, and it’s comforting jumping back into our normal rhythm.
As I’m putting all of my things away, I notice the small gift tucked away into one of the side pockets—the ornament from the Christmas market.
“Shit,” I mutter. And Leah stops humming her Christmas carols.
“What’s wrong?
“I forgot to give Aussy the ornament,” I tell her.
“It’s technically still Christmas,” she says. “Go give it to him now!”
I nod, slipping on my shoes and heading over to the boys’ room.
I knock on Austin’s door, feeling giddy about having one last gift to give him. The door swings open, and my excitement immediately fades.
“Vicky! Nice to see you again!” Lana says, her voice perky and loud, like she wants everyone in this dorm to hear her.
“Vix,” I correct. “Can’t say the same,” I reply, my tone dry and uninterested.
“Austin, your girlfriend is here!” she shouts into the room, not moving aside to let me in. I mutter my frustrations under my breath. Austin walks out and places a kiss on the side of my cheek.
“Hey babe, everything okay?” he asks, knowing that we just saw each other about an hour ago.
“Yeah.” I force a smile onto my face. “I forgot to give you this,” I tell him and hand him the little box.
“You already gave me a gift,” he says, his eyes soften, and he pulls me in for a peck.
“I know, but I saw this and knew I had to get it for you, well... for us,” I tell him. He opens the box and sees the little red painted ornament that says ‘Our First Christmas,’ and he smiles.
“We’ve spent tons of Christmases together.” He looks at me with question in his eyes.
“Never as a couple,” I explain, and he nods his head, his smile growing wider.
“Thank you, beautiful. This means so much to me.” He leans in for another kiss, then pulls me inside and leads me over to his bed. He pins the ornament on his bulletin board on the wall, beside a picture of the two of us as kids sitting on our bicycles. My heart swells.
“Isn’t that cute?” Lana says, ruining our sweet moment.
“Can we help you?” I turn to Lana, my eyes narrowed. She smiles at me, a cruel smile like she knows she’s getting under my skin.
“That’s quite all right, sweetheart. Kash has got that covered.
” She winks, and I feel the rage building in my gut.
Kash walks in and smirks at me, then sits on the end of his bed with Lana.
I’m not liking how this girl gets to me.
She’s not even after my boyfriend; she just rubs me the wrong way, and it’s like she enjoys it.
I’ve always been a girls’ girl. I believe in women lifting other women, but every time this one opens her mouth, I’m ready to take out my claws. I turn to Austin and kiss him.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” I tell him and hurry out of the room before I say something to Lana that I may regret.
“Ciao!” I hear her call, and I slam the door on my way out.
“What the fuck, Lana?” I hear Austin say through the door. And I walk away, no longer feeling like I’m in the holiday spirit.
Leah and I walk through the cafeteria doors, where we agreed to meet the boys for dinner, since we had an eventful enough weekend and were too tired to go anywhere else.
Leah is droning on about how she would have loved to have been there to put Lana in her place and how she still doesn’t know why Kash bothers with her at all.
I try to tune her out. I can’t seem to sort through my emotions when it comes to being near that woman.
The guys are already seated, waiting for us to get our food together. It’s silent, awkward, and I don’t really feel like talking to anyone right now. It’s not like any of them have done anything wrong. I’m just angry. Can I just be angry? Austin wraps his arm around my waist.
“Everything okay?” he asks, and I give him a small forced smile.
“Yes,” I nod, “just hungry.” We all walk over to the food buffet and start loading our trays with various foods. Once we are seated, Leah begins the conversation, making things even more awkward than they already were.
“So are we going to address the elephant in the room, or are we going to just sit here and not talk to each other?” she says, shoving a forkful of mashed potatoes and gravy in her mouth.
“I don’t get what everyone is so worked up over,” Kash starts. “Who I spend time with outside of being glued to you three is my business.”
“Sure is,” I say and take a bite of my meatloaf, not looking up from my plate.
“Do you have something you want to get off your chest, Gremlin?” Kash asks, sitting back with his arms folded, as if waiting for me to come at him guns blazing.
“Nope, who you spend time with is none of my business, like you said,” I respond, ice in my voice.
“Great, glad we’re on the same page,” he says, but I continue.
“When she directly insults me, eggs me on, or makes comments about my relationship, on the other hand, is most definitely my business, and I’m not about to sit pretty while she keeps throwing punches just because she’s the one riding your cock this week.
” I finish, and Austin places his hand on my knee beneath the table, silently trying to reel me back in.
“Jealous?” he asks with a cocky grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Ha!” I shout dramatically. “Of potentially getting a venereal disease? Not in the least.” I can see the anger and hurt flash across Kash’s face.
“Can we take a breather here? Reset?” Austin asks, trying to mediate this argument.
“It’s not easy being around you two all the time and not wanting someone to spend my time with,” Kash says, and the fire within me begins to simmer.
“Lana isn’t the ideal person to hook up with, I know, but it’s not like there’s just another you walking around out there.
” Kash gestures to me, and I can physically feel Austin still beside me.
His body is stiff, and I immediately feel a sense of discomfort.
“Not you. I didn’t mean you exactly. I just mean someone I actually want to get to know and spend my time with.” He tries to recover.
“Huh,” Leah says, obviously enjoying her brother’s discomfort.
“Maybe getting away from Lana would be the first step in finding someone worth getting to know,” I tell him, trying to move past his previous comment.
“I know, trust me, I know. It’s just easier. She always comes, you know?” he says and smirks, and we all groan, rolling our eyes. I pick up a spoonful of corn and fling it across the table at him.
“Hey, what the fuck!” He jumps, and I laugh.
“You kind of deserved that one,” I tell him.
“Fair. But you seriously gotta cool it with throwing food at me. It’s wasteful,” he says and steals a brownie off my tray.
“Just in case you felt like using this as ammunition, I think I’ll take care of it for you.” He snickers while taking a giant bite.