Chapter 11 #2
I definitely wasn’t into girls or she would have had me by now. She was pretty, a little too confident with her charm, and I’d bet money on her skills being high, but I didn’t tingle all over like I did when the guys flirted with me.
We stopped for lunch and some yard time before spending the afternoon in the laundry room again, and I thankfully got to leave a few hours early to study in the library.
I was really plowing through the work pile and was officially ahead of the other students.
Josie had told me yesterday when I’d called her that my teachers were very happy with my results, and the headmaster was happily surprised too, despite us knowing he wished I’d been kicked out.
He was dealing with a lot of bad publicity by keeping me enrolled.
I managed to get some phone time in before bed, giving Lukas and Jensen a quick call, then calling Tyler, who was apparently gaming with Marco while Hunter grumbled in the background about them driving him insane.
“Did you know Skeet let Diesel come and see me today?” I asked, Hunter’s voice sounding closer as he replied.
“D was there?”
“Yeah. Apparently, Skeet’s letting him visit me and take my calls. He surprised me this morning with a visit. He looked really tired, but he was really happy too,” I answered, and Marco scoffed.
“I’d be happy to get four hours away from Skeet too if I was him.”
“Have you guys seen him?”
“Skeet? Sure,” Marco chuckled. “He got into a scuffle with Ty on Monday, and a pretty solid fight with Jensen too. Your little rich boys have anger issues, you know?”
“Wait, Skeet fought them? Are they hurt?” I demanded, wishing I could climb through the phone to check myself.
“Just scrapes and bruises. In Skeet’s defense, Ty taunted him until he snapped, and Jensen threw the first punch in their fight. Ty’s broken nose was me, not Skeet.”
“Why the fuck did you break his nose?”
“We were just playing. Right, Ty? It was for funsies,” he insisted, and Tyler grunted in response but didn’t agree with him.
“They’re fine, if not humbled,” Hunter said dryly. “Was D okay? I haven’t seen him since Monday.”
“He seemed to be. Keep an eye on him for me?”
“You know I have eyes on everyone, babe,” he chuckled, and I glanced at the time to see it was getting late. “Hey, I need to go. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you, Ty.”
“Love you too, baby!” Tyler called out, and Marco said something about my ass before Hunter sighed, taking me off speakerphone. Well, I assumed he did because the background noise vanished.
“You and Lex been good?” he asked.
“Yeah, we’re besties now. She’s been fussing over my wounds,” I huffed, glancing around to see no one around, other than the guard. “You’ll come and visit next week?”
“We will. Say hi to Lex for me. Be safe,” he murmured, and I said goodbye before hanging up and calling Diesel next.
It took him a minute to answer, but he sounded unsure when he did.
“Rory?”
“Sorry, do I look clingy?” I asked awkwardly, hearing his huff of laughter.
“No, I just wasn’t expecting you to call today. Everything okay?”
I toyed with the phone cord, blowing out a breath. “Yeah. I was just doing the rounds and thought I’d call you too. What are you doing?”
“Just at home watching TV.”
“You asked me on a date today, right? Or did you mean as friends?” I blurted out, making him pause.
“What did you want it to be?” he finally asked, and I grinned.
“A date. You sure you’re not too old for me?”
“Donovan, don’t go there,” he grumbled, making me laugh.
“It’s okay, we can have you home for bed by eight, old man,” I teased, a scoff leaving him.
“You’ll pay for that.”
“Promise?”
“I forgot you’re a masochist,” he deadpanned, clearing his throat when I giggled.
“I think that’s a conversation for another day.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here, I just know I like spending time with you,” he murmured, and I wished I could see his face.
“I’m a professional at winging things. We’ll figure it out as we go,” I replied, changing the subject to talk about dinner instead when I sensed the conversation getting a little too serious for him.
We talked until cut off time, and I went to bed a lot happier now I’d spoken to everyone in one day.
Everyone except Caden and Skeeter, but there was nothing I could do about that.
I headed back to my cell, poking my head into Lexi’s room to find her lying on her bed with an arm behind her head and a book in hand.
“I didn’t know strippers could read,” I joked, and she tossed the book at me.
“If Heights trash like you can get a rich kid education, anything is possible.”
She shuffled over so I could drop down beside her, and I let out a sigh.
“Hunter says hi. I spoke to him on the phone. He didn’t know Diesel was coming.”
“Did you tell him he kissed you?”
“No, that’s none of his business,” I said dryly. “Has Archer come to visit you? Does he call?”
She went quiet for a minute before replying, and I could hear the hurt in her voice despite her trying to cover it up. “He calls sometimes. He’s busy.”
“You’re his wife, Lexi. He should make his schedule around you,” I pointed out, and she looked deep in thought before replying.
“Can I tell you a secret? You can’t tell anyone.”
“Of course.”
“The wedding was fake,” she admitted, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.
“The Demons were making moves, and the only way to grant me full protection was if I was Archer’s wife.
It was also supposed to be bait to flush Lopez out, but he showed up before we were ready and saw the ring.
It was a fucking bloodbath, Donovan. Hunter wanted to take me with him to get me out of there, but Archer refused.
He’d rather risk me getting arrested than letting me get on the back of Hunter’s bike. ”
“Why do you keep running back to him?”
“When I had no one, I still had Archer. He’s not always an asshole, a lot of it’s an act. Below the surface, he’s a really sweet man. He was a kid raising me, and I owe him for that.”
“That means you thank him and bake him cookies some times. You don’t give him your life to toy with,” I grumbled, making her snort.
“I guarantee you and Skeet have a similar thing. Everyone thinks he’s a monster, but I’d bet money on you seeing a different side of him.”
“I do get that,” I sighed, jerking when she shuffled closer to snuggle me. “Lexi, I already told you—”
“I’m not trying to fuck you, Donovan,” she muttered when I tried to push her off, but I frowned when I looked at her face to see desperation in her eyes. She kind of looked like she needed to cry but forgot how. “Just let me. For five minutes.”
I had a feeling Lexi’s confidence about everyone getting lonely in here was more personal experience, and I vowed to punch Archer in the face when I got out, even if she hated me for it when she found out.
“Five minutes,” I repeated, putting an arm out for her to curl into me properly. She melted against me, pressing her cheek to my shoulder as she got comfortable.
It was definitely longer than five minutes, but I found myself appreciating the cuddle too. It was actually kind of nice to just exist with someone who wanted nothing else from you. I knew the guys were more than happy to just cuddle, but I’d never really had a lot of friends before.
Mule and Zeena would punch me if I offered to cuddle them, and I was just as bad when I cuddled with the guys because I wanted to get them naked too.
We laid there until Kat poked her head in and frowned at us with confusion before letting us know the guards were coming around for head count.
Lexi sighed before sitting up, and we made our way outside our rooms to be counted before the gate was locked and we were allowed to get back to what we were doing.
“Hey,” Lexi murmured, giving me a small smile. “Thanks.”
I nodded, and she went back to her room with Kat giving us curious glances as she followed, so I joined Tilly on the couch to watch TV.
Jamie wandered out of her room after twenty minutes with some snacks, and we sat there until lights out, just enjoying the silent company.
Caden
“You’re tense,” I observed as I watched Skeeter shoot his target. Well, he completely missed it, which was how I knew he was tense.
“No shit. I have a tense lifestyle,” he grunted, stepping back and motioning for me to have a go.
“You going to tell me what’s up?” I asked once I was in position, aiming at the target and firing. The bullet hit the center of the target, and I turned to find Skeeter eyeing me.
“Diesel visited Rory today,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.
“I thought that would get him executed or something?” I said tightly, lining up another shot.
That one missed.