Chapter Seven
Aislin
All day, in every single one of my classes, I’m thinking about Zuri—last night with Zuri, telling her my family’s secrets, touching her…
the way she touched me. And then I do this really fucking annoying thing that I never thought I would do, and I start imagining my future with her.
What even is that? I don’t do that kind of thing.
It’s over the top and sappy and…sweet. Because I really want a future with Zuri.
As long as I don’t start doodling our names together, I guess everything is okay.
I get out of class early today, so I head to my dorm to freshen up. When there’s a knock on my door, I get a goofy, silly smile, knowing it’s her.
“Hey,” I say, leaning in for a kiss.
“Hey yourself.”
“Let me grab my jacket,” I tell her, before plucking it off the chair and slipping it on. We’d decided earlier to go to The Pizza Palace for dinner, which is where both Ollie and Shai work. Rory is often there when Shai is because they’re codependent and obsessive that way.
When we get into the hallway, Zuri takes my hand. This isn’t something we have done out in the open on campus before. The feel of her warm hand in mine is comfortable, exciting. Everyone we see will know she’s mine and I’m hers and…what the fuck? I’m totally head over heels for this girl. My girl.
“What’s wrong?” Zuri asks, making me realize I must be showing something on my face.
“Nothing. I just realized I’m a lot more like the boys than I realized.”
“How do you mean?” she asks, as we make our way downstairs.
“Holding your hand…all I can think of is people will know we’re together.”
She frowns. “That’s not a good thing?”
“Shit. No. It is. That’s my point. It’s like I want to say, mine, mine, mine, and wear a shirt that says, hers, hers, hers, or something, so everyone knows we’re together. I tease the guys about it, and now here I am, wanting the same thing.”
Thankfully, Zuri laughs instead of running far away from my family and our obsessive ways. “I can get you that shirt,” she says. “But we have to find one for me, too.”
I can’t stop the grin that pulls across my face. “I think we can figure something out.”
“Good.”
Now we’re both smiling like idiots as we continue to hold hands and walk out to my car. I unlock it and open the passenger door for her. Zuri leans in and kisses me before sliding in.
“How was class today?” I ask as we drive over.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about last night.”
“Oh my God. Me too!” I admit.
“It’s so gross.”
“Agreed.” We both laugh, but then I add, “Not really gross, though.”
“No.” Zuri smiles. “Not gross at all.”
“Oh, Rory’s here,” I say as we pull into the parking lot.
“He’s…”
“Wild? Chaotic? Dangerous?” I ask.
Zuri chuckles. “All of the above.”
“He is, but he also has the biggest heart of anyone you’ll ever meet—at least for his family. And now you’ll be part of his family, too. That’s how we all work, but especially Ror.”
Zuri reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I like that. My family was taken away from me, and I haven’t had one since.”
My heart aches for her, thumps hard against my chest. “I’m so sorry, baby. But I’ll always be your family. I’m not going anywhere.”
I lean in to kiss her, but jump when there’s a bang on my window, nearly coming out of my skin.
I whip my head around, about to murder someone, but see Rory’s bright red hair and smile. “Oops. Sorry. Were you guys about to kiss?”
I roll my eyes. “And that’s Rory, for you,” I say.
“I kinda love him,” Zuri replies. The night she stayed over at T’s house, and we all hung out together, she liked him a lot then, too. It’s when he’d realized he’s in love with Shai, and once Rory knows something, there’s no keeping it quiet.
“Am I interrupting?” he asks through the window, and I smile at him. How can I not?
“Move so I can get out, asshole.” He does as I say, Zuri and I climbing out of my car.
“I saw you from inside. Thought I’d wreak some havoc.”
“From what I hear, you’re very good at that,” Zuri says when the three of us meet in front of the car.
“Have you heard many stories?” he asks.
“I told her,” I say.
“Ooh, I hope you gave her my favorite stories about me.” He wraps an arm around Zuri. “Aislin has been, like, all heart-eyed about you forever. She kept giving me updates. You should have seen how happy she was when you finally kissed.”
“Oh my God, Rory! Shut the fuck up!” I tell him, feeling my cheeks heat.
“No, don’t stop. Keep going,” Zuri tells him as the two of them walk into the restaurant with his arm around her.
We sit at the table Rory always gets when he’s here. I can see both Shai and Ollie in the kitchen, and Ollie gives me the most adorable thumbs-up when he sees us.
Rory has plastered himself to Zuri’s side, sitting in the booth with her, so I slide in across from them.
“You have a boyfriend. Leave my girlfriend alone,” I tease.
“Shai is so fucking hot,” he says, leaning back. “I’m hungry. Are you guys hungry? What kind of pizza do you want? Maybe one day I should eat a pizza off Shai.”
I laugh and reach over for his hand. “God, I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Rory says. “Did you know Ash helped me realize I’m in love with Shai and that I’m actually really fucking good at loving people?”
She turns toward him, not looking at him like he’s this thing she has to figure out, the way some people do. Rory is just Rory, and there’s nothing but acceptance in her gaze. It’s one of the reasons I love her—because I am so fucking in love with her.
“No, but I’d love to hear that story.”
“Okay. I’m just warning you, this might take a while,” he says.
“How about I order the food and leave you two alone?”
Rory is already blabbing to her, Zuri looking my way with a smile, so I slide out of the seat and head to the front.
Ollie is working at the counter. He’s cleaning his glasses when I step up. He slips them back on with a grin. “Soooo…?” he asks.
“All is good. I talked to her last night about everything. It’s a lot, of course, but she’s not going anywhere. She chose me.”
“Of course she did. You’re Aislin fucking O’Shea.”
My eyes widen because Ollie rarely ever says the word fuck. Shai walks up at the same time, clearly having heard him. “Did I just hear what I think I did?” he asks.
“Yes. Ollie said fuck.”
“I say it when it’s important!” He blushes in the most adorable way. I’m so happy he and Cillian found a way to make it work. If not, I know we would have lost Cil—not completely, but he would have done anything to be with Ollie. That’s just the way we all work.
“I love you.” I hug Ollie, who squeezes me tightly in return.
“Why are we so happy?” Shai asks.
“Because I had ‘the talk’ with Zuri and everything is good between us.”
I’m sure he knows what I mean by the talk. Even though it likely happened way differently for him and Rory, they would have had it, too.
“That’s cool. Happy for you,” Shai says. “Rory is talking her ear off. Are you afraid?”
I chuckle. “A little.”
I order more food than three people would normally eat because Rory loves food and can literally never stop eating.
I have no idea where he puts it all. Ollie gives me three drinks—soda for Ror and me, and water for Zuri, because she loves it in this strange way that I didn’t know people actually liked water.
I slide back into the booth, handing each of them their drinks.
“Thanks, Ash,” Rory says.
“I think I love him,” Zuri adds.
“Uh-oh. Should I tell Shai you want to steal his man?” Rory teases.
“I don’t share anymore…at least not with anyone other than Cil and my bunny.
” His bunny is Ollie. The four of them have a special bond through what Rory and Cillian share.
The two of them aren’t in love with each other, but they seek a sort of connection with each other that they find with the four of them being together.
“Aren’t you supposed to be stalking your boyfriend or something?” I tease.
“That’s why I’m here,” Rory adds.
I can’t describe the happiness that fills me up. I experienced it the night of the hangout session with all of us, too. There’s nothing like having Zuri with my people. My family.
“Nope,” Zuri jumps in. “I’m all Ash’s, and she’s all mine.”
My heart goes all fluttery.
“Okay, well, that was sweet,” Rory says.
“Yes,” I reply. “It was.”
“A little gross, too,” he teases, and I playfully kick him under the table. “I hope you got lots of food. I’m starved.”
“I got plenty.”
The three of us wait, and eventually Shai brings over the two large pizzas and a side of cheese bread.
“Is Rory trying to steal your girlfriend?” Shai teases.
“Nope. I already told them I’m all yours, pet,” Rory replies.
“That was sweet…and a little gross,” Zuri repeats what he’d said about us, and then the three of us are laughing again, while Shai tries to figure out what he missed.
Shai has to go back to work, so he leaves us be while we eat dinner. Rory stays behind when we leave, because God forbid he’s away from Shai if he doesn’t have to be.
We decide to go back to Zuri’s dorm for the night, and we’re almost back to the campus when I ask, “Do you have plans this weekend?”
“Oh shit. I forgot to tell you about the rally. When you were in Boston, we had another sexual assault on campus. I organized a rally for Friday afternoon.”
My spine stiffens, anger making my hands tighten on the steering wheel.
It feels like this never stops—not just around Ashford but every college, every town, every state—just everywhere.
“That’s scary. I fucking hate this shit.
Count me in to help, and I’m sorry I was in Boston and didn’t know all of this was going down. ”
She turns and grins at me. “You were being a brat.”
“I was…but I won’t be one anymore.”
“Good,” Zuri says. “Some jackass wrote that I’m a slut on one of the flyers.
It doesn’t have my name anywhere them either.
They would have had to scan the QR code to see who was organizing it.
Clearly, they care a lot about harassing women.
Then earlier, this one guy on campus said slut under his breath at me, and I just assumed he was being an asshole. ”
My heart races, and my stomach twists into knots. Worry creases my brow, but I can’t pretend there’s not a flush of anger filling me, too. “Um, what the hell? Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
I glance her way to see Zuri cocking a brow at me. “Because I didn’t think about it, and I don’t have to tell you every little thing that happens.”
Shit. She’s right. I’m being…well, I’m being like T, Cil, and Rory. I’m doing exactly what I get pissed about them doing to me. “I’m sorry. I know how annoying it is to be treated like you need to be taken care of, but that’s really messed up. I don’t like it.”
“It’s okay.” She reaches over and places her hand on my thigh. “I love that you care. I’ve just been taking care of myself for a long time, and I don’t need anyone trying to take over. We can be in this together, but things that are about me are my call.”
Which is exactly what I would want if this situation were reversed. It’s exactly why I wanted to be involved when I had my own situation with a toxic, disgusting man. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Same for me.”
“I’ll remember that.” Zuri squeezes my leg.
I pull into my parking spot, the best on campus, because the dean knows better than not to give us the best of everything. It’s a perk of being who we are. It’s a bit of a distance from Zuri’s dorm, though.
We get out of the car. It’s a slightly warmer March evening, which is nice. Zuri takes my hand again. There’s no denying how much I love the feel of her soft hand in mine, her warm skin against mine, and all I want to do is nuzzle in closer to her.
I stop cold, though, the air around us dropping what feels like a hundred degrees when I see the big red letters across another of her flyers. ZURI IS A WHORE.
“What the fuck?” I pull away from her, heart in my throat as I rush over to the board and rip the flyer down. None of the other papers have any nasty messages on them.
“Let’s go look at the others,” Zuri says, a pissed-off edge to her voice.
I’m right there with her.
We hurry around campus, and each of her flyers has something nasty written about her—calling her names and saying she hates men. With each one, my heart sinks deeper—my anger rising and filling me up.
Whoever the fuck this is doesn’t know who they’re messing with, because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my girl.