Unfortunately, that was nearly impossible. Not with Everly practically glued to Jase’s side and Gabriel hiding around every corner.
I wasn’t sure why he seemed to be everywhere following my introduction to his group, but Gabriel had a knack for sneaking up on me at all times of the day, like now, for instance, as I was walking to class, the sun shining and birds singing, at least until he appeared with a smirk on his face, a joint between his fingers, and a dark imposing cloud shadowing my footsteps.
“Seriously,” I grumbled, pointedly glaring at the wisp of the smoke floating up from his hand. “On campus? How have you not been expelled yet?”
He grinned, “Money makes the world go round and there’s a building or two named after me.”
Falling into step at my side, Gabriel nudged my shoulder with his own. “Where are we going?”
“I’m going to class. You might just be going to hell after what you did to Brad at the gauntlet party.”
Gabriel laughed.
“We went easy on him. He passed out from fear. Not from anything we did.”
Eyeing him, I asked, “And what exactly did you do?”
“Not saying.”
Dropping what was left of his joint on the ground and smashing it with his shoe, Gabriel tossed an arm over my shoulder.
“I’m here to invite you to a party this weekend.”
There was no way in hell I was going to any party thrown by the Inferno ever again. Not after what I saw them do to Brad, and especially not after the way Tanner kissed me while all of them laughed. Certainly not after he’d chased me through the woods, terrifying me as he pinned me against a tree like he owned me.
I hated to admit to myself that I actually liked that first kiss before the laughter started. I especially wanted to forget that I preferred that kiss more than the one Clayton gave me at the end of that night. I tried not to think about how that damn kiss stole my breath so easily, even if I hadn’t exactly invited it.
Refusing to be the butt of anybody’s joke, I answered, “Nope. Not happening. I want nothing to do with you guys.”
“You’re coming.”
“You’re nuts. I can’t believe what you did to Brad. You’re all a bunch of assholes.”
He grinned, our eyes locking, mine narrowed in anger while his crinkled at the corners.
“Listen, Karen-“
“My name’s not Karen.”
“It is when you’re about ten seconds away from demanding to speak with a manager. Chill out and learn to enjoy it. You’re stuck with us and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
Stopping in place outside of my building, I spun on Gabriel and poked a finger against his hard chest.
“I don’t trust you. And I especially don’t trust Tanner. So, you can stop following me around, Gabriel. Nothing you say or do will make me change my mind.”
Holding his arms out in defeat, he kept his green eyes locked to mine as he took a few steps back.
“You’ll change your mind, Luca Bailey. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of you soon.”
Shaking my head, I smiled despite my best effort not to.
“Good luck with that.”
Spinning back to the building, I gripped my hand over the strap of my bag, my ears pricking when I heard Gabriel call out to me.
“We have our ways, Luca. I look forward to seeing you this weekend.”
Air conditioning blasted me as soon as I entered the building. Why they had it so cold in here was anybody’s guess, but I assumed it was to keep exhausted students from falling asleep at their desks.
The end of the semester was coming up quickly and larger projects and papers were being assigned that had all of us burning the midnight hours. Add in the parties on and off campus, and you had a group of zombies running around, their bleary eyes barely cracked open.
Shouldering past a group taking up a good portion of the hall where they stood waiting for a classroom to open, my thoughts were focused on what Gabriel had said as he walked away.
I had no doubt every member of the Inferno had their own methods and charms that kept people in their grasp.
Wealth, good looks, popularity and power had a tendency to seduce just about everybody, but I wouldn’t set myself up for disaster or trip over my feet running toward a group of men who apparently didn’t ask permission or take no for an answer.
Not that these guys set out to hurt anybody, not physically at least, but their methods of keeping people under control and getting what they wanted were notorious within the school. The only way to avoid becoming trapped was to avoid being near them. So, that was my plan.
If I wasn’t at their parties, they couldn’t embarrass me. If I never asked them for a favor, they couldn’t control me with whatever they demanded in return.
Reaching my class, I turned left to walk inside, several early students already studying their notes or working on other tasks within the stadium seating. Walking down the steps, I sat down in a seat on the third level, dropped my bag next to my chair and glanced down near the professor’s desk to see Clayton busily shuffling through papers at his spot in the assistant’s area.
Clayton was a handsome man with careless brown hair and friendly eyes. He was the type of man you knew would be successful in life. Clean cut and aristocratic. Safe…if I had to assign one word to describe him.
Not one lacking in female attention, he was a sure bet for any woman seeking to secure a good husband in life, and two weeks ago that was exactly the man I would have happily dated and been content in the relationship. But now?
Now my dreams kept going back to a cold son of a bitch with dark, moss green eyes and a body that would make any man think twice about taking him on. My thoughts kept returning to a kiss by a bonfire that had been hotter than the flames licking at my back.
My heart kept getting crushed beneath the memories of the way he’d kicked me out of the room the first time I met him, and the laughter that followed the first time he kissed me.
Tanner was an asshole – of that I had no doubt. But that didn’t mean he didn’t draw the eye every time he was near…that didn’t mean I could forget what it felt like for his fingers to fist in my hair and his lips to claim mine.
Which is exactly why I wouldn’t be going anywhere near him. It didn’t matter if Gabriel believed he had ways of making me attend Inferno parties, nothing and nobody would convince me to go near Tanner again.
More time than I realized must have passed while I’d been lost in thought. A deep voice pulled my attention to the front of the room, Professor Thornton gazing up at a full audience of students that had filled in around me.
A bit flustered by my lack of awareness of the people who had shuffled in while I was thinking of Tanner, I opened my notebook to a blank sheet of paper and clicked my pen, ready and waiting to begin hastily scribbling down notes.
The professor started right in.
“Before jumping into today’s discussion, I want to remind you that the end of semester project will be due two months from today. As I’ve previously advised, and as many of you should know from the class syllabus that all of you should have read by now-“
A few nervous chuckles sounded around me at his pointed stare. Very few students actually paid attention to the class syllabus, but I wasn’t one of them. Always prepared…that was me.