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“Why did you get scared, Little Hacker?” Isaac asks, sitting as close to us as possible.

“I don’t really know. It didn’t make sense to me as it happened, but I was already starting to feel scared, and then Grayson picked me up. It spiraled from there,” I whisper.

“I’m a big fucking guy,” the Warden says, shaking his head. “I’m loud, overbearing, and people move when they see me coming. Are you scared of me?”

“No, not typically,” I answer. “When my anxiety is already high, everything feels even more overwhelming.”

“That’s fair,” Grayson agrees. “Regardless of what your instructors call their section, you are not a whore, Baby Girl. I may tease you when you’re needy and dripping for me one day, but you will know the con of what I’m talking about. Now,” he continues as if he wasn’t just talking about things that make my core clench, “I want Ayden, Andrya, and Sidney to see you as a person. They’re to spend time with you, because you’re one of the best people that I’ve ever met. I want them to catch feelings, even if you never return them.”

“If they care about you, it’s harder to hurt you,” Isaac says, understanding immediately. “Damn, all I did was strangle Andrya and tell her I’d murder her and pin it on Ayden. This is smart, Gray.”

“You… what? Isaac, Honey. You can’t threaten people on my behalf,” I admonish, even as I begin to feel things that I’ve never felt before for someone else. I’ve been on my own for a long damn time.

“The fuck I can’t. I hate to tell you this, but I think Andrya already has feelings for you. She thought you didn’t want her, so this was her way of retaliating. It’s juvenile, dumb, and you probably don’t even remember rejecting her because you were sleeping when she crawled into bed with you,” Isaac says, dropping a light kiss on my lips.

“What…?” I feel like a broken record, and turn into Grayson’s arms now that my anxiety is a bit more manageable. My body no longer feels as if Gray is a threat. Laying my head on his chest, I blow out a breath. “My head hurts, guys. It’s pretty obvious that I don’t have very much experience, and part of me thought I was having a really sexy dream about Andrya.”

Isaac chuckles. “Do you often have fun, sexy dreams, Little Hacker?” he teases.

“I mean… It’s happened here and there. I had a vibrator at home that I kept well hidden. I've had orgasms alone, but otherwise I’m pretty innocent. I do remember that Andrya kept trying to kiss me, and I kept dodging her.”

“You did the same to me,” Grayson murmurs, and I shrug.

“I wanted my first kiss to be someone that wasn’t angry with me, or trying to prove something,” I explain, shyly.

“I was a real ass, so I don’t blame you. I’m man enough to be able to admit that I was being a dick. Andrya doesn’t know that you were a virgin though, and so few people say no to her that her ego took a hit, I think,” the Warden says.

“That’s exactly what happened, and now she knows a little more about you. I explained that you were a virgin so Andrya could see how wrong she was just to assume she could force herself on you. The woman thinks she’s the Gods’ gift to men and women,” Isaac mutters.

“So all of this was because she thought I was rejecting her?” I gasp. I’m flabbergasted that all of this came from a sleepy orgasm in her arms.

“Yep. That’s another reason I need them to really see who you are. The three fuck-a-teers can figure out what they’ll teach you, but the true purpose of this is so they’ll see you as a person,” Grayson explains.

“This could go wrong in so many ways.” I sigh.Are they capable of seeing me as a person?

“One of them will now be accompanying you at all times for meals, since Zachary gave up the information about your phobia,” Grayson winces.

“It was too good to be true,” I lament.

Isaac pushes my hair from my face, frowning. “What was, Baby?”

“Having a friend in this hell hole,” I tell him with a small smile that I don’t mean. I should have listened to Grayson, then maybe I wouldn’t have one more disappointment. Unfortunately, the royal circles are just like this, so it helps with the pain that I shove away.

Blinking hard, I tell myself I don’t need it, but it’s a lie. Who doesn’t want someone they can trust to talk to?

“Silla… FRC is cut throat, and I was jealous when I told you not everyone is what they seem,” Grayson grumbles as he hugs me. I know he can feel the tremor in my body as I squeeze him back, and hate myself for the sniffle I can’t hold in. “I didn’t think he’d do this, for what it’s worth.”

“Ayden threatened Zachary’s sister,” Isaac reveals with a wince. “The idiot kept asking how you were, but I don’t like him.”

“Isaac, you don’t like anyone,” Gray snickers as Patricia comes back into the room with a tray.

Wiping under my eyes in case of stray tears, I give a small sigh. I feel bad his sister was threatened, but the horror is still too fresh for forgiveness.

“It’s a party in here,” she teases, flicking her fingers at us. “Get to work, and let the girl eat. Have you decided if you’re going to face the world today?”

“I guess I should,” I groan.

“Good for you,” Gray says, kissing the top of my head as he moves out from under me. “I’ll be around today if you need me.”