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Cradling me against his chest, he effortlessly carries me out of Forthright and across the campus to my dorm. When we get to the door of my dorm, I hear the other guys.
“Bianca, that fucking bitch. She’s done.” Daxon’s voice is low. I’m sure that response was from the way I look in Mason’s arms.
“Fuck,” Colton grumbles.
“Red, baby. I need your code to get into the room. Do you want to punch it in? Or give it to me? Or let Daxon do it?” Mason says with a bit of a chuckle as he lays his head on me as I curl tighter into his grasp.
“Zero, seven, two, nine,” I whisper to him, knowing I would have to change it yet again. Shifting me, he punches in the code, and the guys walk in. Daxon immediately heads towards my room, the others following.
Mason lays me on my bed and gets in beside me. His warmth surrounds me, his hand running along my cheek. The tenderness, the softness, cracks whatever resolve I was holding onto once I left that bathroom. A wrenching sob breaks through. Tears cascade down my cheeks, and my vision is completely blurred. Mason pulls me into him, and I wince in pain.
“Shit. What the fuck did that bitch do to you?” Mason lays me on my back. The other two come around the bed on the opposite side of Mason. “Can I lift up your shirt, Red?”
I nod, giving him permission. Mason slowly just lifts my shirt enough that I’m still decent. Colt walks away, his face red and his fists curled at his side, while Daxon and Mason take a look at the damage.
Their hands softly glide over my skin, just taking in the bruises already forming. Colt comes back over to my face with a warm washcloth, wiping the tears from my face.
“You got some blood. I’m just gonna clean it up for you, okay?” Colton stares at me with an intensity in his eyes. Like he’s not sure if he wants to go rip Bianca a new one or jump into bed and pull me into him.
I nod, giving him permission to wipe it clean. My mind is overwhelmed with having all three of them in the same room. My body is on the verge of meltdown having all three of them touching me. Caring for me.
This is weird. What earth am I on? What dream world am I in? I’m lost in my emotions and confusion when Dax breaks me of it.
“Fucking unbelievable.” Dax furrows his brows as he stares down at my stomach.
“How did you know where I was?” I wince as I turn to Mason.
“Bianca and her minions came into the dining hall beaming.” He sighs. “I just had a feeling they were up to something, especially after Bianca was pissed off from class earlier, so when they sat down, we asked them what they were so happy about.”
Dax locks eyes with me. “Bianca spilled the beans that they ran into you in the bathroom and that you may actually leave now. When I asked her what that meant, she said that her job was done and she had taken out the trash.” He shakes his head. “Without them seeing, I texted Mason to go look for you, and he made up some story about forgetting a meeting with the coach and left the dining hall.”
“So, while Mason went back to Forthright in search of you, Dax and I got them to tell us what they did.” Colt’s face is like stone. “The minute they told us that they ganged up on you …” he trails off.
“We need to put Bianca in her place,” Dax growls from beside me. “Three against one? Having her tramps do the dirty work for her? Fuck!” he roars. “I’m going to go knock her down a peg or two.”
“No!” My eyes widen in fear. “Please, no. No more. I just want to survive enough to leave this place. Don’t make it worse.” My voice is weak, and I’ve honestly lost all fight in me.
“She hurt you, Phoenix. I need her to pay,” Dax says through gritted teeth. I don’t understand the reaction he’s having. Why does he even care? Why do any of them care? I want to ask them that, but I hold back.
“No.” I shake my head.
I see his jaw tense, and he lets out a heated breath. “What the fuck ever.” Dax storms out of my room, pissed I won’t let him retaliate on my behalf.
“I’ll go keep an eye on him.” Colt leans down and kisses my forehead in a weird show of intimacy that stuns me. Mason nods and pulls me into him. He’s giving me a weird sense of safety. One of the guys who has been making my life hell, protecting me. And I truly need it.
“How did you find me?”
Mason lets out a sigh. “I … um … fuck. I heard you crying, Red. And that’s not a sound I enjoyed hearing.”
I burrow deeper into him. The heat on my cheeks growing. I don’t like feeling needy, or like I need a savior. Yet that’s exactly what I need right now. And my weakness led Mason to me.
“I’m sorry you had to come running after me. I don’t mean to be a bother.”
He pulls back a bit to look at me. “Don’t you dare apologize. What they did was fucked up. Don’t apologize for them. That wasn’t right, and I know we take some of the blame for that. All of it, really.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” My voice shakes.
Mason doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. “I don’t know,” he finally responds. “You’re not what we expected, Phoenix. You’re an anomaly.”