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“Do you want to stay with me?” Justin asked. “Both of you, I mean. I just don’t feel comfortable with you going back.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, neither do I. If they broke in once, they’ll do it again.”
“You need to get cameras set up. It might be a while before they strike again—even if they go to jail, someone else will take their place—so you need to cover your ass,” Luna said.
“I ordered some a while ago, but I was too lazy to put them up. I got way too distracted with everything and honestly forgot all about it.”
“Yeah, well, I’m going to have one of the AV guys come set them up tomorrow. I hope you got a good setup. If not, we’ll get you a better one. We’re not fucking around with them,” Justin said.
“Thanks, guys. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you both.”
Justin leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “We love you. You’re one of us. We’ll always have your back.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
ASHER
Football practice suckedparticularlyhard the next morning. Damian was still raging over the shit Temperance said. Personally, I thought he—we—deserved it, but he didn’t see it that way, or so he said. To be honest, I couldn’t tell if he was more pissed off at the fact that he hadn’t expected her to go for blood, so it had caught him off guard, or if it was because deep down, he knew she was right.
Either way, he took all his rage and insecurities out on all of us. He ran us faster and worked us harder than ever before, and my bodyhatedhim for it. I was in good shape, and he made it difficult for even me. Some of the other guys on the team who were less fit, but still good enough to be on a football team, were straight fucked.
I’d never seen so much puke in my life, and no one got drunk the night before. I’d made sure of that one. After what happened in gym, I figured something like that might happen, so I warned the team in private messages to be on their best behavior. No turning up late or hung over. I was relieved they took that advice.
My body hurt so fucking bad that it took me a while to get cleaned up after. I went to the cafeteria to get breakfast, but I knew not to sit down. If I did, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get back up for a while. I just talked to Susan, one of my favorite ladies in there, and grabbed something to go.
After that, I headed to my locker to get shit sorted and then headed to class. I would have been insanely early, but since I was hobbling around like an old man, I was only about fifteen minutes early. Despite what had happened the day before, I was looking forward to seeing Temperance. She’d taken to showing up at the last second to avoid having to sit next to me, and Damian said she did the same in classes with him as well, but she was still nice to look at.
And after the weekend we’d shared, Ireallyloved to look. Unfortunately for me, that needed to be all I ever did again. Getting close to that girl was bad news. With the family bullshit Damian and I both had going on, we’d only drag her down more, and I didn’t want that. Not for her. She was too good for all that.
So, like she said in gym, I would just watch her from afar, like a fucking creeper. I’d think about that perfect, blissful weekend where I could pretend for the briefest of moments that she was mine. The only time in my life since coming to California that I was happy.
Temperance had my attention before, but after that weekend, I was fairly sure she had my heart. She was everything I’d ever wanted. Strong.Fartoo strong to take anyone’s bullshit, especially mine. Smart. Witty. Sarcastic as hell. Nerdy. Active. And fuck…sobeautiful.Painfullybeautiful. I’d been with a lot of girls, and she was the only one I couldn’t get out of my head.
When I closed my eyes at night, it was her face I saw. The way she smiled at me when she kissed me. The way she bit her lip when she thought of defying me. The raw fucking excitement on her face when she disobeyed and was punished. She waseverything.
I’d thought so much about being with her. At some point within the last few days, I’d realized that even if she wouldn’t be with me unless she could have Damian, too, I would have jumped at the chance to do whatever she wanted. I would give her that.
But life wasn’t so simple.
Relationships involved way more than just two people—or in this case, possibly three or maybe even four with Justin, too. Stress could press in from all sides, and our families werepowerfulstressors. While my dad was a dick, I didn’t think he’d be particularly dangerous. Sebastian Wolfe, however… There was something cold and dark about him. I had no doubt he’d hurt Temperance if he knew about her and Damian.
Minutes ticked away on the clock as I sat, thinking of the perfect woman I’d never have. Students filed in and took their seats. As it got closer to time, they rushed in. When the teacher came in and the bell rang, and still, there was no Temperance to be found, I wondered what happened.
Fifteen minutes after the bell, I realized she wasn’t coming. A nagging feeling settled into my gut. She never missed class—well, except when she had a concussion from Eric’s dumb ass. Even if she knew something bad was likely to happen, she still showed up. It was what I loved about her. Her unwillingness to give up.
Before lunch, I ran into Damian, and he said he hadn’t seen her either, which made my worry grow. It wasn’t like her to skip, so it made me think something was wrong.
When I walked into the cafeteria, I hobbled straight over to their table. Temperance was missing, so I took her seat in front of Luna and Justin.
“What’s wrong with you?” Luna asked. “Also, are you lost?”
“Damian was in a bad mood at practice this morning, and no. I’m here for a purpose. Where’s Temperance?” I asked.
They both looked at one another before turning and giving me nearly identical incredulous expressions.
“Andwhywould we tell you?” Luna asked.
“Yeah, I think you both have done more than enough,” Justin followed.