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To prove my point, I stand from my chair and stride through the house. If there’s one thing I can’t fucking stand it’s superiority complexes. Stone and his friends have one a mile wide. They sit in their fucking castle and throw stones at people like me. Sure, I didn’t grow up in a life like his, but that doesn’t make me weaker. It makes me much stronger than him.
I pass the living room and yank open the front door. As soon as I do, a blaring alarm sounds. I shield my ears with the palms of my hands until a body moves to the keypad near the door, quickly shutting the horrendous sound off. “You were saying?” Stone asks. He turns toward me, arms crossed. “That is an alarm that keeps bad people out and good people in. Wherever you think you’re going right now, do they have this? Hate me or not, beautiful, but you can be rest assured that when you’re in my presence, you’re safe. Is that really something that you want to risk right now?”
I close my eyes, breathing in deeply until I can form better thoughts. While I’m just standing there, Stone shuts the door and reengages the alarm. He walks back down the hall, leaving me to myself.
I really hate that he’s fucking right.
14
When I wake the next morning, I’m pretty sure I slept on clouds. Heavenly clouds sewed by the angels themselves. I lift my head off the soft white pillow only to place it right back down again. I’ve never slept in a bed so nice. Hell, I only got a bed when I moved into the dorms. I guess being rich definitely has its perks.
I finally find the willpower to turn over, the heat of the sun calling me. I borrowed one of Stone’s muscle shirts to sleep in. It’s entirely too big, but that was the last thing on my mind when I slipped my tired ass into bed last night wearing just the shirt and my panties.
This morning, though, I’m rethinking that decision. Especially since all the bedrooms are off the glass hallway that looks out onto the pool deck. They, too, have one glass wall that lets in the light, and right now, Wyatt passes by. He smirks, and I’m pretty sure I’m slipping a tit. God dammit. I should’ve used the remote to lower the blinds like Stone showed me last night, but it was so peaceful looking out at the stars before I went to sleep. It was like camping but better because of the bed.
This. Fucking. Bed.
I fall back down onto it, making sure the muscle shirt is covering the goods in case one of the other guys decides to walk by. With the blazing rays of the sun streaming in, it’s hard to tell what time it is, but if I had to guess, it’s probably almost mid-afternoon. Or at least late morning. I haven’t slept this long in ages. On Saturdays past, my father and I would already be up the mountain, sharing breakfast on the hike through the rocky terrain. College Saturdays have me doing homework until I gather my poor excuse for a hiking pack up and go in search of my father again. Though, I haven’t been able to do that for a couple of weeks since the truck has been broken. No wheels meant no ride to go searching.
Finally, I have my truck back though. It’s ridiculous how much freedom comes with having a vehicle. It’s like I’m an eagle soaring through the sky.
I pull myself out from under the luxurious sheets and head toward the en suite. When I readied for bed, my eyes were blurry with sleep. I don’t think I even turned the bathroom light on, but this morning, it’s bright as can be in the interior. I move my gaze up and am rewarded with a view of the Arizona sky. The bathroom has a fucking glass ceiling. Holy shit. A bird flies overhead, spreading its wings and gliding on a breeze.
I keep staring as I do my morning business and then move into the huge shower stall. A rainfall showerhead greets me. It dances along my skin in the perfect thrumming of water. I could get used to niceties like this. Who couldn’t? I bet even if you’re the Dalai Lama you like nice things.
After showering, I grab a soft bath towel and wrap it around myself. Believe it or not, there’s a toothbrush in an unopened plastic wrapper in the drawer of the vanity along with a hairbrush, toothpaste, and both men’s and women’s deodorant. It’s as if this place is set up for unknown and unexpected guests.
I make use of the toiletries and then walk back out into the bedroom. This time, I use the remote to lower the blinds that slide down through two panes of glass. I’m prepared to wear the clothes I’d chosen for the party, but in a bag on the floor, I find a few sets of clothes from my closet along with my textbooks. One of them must’ve gone to my dorm this morning to get some things for me. I suppose this means they’re expecting me to stay awhile.
It doesn’t matter. I dress in the clean clothes, of which I’m grateful for. What I realize, though, is that the clothes were painstakingly picked out. There are only one pair of overalls, and hardly any of my regular t-shirts. If I had to guess, this is Stone’s controlling ways coming out to play. He went out of his way to point out my different attire yesterday, and today, he brings me only my most fashionable clothes, if they could even be called that.
I throw the clothes on, and as soon as I’m dressed, I raise the blinds again, letting that beautiful sunlight back into the room. I press on the door to open it. It releases via a small magnet. Or magic. I’m not sure which.
As soon as the door opens, the smell of bacon calls to me. Bacon was a rarity in the Wilder household, and weekends were tough back in the dorms. The school is so small that the cafeteria closes on Saturdays and Sundays. If I hadn’t saved enough food from the cafeteria over the week and I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to see Dickie, there were times when I went to bed with a growling stomach. It was never that bad when my father was alive. We always had at least a little something to eat, even if I didn’t always like it.
Shockingly, when I round into the kitchen, Wyatt is in front of the stove. He has a piece of bacon hanging from his mouth as he flips omelets, cowboy hat and all. “Mornin’, Tits. I thought I saw you waking up in there.”
He gives me a wink, but if he thinks he’s going to make me blush about that, he can go fly a kite. He didn’thaveto look into my room.
“Tits?” a voice questions behind me.
I turn to find Lucas striding into the room. His hair is a mess. More than it usually is, anyway. He yawns, running his hands through his brown locks, only to tousle it even further.
“Yep,” Wyatt says. “I got an unexpected surprise when I walked down the hallway this morning. I think I’ll get used to having a girl living here real quick.”
“You know the blinds lower, right?” Lucas asks, shooting me a look that’s half jealousy, half heat. Is that what his problem is? Even yesterday, he got moody when Stone—Well, I really don’t know what Stone was trying to get at. Maybe he wanted to rile his friend up.
I stick my chin in the air. “I was just waking up. It’s not as if I was standing there with my tits out.”
“If you do, make sure you let me know,” Wyatt says. “The only thing I’ve been seeing lately is a whole lot of cock.”
“Stop looking and you won’t get an eyeful,” Stone says as he saunters into the room. “And please, Dakota, remember to use the blinds. Wyatt is the biggest perv around.”
Wyatt shrugs as if he has no need to claim his innocence. “Women are—”
“We know,” Lucas says, cutting him off with a stern look.
“Keep that up, and I won’t be feeding your asses,” Wyatt says. He spins back to the stove, grabs a plate from the cupboards, then turns back around with a plateful of omelets. “Follow me if you want to eat,” he says, mimicking Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice.