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TWENTY-THREE

ROSALIE

I didn’t know what I was doing. All I knew was that I needed a distraction, so when Archer led me to the library and started kissing me, touching me, whispering dirty things to me…I let it happen. I’d agreed to be his, still not entirely sure what that meant, but he hadn’t even tried to harm me, and he never forced me to do anything I wasn’t comfortable with. His warm lips trailed down the column of my throat, eliciting a series of goosebumps in the process. Maybe it was self-sabotage. Maybe, I was more fucked in the head than I’d initially realized. A soft moan fluttered through my lips, my legs falling open as he plunged a finger inside me. I was still sore from taking both him and Seven the other day, but the pain eased into pleasure, and it was a small reprieve.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

He sucked in a stuttering breath. “Fuck, Rosalie. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of touching you.” He pushed his palm against my mound before inserting a second finger. My thighs shook from the pressure, a breathy gasp leaving me. He nuzzled against the side of my neck. “I’m half-tempted to fuck you the shit out of you right here.”

My pulse thundered in my ears, a spark of something hot igniting deep within my abdomen. I’d gone all this time without sex, and now that I’d finally experienced it, it felt like I couldn’t get enough. I turned my head, capturing his lips with mine. They were soft and warm, and it shocked me how comfortable I felt with him. After swearing to stay away from him, after finding out that Alex had cheated on me, after losing my virginity…

There was something about Archer King that I couldn’t shake. He made me feel desired. This didn’t mean everything else had gone out the window. It only meant that I was taking what I wanted. For the first time in so long, I was being selfish.

“Is that an invitation?” he muttered against my mouth. His free hand curled around my waist, tugging me closer to his hard body.

My heart thundered against my ribcage. There was nothing wrong with a fuck buddy, right? A lot of the girls at college had them. But at the same time, I didn’t want to lead Archer on or make him think this was more than what it was. His obsession with me was bordering on insanity, and I knew that the right thing to do was to keep my distance. But how could I when he looked the way he did?

“No,” I whispered back.

He groaned, hooking his fingers inside me. My back arched of its own accord, a strangled moan flying from my lips. “Archer,” I gasped.

He hummed in response. “Don’t tell me you don’t like what I’m doing to you. Your pussy is clamping down on my fucking hand.” He nipped my lower lip, sending a shudder careening down my spine. “Even your body is begging for my cock. You hear that?” He pulled his fingers out before shoving them back in. A squelching noise reverberated through the library, making my face heat.

“We’re going to get caught,” I panted.

“Let them watch. Let them see who you belong to.” He slammed his mouth down on mine again, much harder than before while simultaneously working his fingers between my legs.

Electricity shot through my veins, spiraling all the way down to my core until my entire body was shaking. My release slammed into me, making me cry out into the kiss. He brought his free hand up to cradle the side of my face, softening the kiss as I rode out the last waves of pleasure.

“You’re so fucking sexy, my little salvation. So, fucking mine .”

A current of dread pulsed through me at his words. While they were hot, they also sounded like a death sentence.

Finally, he removed his hand from between my thighs. My juices coated his fingers, trickling down his wrist. He stuck two of them in his mouth, keeping his eyes locked on mine while he tasted me. Embarrassment clawed through me. Maybe this was a mistake. He still put me on edge, still confused the hell out of me. I needed to take a step back and reevaluate. I readjusted my skirt and rose on shaky legs.

“I should probably shower,” I commented, shifting uncomfortably.

“I’ll walk you back to your room.” He stood and led the way out of the library. Luckily, it was still mostly empty, aside from the librarian who was messing around on one of the computers.

When we reached my door, he drew me in for another kiss, clearly unable to keep his hands off me. I knew he’d get bored eventually. That was common with his diagnosis. If I wanted to stay alive, I needed to play my cards right with him. All it took was for the smallest display of rejection and he could snap. I fumbled with the doorknob, eager to put some distance between the two of us. I needed to sort through these thoughts and unwanted feelings. Sidestepping him, I pushed open the door, my steps faltering as my gaze took in my bedroom.

My heart bottomed out, fear slicing through my chest. Papers were strewn all over the place, along with cotton. My gaze caught on the source, tears burning my eyes and blurring my vision.

Beary.

Someone had come into my room and torn him into pieces. He was so ripped up that he couldn’t even be sewn back together. My knees weakened and my breathing was coming out heavy and erratic.

“What the fuck?” Archer growled, taking in my room. He entered my room ahead of me, glancing around at the mess. Kneeling, he started collecting some of the papers, his expression set tight. I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves. “Do you know who would have done something like this?” he demanded, picking up Daisy’s bear. A few more pieces of cotton fell from its stomach with the movement.

I swallowed thickly, trying to get my thoughts in order. I knew exactly who did this. The same person who threatened Beary in the first place, who warned me to stay away from Archer.

“Seven,” I whispered.

Archer’s blue eyes hardened, seeming to grow three shades darker. He didn’t even seem surprised, just pissed off.

“Why would he do this?” he pressed. His entire body was coiled tight with tension, and I was afraid that anything else I said, may be the thing to set him off.

Beary was the only thing I had left of Daisy’s, and now it was ruined. I walked over to my bed with numb legs and sank down onto the edge. “He warned me to stay away from you,” I muttered, swiping my hand over an eye in an attempt to rid myself of some of these tears.

Archer clenched his jaw. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It never came up.” I shrugged. I wasn’t going to go out of my way to snitch on Seven. That was juvenile. But now that he took the last thing that I actually gave a shit about… My shoulders dropped in defeat.

Archer tore his hands through his dark hair. “I’ll be back later.” He turned on his heels and stormed out of the room, letting the door slam closed behind him.

I couldn’t even find it in me to care that he was on his way to confront Seven, or that he took Beary with him. Beary was gone now. I curled up into a ball on my bed, allowing fresh tears to trickle down my cheeks. Crying wasn’t going to solve anything. I wanted to make Seven pay for this. I’d never been much for revenge. I’d rather stick to myself and ignore any potential threat at all times, but what he did…

It was callous, unforgivable, cold .

He couldn’t get away with this. But how was I supposed to stop it? He was the pure definition of insane. People like him belonged here. They were unpredictable, cold-blooded, ruthless, and had little to no morality. Going up against Seven Price, could very well be a death sentence. I just had to figure out if the potential price was worth the risk.

I trudged through the hallway, silently making my way to the cafeteria for dinner. My eyes burned from the amount of tears I’d shed today, and a huge part of me wanted to remain locked away, confined to my bed for the foreseeable future. But I was done hiding, done being a coward. Yes, he took something valuable to me. But moping around wasn’t going to change it. I’d done way too much of that lately. It was time to face the music and show him that it would take a lot more than that to break me. Beary meant a lot to me, but he was a stuffed animal. My sister was already gone. Holding on to her stuffed animal wouldn’t change that, either.

I stepped into the cafeteria with my head held high. My heart was pounding furiously, but I wouldn’t let that show. I wouldn’t give Seven the satisfaction.

I dropped into a seat at Cheyanne’s table, refusing to look in the guys’ direction. My fingers curled into fists within my lap. On the bright side, I had my first art class in a couple of days, so that should help take my mind off some of it. This upcoming weekend was the spiritual retreat, and while Archer would probably be going, he wasn’t the worst of the three.

“I’m surprised you could sit with us,” Shay commented, raking her disapproving gaze over my body. “Thought you ditched us for them . Or did they already get tired of you?”

I reeled back in alarm, not at all prepared for the hostility in her words. I’d only sat with them a couple of times, and Archer sat with us sometimes. I didn’t understand why she suddenly had an issue with it. She’d never said anything about it before, and she was always kind to Archer when he sat with us.

Cheyanne sighed, pinning her friend with a glare. “Shay,” she warned.

“No. She’s been warned time and time again about those assholes, yet here she is. Probably fucking all of them.”

My chest constricted, unease coiling around my stomach. She wasn’t far off, but I figured that what I did with my body was my own choice. It shouldn’t have offended anyone. Not unless she had a thing for one of them—or all of them. Which was confusing as hell, because I thought she liked Tyler.

“That’s enough, Shay.” Ryder rolled his eyes, picking a chip up from his tray before plopping it in his mouth.

“Tell me I’m wrong then,” she demanded, glancing around at her group of friends.

Tyler dropped his face in his hands, clearly done with the drama happening right in front of him. “Why does it even matter?” His words came out muffled, but we could still make them out.

“Maybe because Jordan is the same asshole who just beat you to a bloody pulp,” she hissed. “All because he’s a paranoid psycho. Not to mention, Archer has been following her around like a lost puppy. Do I need to remind everyone about what happened to the last girl he was obsessed with? What if he thinks one of you guys like her, just because he’s just as unhinged as Jordan? You think he won’t snap and kill you, too?”

My stomach curled in on itself, guilt slamming through me with ruthless ferocity. Maybe she was right. Sure, her delivery needed some work, but I did get involved with them in some way or another, and they were feared here for a reason. My gaze raked over Tyler. His face had mostly healed, but there were still some bruises littering his skin and some spots had scabbed over.

Jordan did that…

During an episode from the sounds of it.

“I can sit somewhere else,” I offered, my voice coming out much smaller than intended.

“It’s fine,” Cheyanne assured me. “Shay is just being a jealous little bitch right now.” She narrowed her eyes at the girl in question. “She’s had the hots for Jordan since she first saw him.”

Tyler lifted his head, frowning at the declaration. “You like Jordan?”

Shay’s eyes widened, her gaze whipping back and forth between Cheyanne and Tyler. “What?” she spluttered. “I do not.”

My head spun, confusion building in the back of my brain. “Either way…” I trailed off slowly, trying to put whatever this was to a halt. “I haven’t done anything with Jordan. So, if you do like him, you don’t have to worry about anything there.” Even as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help the sting of resentment that formed from the mere thought of her pursuing him. There was just something about him that intrigued me, that made me want to learn more about him and his diagnosis.

But Shay was right.

These guys were bad news. If they were this terrified of them just because I was allegedly involved with them, then that kind of spoke volumes and solidified all my original fears.

My gaze skipped over to their table at last. Seven had what appeared to be a busted lip and a black eye, which did give me some satisfaction. Archer must have gotten him good. Jordan was seated beside him with the twins in the other free spots. Archer’s chair was vacant, and my eyebrows dipped in confusion at that knowledge. Then again, if I was fighting with my best friend/lover, I wasn’t sure I’d want to be near them either.

“I don’t like him,” Shay said again, drawing my attention back to her. “Like I said, he’s bad news. They all are.” She stabbed her fork into her baked potato a little more forcefully than necessary.

I sucked my lower lip between my teeth, my head spinning as my mind flashed back to the time I’d spent in Seven’s room. Archer in my pussy while Seven drilled into my ass. Jordan sitting off to the side with his massive, tattooed cock in his hand as he pumped himself up and down.

A spark of desire shot through me at the reminder, my skin flushing from the mere memory alone. It couldn’t happen again. Seven made sure of that. Nothing had changed between us, not really. In fact, it seemed to piss him off even more.

I blew out a breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. I’d already had enough of today. First, Seven tore up Beary, and now Shay was starting drama with me in the cafeteria because she was allegedly jealous?

Tyler was still frowning down at his food, processing everything that had apparently come out. It was obvious that he liked her, in his own way at least. Either she was that oblivious, or maybe I’d been reading the signs wrong this entire time, and he wasn’t the one she wanted. Either way, it wasn’t my business. I just wanted to get through this in one piece. I’d already messed up enough by running into not only Archer’s arms, but Seven’s too. There was no way I was taking on Jordan. Plus, he made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. As soon as I repaid my debt to him, that was it.

After dinner, I trudged back to my room. The thought of being alone weighed heavily on me, causing my chest to heave. Maybe it was anxiety, or even PTSD. Nothing good ever came from being alone. That’s when my thoughts were the worst. That’s when I heard things and saw things.

I slipped through my bedroom door, resting my back against it. My room was still in disarray. I hadn’t had the energy or willpower to clean any of it up yet.

My mind flashed to Daisy, as it always did when I was alone. Her bright smile beaming back at me along with a pair of sparkling blue eyes. My heart stuttered in my chest, acid beginning to build more potently in the back of my throat.

At one point, my life had been completely mapped out. Now, I didn’t even know what the hell I was doing. Could it even be called ‘survival’ at this point? It certainly didn’t feel like I was surviving—just getting by, trying to make it through without dying a painful death. My mom still hadn’t reached out to me. It wasn’t like we’d ever been the perfect mother-daughter duo, but it still hurt more than I cared to admit. Then there was Alex. My stomach twisted at the mere thought of him. He would never have sex with me but had been so quick to do it with someone else. If it weren’t for Archer and Seven, I might have thought there was something wrong with me—that maybe I wasn’t attractive. And maybe, I wasn’t. It was very possible that I was just fresh meat to them, something convenient they could play with. For Seven, he’d wanted my virginity. He probably wouldn’t have even touched me again had I not jumped him that day in his room. Archer was harder to read. I wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted from me.

Blowing out a breath, I crossed my room and lowered myself on the edge of the mattress. My chest was heavy with regret, with guilt, with anger, with resentment. I’d never felt so alone before. Dr. Blake told me that I would most likely be able to leave soon, and at the time, it had been the highlight of my week; the thing that kept me moving forward. But there was nothing waiting for me out there. I’d probably have to retake sophomore year of college, and by now, everything I’d done would be on the news. I’d have to take online classes or go to a smaller, more remote college, and hope that even they’d accept me after this.

Seven needed to pay for what he did. It wasn’t like I had much going for me anymore, and Archer fighting him on my behalf gave me hope that maybe he’d choose me and wouldn’t interfere. Archer wouldn’t let Seven kill me, that much I was sure of. Still, the mere thought of pissing him off sent a cold chill down my spine. He could be ruthless at the best of times, and I wasn’t eager to see how much worse it got once he finally snapped and lost his shit.

I released a heavy sigh, heat building behind my eyes due to everything that had been going up in flames within my life lately.

It felt like my life was practically over. My mom couldn’t stand the sight of me—not that I blamed her. I’d probably feel similarly if I were in her shoes. My little sister was dead because of me. That was something I’d carry with me for the rest of my pathetic existence. At night, I could still see Gentry’s cold, detached eyes searing through my own. I could still smell the alcohol on his breath as he pinned me to the ground. Even in my own memory, my voice sounded distant. My pleas for Daisy to run falling on deaf ears. I told her to run, and she didn’t. Why couldn’t she just listen to me? If she had, she’d still be alive.

A hot tear trickled down the side of my face, agony punching through my body until it was consuming me entirely. I dropped my face into my hands, my shoulders shaking as choked sobs rumbled through my chest. I did what I could. I tried to save her, to protect her. It wasn’t enough. It was never fucking enough.

I’d lost everything now. The one thing in my life that made me feel remotely good were Archer’s hands on my body, and the way he could make me come unglued with a single touch. It was stupid and shallow, but it was something . Something I had no business clinging to. He was a monster. It was stupid getting involved with anyone here. Logically, I knew that.

Why couldn’t my body get the message?