Page 5 of Bound to the Mafia Guard (Mated in the Mafia #5)

4

ROWAN

As soon as I stepped onto campus, my heart lightened for the first time in weeks. Freedom. Well, as much freedom as I could get with Trev shadowing my every move. But after being cooped up in the mansion, even the cramped dorm room felt like a luxury hotel. Which seemed insane. My dorm was ancient, cramped, and had at least ten layers of cheap paint on the walls. A far cry from the set-up I had at Andro’s house. But it was mine, and I could do whatever I wanted there. Mostly.

"You know where you’re going?" Trev's gravelly voice floated from behind me. "Wouldn't want you getting lost on your first day back."

I rolled my eyes, hitching my backpack up higher. "I think I can manage."

But as we hurried to my first class, everything felt both familiar and strange, like putting on an old sweater that didn't quite fit anymore. Students bustled around me, oblivious to the turmoil I’d experienced over the past few months. They had actual friends with them rather than a bodyguard paid to follow them around.

Friendships never came easily for me. I had some acquaintances from shared classes, though they had probably all graduated by now while I was out.

I slid into a seat near the back of the lecture hall while Trev took up his protective position by the door. As soon as the professor's lecture began, I lost myself in the routine of note-taking and academic discussion.

It was nice to be back.

But by the afternoon, my great plan of taking back-to-back classes didn’t seem like such a great idea after all. I was exhausted when I stumbled out of my last lecture, with a sore hand from furiously scribbling notes because I hated typing them. Not to mention, my brain had been replaced by jello, sloshing around in my head.

Trev reached for my backpack as we walked back to the dorm. "You look like you've been through the wringer."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I didn’t like to admit my weaknesses, but letting him carry even a few pounds of books felt like a much bigger relief than it should have. "I forgot how intense it can be when everything's crammed together like this." Perhaps I should have been working out my brain the past few weeks rather than binge-watching television.

That night, we ordered Chinese food, and I did my best to get caught up on everything I had missed while I was out. It wasn’t easy to focus on anything with such strong alpha pheromones in my little room.

In between reading sections of my text book, I would pepper Trev with questions.

“Do you have an omega out there who’s going to be pissed off that you’re spending your nights with me?”

“No.”

“Got any exciting weekend plans for when you aren’t on babysitting duty?”

“No.”

With each one-word answer, I grew more frustrated. Couldn’t we just be friendly? Or maybe I was being too pushy? I was just trying to make conversation.

After reading a shitton of pages and using up a whole pad of notebook paper, my eyes were burning. I finally gave up, and we went to bed early.

Even though I was wiped, I stared at the ceiling, unable to quiet my mind as I desperately tried to ignore Trev’s steady breathing from the bed across the room.

Why was Andro torturing me by making me share a room with the sexiest alpha working for him? Trev was broad and jacked like a lot of alphas, but he had a kind face. Not so hard or jaded like a lot of the other guys who worked for my cousins.

But Trev was clearly uninterested in me, not to mention he was loyal to Andro, so he was unlikely to ever cross that line. Yet another reason that Andro chose him. I rolled toward the wall and eventually fell asleep, despite the lumpy, old mattress

Wednesday wasn’t much better.

My labs stretched on endlessly, with Trev's watchful gaze burning into my back as a constant reminder of his presence that was so close yet still too far away. Not only that, my joints were achy like maybe I was coming down with something. My time in isolation hadn’t done much for my immune system.

I got through the day, but by evening, I was a bundle of raw nerves. My skin felt too tight, and all I could think about was tearing off my clothes and begging Trev to give me something I couldn’t quite name.

I paced the tiny dorm room, unable to sit still.

"What's got you so worked up?" Trev's eyes followed my movements with a hint of concern in his tone.

"I don't know." I threw my arms up then grabbed a handful of hair. I was having a tantrum and didn’t understand why. I was never this emotional. Usually, I was completely emotionless… "Sorry, I just... I feel like I'm gonna crawl outta my skin." I wanted to shout, to throw something…to…to…I don’t know what I wanted.

Trev narrowed his eyes, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply.

Fuck. Was my restlessness affecting my scent? That wasn’t embarrassing at all. Being an omega and broadcasting my emotional state to every alpha within smelling distance was a real pain in the ass sometimes.

"Maybe you need to blow off some steam." Trev moved to the window and cracked it for some fresh air. "When's the last time you hit the gym?"

The idea of physical exertion suddenly seemed incredibly appealing. "That...actually sounds perfect."

The campus gym was quiet at night, so I didn’t have to worry about a line behind me as I attacked the heavy bag with single- minded focus. The rhythmic thud of my fists drowned out the chaos in my head, at least for a few minutes. The distraction of my burning muscles was nice even as each drop of sweat slid down my back.

"Not bad form." Trev leaned against the wall and watched with his arms crossed over his chest. "For an omega who has never been in an actual fight in his life."

I shot him a glare, but there was no real heat behind it. "Care to show me how it's done, then?" My father had insisted on self-defense classes from the moment I could walk. I may not have been in a real fight before, but I could take a punch. I had the scars from Russo to prove it.

A slow grin spread across Trev’s face. "Thought you'd never ask."

We spent the next hour sparring as Trev patiently corrected my form and showed me how to fight smarter, despite the size of my opponent. I even got a few hits on him, which was oddly exciting. My education up to that point had been more technical and less hands on.

Sweaty and breathless, I actually enjoyed hanging out with him.

As we walked back to the dorm, I felt some of the tension finally start to drain from my shoulders. "Thanks, Trev. I needed that more than I realized."

Trev just nodded, but I caught the hint of a smile on his usually stoic face.

After a quick shower, I fell into bed more exhausted than ever.