Page 47 of Endless Anger (Monsters Within #1)

LUCY

Foxe tosses another spitball on the desktop computer across from my study table. That’s twelve and counting, and if I wasn’t trying to do my ecology homework, I’d snap at him to pick them up.

“Are you nine?” I ask when he wads another piece of paper and places it on the tip of his tongue.

“What? It’s not technically littering if it’s indoors,” he whines, earning an irritated look from Aurora, who sits at the opposite end of the table with Yuri, holding her textbook close to her face.

When I begged her to join me in the Obeliskos, she agreed, but only if I promised to tell her what was going on with Asher and me.

Unfortunately for her, my promise was made facetiously, since I’ve been avoiding him since the upstairs incident.

There’s nothing going on anyway. Other than a few heavy kisses—kisses I can’t stop thinking about, even when I’m sharing Aurora’s bed late at night, tossing and turning while she shakes the windows with her snoring—I can’t really say anything else has changed.

He hasn’t apologized, and frankly, things around him are weird in general. I’m not sure I want anything to be happening between us.

One day I’ll stop lying to myself .

“So is this really what you do all day?” Foxe continues, folding his arms on the table and resting his head on them. “I always thought college was about parties and getting alcohol poisoning, but you guys actually study.”

“Your dad is a professor,” I note. “Why are you so surprised?”

“That’s how he described it growing up.”

“Is it possible he lied to entice you?” Yuri asks, popping a big pink bubble against her lips. “Maybe he thought you’d be more inclined to attend if it sounded fun?”

Foxe glances around at the endless rows of wooden tables and chairs, the walls framed by heavy wooden bookshelves and accented by large, overstuffed furniture. At this time of day, foot traffic is pretty steady, but the quiet remains throughout.

The librarian across the large room escorts people out for being too loud, which is probably why she’s been glowering at Foxe for half an hour now.

“That does sound like something my dad would do,” he concedes with a laugh. “Backfired though, didn’t it?”

We’re shushed again , and a thumping noise sounds beneath the table, jolting all of us as Foxe lets out a grunt.

He bares his teeth at Aurora. “ Ow .”

“Sorry, leg spasm,” she replies, lifting her brows as she goes back to her book. “They’re triggered by morons who can’t shut up.”

“You never seemed to mind in high school,” he snaps, tension threading through the planes of his face. It’s unlike him and totally unnerving. “In fact, I think you rather liked how unceasing my tongue was?—”

“Shut up ,” she spits. “You have no right to talk about any of that.”

“ No right? I didn’t break your heart there, cupcake .”

Her cheeks turn the same shade of pink as her lip gloss. “What the hell are you even doing here, Foxeglove ? Shouldn’t you be off with your handler somewhere, being a nuisance to someone who wants you around?”

Foxe’s jaw drops at the use of his full name—no one uses it, ever. The tips of his ears turn red beneath his shaggy brown hair, and a flash of something I’ve only seen on rare occasions flickers in his eyes for a moment.

But then he scoots his chair away, turning his attention to me.

I give Aurora a look, but she just clenches her teeth, busying herself with something in her backpack.

“You got a test coming up, Lulu?” Foxe asks, leaning in to see what I’m working on.

“Yep. Finals will be here before I know it, and I’ve spent most of my semester…well, not keeping up with assignments, that’s for sure. If I flunk anything this term, I’ll have to push graduation because they don’t offer most ecosystem restoration courses in the spring. For some reason.”

“I thought you were majoring in poli-sci.”

Snorting, I shake my head. “I’m minoring in it, and only because my dad convinced me I could do some real good with a little political experience in my bag.”

“Imagine if we all majored in the stuff our parents made careers out of,” Aurora says to me, pointedly ignoring Foxe. “My time would be spent making craft beer and painting.”

“Ugh, I’d be teaching Japanese literature. In Japan,” Yuri adds. “My parents had the whole thing planned out for me until I told them I’d applied for a student visa and was coming here to study.”

“I’d be working for the Mafia,” a new voice interrupts.

My throat swells up at the deep tone, my toes curling inside my boots when I think back to the last time I heard it—when the owner had his fingers inside me.

Now, those same fingers flatten out on the table as Asher bends, getting in my face. His other hand grips the back of my chair, and suddenly I’m being tilted, my world upending as he suspends me backward, lifting my feet off the ground.

He steadies me at an angle, grinning. “Hey, pup.”

“Hi,” I say, because it’s the polite thing to do.

Not because I care or suddenly forgive him. Especially not after the dean revealed he’d been buddying up to Curators—and here I’d thought his fighting with them meant he understood how much I despise them.

Before I can react, he kisses me in front of everyone , slipping his tongue between my lips. A spark flickers in the space between us, and for a split second it’s just us two.

His soul and mine, floating somewhere in the ether.

Lifting my hand, I go to pry him off, but my fingers curl into his hair instead, keeping him in place.

Fuck, am I in trouble.

Sense slams into me when he tips my head, deepening the kiss and making my insides turn to jelly. I shove at his chest, breaking contact after a moment, though he doesn’t make it easy.

“What the fuck,” Aurora whispers.

Yuri blushes. “Your question from the other day makes total sense now.”

Clearing my throat as Asher plants my chair back on the floor, I wipe my lips with the tips of shaky fingers, ignoring his expectant gaze. Shit, I can barely think straight now, the buzz from his presence zapping all my focus.

“Are you trying to make me jealous, Ash-tree?” Foxe complains, dropping his forehead to the table. “Because it’s working.”

“For fuck’s sake. It was just a kiss, people. In some countries, that’s the standard greeting,” Asher says as he plops into a chair on the other side of me.

“Sure,” Yuri agrees. “But most of those kisses aren’t French.”

Hooking his ankle around one of my chair legs, Asher yanks me closer, spreading his knees and fitting me between them. I reach out to keep from falling, my palm landing high on his thigh.

I gulp.

He smirks.

“What’re we studying for?”

Shaking my head, I try to peel my fingers off him, but he reaches down and covers my hand with his, keeping them there .

“Asher,” I warn in a low voice.

“ Lucy ,” he replies, leaning in until our noses are almost touching. “Don’t you think we already obliterated some lines? Is a little PDA going to kill you?”

“It might.”

“Come on. Just let me be near you.”

I can feel everyone else’s eyes glued to us as they strain to listen in on our conversation. Heat envelops my face, making me dizzy, and I glance down at our hands. His thumb strokes mine, but he doesn’t make a move to push me higher or invade more of my space.

I’m not really sure what I was expecting after I let him finger fuck me upstairs. Maybe that he’d be done, having somehow gotten what he wanted from me, even though we didn’t go all the way.

But I guess maybe there’s a part of me that will always assume the worst. Once you’ve been ditched with no explanation, your heart shattered and left flattened on the floor, believing someone wants to stay becomes an insurmountable feat.

I haven’t decided if I forgive him yet, or if I even want to. I’m not even positive pursuing anything with him is a good idea, especially if he’s getting involved with Curator shit, but…

My hand stays on his leg as I return my gaze to my textbook.

“There you go,” he murmurs, grinning. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Only because I have more important things to do than argue with you.”

He hums, resting his forehead on my shoulder. “Need me to get the test answers?”

“What good would cheating do?”

“It’d make your life a little easier.”

“Sure, in the moment. But I’d be missing out on potentially vital information, which could be detrimental down the road. I know you don’t care about learning, but I like it. Learning is the only way you grow.”

Even if it takes me longer to learn some lessons than others.

Asher considers this as the rest of the table devolves into an argument about where to take a snack break .

“You’re right,” Asher says, nodding. “Read to me then.”

I frown. “What? Why?”

“If I remember correctly, reading stuff out loud used to help you concentrate.” He lifts his head, raising an eyebrow. “With everything going on, I’ll bet you’re struggling.”

My frown deepens.

“So, use me as your audience. Read the material, and I can quiz you on it after. No pressure. But… Maybe I’ll learn something too.” His cheeks darken with a blush. “And if not, at least I get to enjoy the sound of your voice.”

“You want to listen to me drone on about the management of different soil types?”

“After three years without a word, I want to hear anything you have to say.”

My chest throbs, and I grip the textbook tighter. Damn him. “I’m supposed to be mad at you,” I note softly.

“That doesn’t mean you need to suffer for it,” he replies, just as quietly.

Once again, it’s just the two of us here in this little bubble. I look into his eyes, tempted to ask about his involvement with the Curators but unwilling to ruin what feels like a moment .

I don’t have to forgive him just for being helpful.

“All right,” I relent, swallowing over the knot in my throat. “But we have to whisper. I don’t want to get in trouble with the librarians—they’re the real heroes around here.”