Page 37 of Ice-Cold Obsession

The message is short.

Hurry up and make it official. Post something. People need to see you two together.

I stare at the screen, my jaw tightening. I want to reply that it’s not that simple and that you can’t just force a relationship to look real overnight. Scarlett might not even want to go along with this, and it’ll be weird to ask her to be my girlfriend out of nowhere and so fast.

But I know better. Arguing isn’t allowed. Pushing back gets me in trouble, and I’ve already caused enough problems.

I shove the phone back into my pocket.

“You’re all set,” Ella says to Scarlett. “Just take it easy.”

“Thanks again,” Scarlett says.

Ella gives us both a smile and leaves the room. I step closer to Scarlett and reach for her.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Carrying you back to your dorm.”

“I can walk.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Gabriel—”

I scoop her up before she can finish protesting. She makes a small sound of surprise, and her arms wrap around my neck.

“Put me down.”

“No.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

She glares at me, but she doesn’t try to fight it. Maybe because she knows it won’t work, or maybe because her ankle hurts too much for her to care.

I carry her out of the health center and across the campus. People are still staring and whispering. A few more phones come out, and I know this is going to be everywhere by tonight.

I don’t like how fast things are moving, how much control I don’t have, and that I’m being told to turn this into something public when it’s supposed to be simple and easy.

I just don’t like any of it.

But I don’t have a choice.

Chapter 22

SCARLETT

I SAW GABRIEL TAKEthe painkillers. The bottle disappeared into his jacket so fast I almost missed it. What does he intend to do with those pills? Sell them? Use them himself? Just one bottle? Was that why he helped me? Because he knew he’d get a chance to steal them?

But I don’t say anything to him. Not yet. I need to figure out what his angle is first.

He carries me back to my dorm, and a brunette actually stops in the middle of the sidewalk to take a photo of us. Gabriel doesn’t seem to notice, or maybe he just doesn’t care.

When we get to my dorm, he sets me down carefully so I can unlock the door, then picks me up again before I can protest. Using his shoulder, he pushes it open and carries me inside, setting me down on my bed. He grabs a pillow from the other end and props it under my ankle, then takes the ice pack Ella gave me and adjusts it.

“You okay?” he asks.