Page 62

SANJANA

We were on time for once. The guys were already waiting in the quad, posted up with the casual, cocky energy they all somehow managed to radiate in different ways. And they weren’t alone.

Roxxi slowed her pace. “Why is Zoe Harris still with them?”

“Still?” Ari repeated in question

“They went live the other night,” Cloe explained. “She was at their house.”

I adjusted the strap of my cheer bag and my satchel so that I could comfortably carry both. “Do you think one of them is seeing her?”

Roxxi scoffed. “Which one? Brooke is there too.” Her voice dipped with more venom than curiosity.

My stomach twisted. I shifted the weight of my bag again, focusing ahead. “Brooke is Ryder’s girlfriend.”

Roxxi’s head snapped toward me. “She was his girlfriend last night, too.” She huffed and shook her head. “Men are the oddest of creatures.”

Ari looped her arm through mine. “Zoe’s always been nice,” she pointed out. “And Brook has never actually done anything to any of us. She kind of just exists.”

It wasn’t a defense exactly, more like a gentle attempt to remind us that not everyone was automatically the enemy.

Cloe, expression unreadable, just clicked her tongue. “Nice doesn’t mean trustworthy.”

We resumed walking.

“Are we dropping the cheer bags off first?” Ari asked.

“Yeah, no way am I hauling this thing around all day.”

“Let’s say our hellos and go before we’re late getting to where we actually need to be,” Roxxi advised.

Cloe sighed and took the lead. The guys were close enough to hear her now, but she didn’t care. Nick, standing comfortably next to Zoe, clutched his chest like she’d mortally wounded him. “Aw, Cloe, what was that for? You know you’re my favorite.”

She ignored him and turned her attention to the pretty girl with dark green hair. “Hello, Zoe.”

Zoe smiled in return, tugging her hoodie sleeves over her hands. “Hey.”

I offered a friendly smile of my own, withholding judgment.

Zoe was nice enough, but I was going to be on guard until The Hunt was done and over with.

I shifted on my feet, trying not to look at Ryder.

I couldn’t deal with that this morning. Not with Brooke beside him, smiling like sunshine and wearing the same hoodie from a few days ago.

All I could think about was last night. The things he said, everything I’d let myself feel, what I had agreed to.

I wasn’t sure what I expected. Nothing about his relationship status had changed between then and now, and he’d all but told me it wouldn’t until the time was right.

Where did that leave me?

Whatever we were, and whatever we were becoming, it wasn’t public or official. I was still the girl pretending not to be hurt when I saw him standing next to someone else.

Still, the girl putting on a good front like none of it mattered.

Was this karmic justice? Some cosmic slap to the face for doing what I had while Ashton was somewhere in the wind?

“Morning,” Brooke greeted us, chipper but not overly sweet.

“Morning,” I echoed, forcing another smile before I looked away, focusing on the fountain ahead and the sudden, irrational urge to grab her perfect ponytail and drown her in it.

I thanked God when Xander spoke and gave me something else to think about. “You guys shouldn’t be walking around alone. From now on, stick with at least one of us.”

Roxxi placed one hand on her hip, letting her cheer bag swing lazily. “You know you’re Marked too, right? Also, The Hunt doesn’t start until damn near Monday.”

Xander gave a half-shrug. “Come on, Rox, who’s actually going to Hunt us?” He gestured lazily to himself and the rest of the guys as if the answer was obvious.

“Good. I could say the same about us. ”

Nick stepped forward, but whatever he was about to say died the second he caught her expression.

Rook, calm as ever, turned toward me with a small smile. “You look very nice today, Sanj.”

I smiled brightly. “Thank you, Rook. You look nice too.”

“Okay, suck-ass,” Cade cut in, “she looks pretty every day. So do you,” he tacked on, looking at Ari.

She responded with a polite, almost hesitant smile, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, clearly not quite sure what to do with the compliment. She reached out and nudged Roxxi to get her attention.

“I love you and all, but I kinda agree with Xan. Not now, of course, but next week? When The Hunt actually starts, we should keep at least one of them with us.”

Roxxi made a face, clearly not sold on the idea, but Ari kept going.

“If someone tries to earn their hours, that’s one thing. It’s another way for them to snatch us up if we have one of them with us. Alternatively, they take whichever guy we’re with instead.”

Cade’s jaw dropped in mock offense. “I give you a compliment, and you delegate us as human shields.”

Ari’s eyes went wide. “No—I didn’t mean it like that.”

Roxxi grinned. “You should have. I can get on board with that plan.”

Ari shook her head, laughing lightly.

Around us, students were starting to stare.

Some curious, some cautious, others with outright envy etched into their expressions.

A few called out in greeting. We probably looked like something out of a campus myth.

One you admired from a distance, maybe whispered about in the dorms, but never dared to join.

I finally turned my head, just in time to see Brooke go up on her tiptoes and whisper something into Ryder’s ear.

He laughed—low and easy. Whatever she said had Nick grinning too.

Their hands were linked casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The ache in my chest spread fast and sharp, but I didn’t outwardly react.

I was a pro at watching him belong to everyone but me.

Cloe glanced at them and made her thoughts known by the slightest twist of her lips.

Her poker face was a skill I tried to replicate. “Alright, we’re going to be late if we don’t get a move on.”

“Talk later,” Roxxi said to the others in parting, tugging me in the direction of the athletic building.

“Take one of us with you,” Xander called after us.

When we paid him no mind, it was no surprise that Rook and Cade joined us minutes later.

“Hey, Little Sanj.” Cade fell into step beside me.

I glanced over. “Cadet.”

His smile was just as boyish as it’d always been, the same one frozen in the photos on my bedroom wall.

Except now, his golden skin was inked like his brother’s, his arms bigger, and his curls slightly lighter in color because of the summer, and damp from what I guessed was a recent shower.

He drifted closer until our arms brushed as we walked.

“I just wanted to say, she’s a warm-up route. Quick slant. Easy yardage. But my brother? He’s saving the deep ball for the one that ends in the end zone. Championship ring and all.”

He described the whole situation like it were another play on the field. I was torn between exasperation and reluctant amusement.

“That means you’re the end zone,” he added, like I hadn’t already caught on.

From a few steps ahead, Roxxi glanced over her shoulder, frowning. “Actions speak louder than metaphors, and back there? That wasn’t a good look.”

“I don’t really want to talk about this,” I muttered.

Rook, trailing quietly behind on my other side, hands in his pockets and expression unreadable, decided to weigh in.

“He’s not fucking her.”

Now, on a good day, Rook hardly spoke above a few octaves. Today must have been an exception because that came loud and clear enough that a few people walking by actually turned to look.

Ari choked on a laugh, half in shock.

Cloe glanced over at him, amused. “For a poet, that wasn’t very poetic, Aiden.”

He smirked. “I don’t need to dress it up,” he retorted softly. “But if I did—he’s starving for someone who already tastes like home. Everything else is filler that doesn’t linger.”

“Very nice, Rook,” Ari remarked with praise.

He offered a rare, shy smile in return before looking at me expectantly.

“I get what you’re all trying to do, but maybe we can pivot to your extracurriculars instead of mine? They don’t have any.” I gestured lazily toward my girls.

Cade smirked. “Did you just refer to my brother as an extracurricular?”

“I wasn’t referring to him at all.”

Before he could come back with something cocky or infuriating, a girl passed by, waving. “Hi, Sanjana!”

I gave her a friendly smile in return. “Hey, Mehra.”

Cade tracked her with his eyes, taking in the long black hair cascading down her back, bright blue eyes, and nude-glossed lips.

He nodded to himself. “Think I just found a new activity.”

Cloe made a sound of disapproval. “Do you even know her?”

“Who was that?” he asked, still watching Mehra’s retreating figure like he was clocking stats.

I was tempted to slap him on the back of the head and tell him to leave it alone. Mehra was sweet, and she had a long-distance boyfriend who attended our top rival university. Giving him a warning and divulging that information would only make Cade see her as a challenge.

“Mehra Saher. She’s in my Media Ethics Class.”

Cade turned back to Cloe, grinning. “That was Mehra Saher from Little Sanj’s Media Ethics class.”

Roxxi laughed. “Okay, that was kinda smooth.”

They dapped like middle schoolers, and I barely refrained from rolling my eyes.

Cloe shook her head, voicing my thoughts. “Absolutely ridiculous, both of you.”

I chuckled, grateful the spotlight had shifted to something else.

Rook nudged me gently. A quiet ask in his eyes .

You okay? I nodded, offering a small, tired smile.

He didn’t press. That wasn’t Rook’s way.

He simply held out his arm, always the sweetest soul when it came to us girls, and I took it.