Elite (Eagle Elite #1)(50)

My grin was so huge I’m surprised my face didn’t hurt. I quickly texted him back.

THANKS FOR NOT TASTING MY RAINBOW WHILE I WAS SLEEPING. PROMISE TO BE SAFE. PLUS NOBODY WOULD ATTACK ME WITHOUT YOU AROUND. YOU’RE THE GUN MAGNET! SEE YOU TONIGHT?

I anxiously wrung my hands together while I waited for him to respond.

LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON J

With a happy sigh, I sent him a smiley text back and looked at the time. It was just after seven. I had plenty of time to shower and make myself presentable.

I grabbed my shower tote and threw on my flip flops and bathrobe.

The bathroom was pretty busy. Luckily, one of the showers was open. I snatched it before anyone else did and washed my hair. The hot water was therapeutic against my sore back. Why would my neck be sore? I rolled my head around and gasped. Nixon. I’d fallen asleep against his arm. No wonder my neck hurt.

I was still smiling when I toweled off and gathered my stuff to go back into my room. Making my way to the bathroom door I pulled it open and nearly ran into one of my dorm-mates.

“Skank.” She pushed past me.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” She sneered. “You’re a skank. Two guys in your room last night? Really? You know Nixon and Chase are just messing with you, right? They’re Elect and you’re a nobody. A charity case. Besides… word around school is that you’d give it to anyone.”

“Hmm.” I put my free hand on my hip. “I wonder what Nixon would say about that.”

Fear flashed in her eyes for a brief moment before she shrugged. “Tell him whatever you want. Because in a few days it won’t even matter anymore. He’ll get bored. They always do. You’re like the shiny new toy, and believe me when I say, Nixon really loves to play. Good luck finding any guy who will talk to you after he breaks you and puts you back on the shelf.”

Stunned I stared as she stomped off. Girls shoved past me. But I couldn’t move. Dread filled my stomach. What if she was right? I hadn’t known him very long, and wasn’t it kind of weird how close we had gotten? It wasn’t normal. Even I wasn’t backwoods enough to think anything about our relationship was normal. It was odd, but it worked, right?

I chewed my lower lip and walked back to my room.

Monroe was sitting on her bed looking like she’d been thoroughly kissed the night before.

“I take it Tex was attentive?” I decided not to tell anyone about my run in with the chick in the bathroom and put my stuff away while I waited for Mo to answer.

“He’s so…” She sighed happily. “Perfect.”

“Tex?” I laughed. “We are talking about Tex, right?”

“Shut up!” She threw a pillow at my head and giggled. Oh gosh, she had it bad. Right, like I could talk. I did in fact just sigh while reading a text not even a half hour ago. “He’s just so sweet and my family totally approves, which is a huge deal!”

My hands froze over my bathrobe. “Your family kind of strict?”

“Kind of?” She snorted. “The last guy I dated ran away screaming, and I’m not joking. My family is all about appearances and connections. Luckily, Tex is everything my dad actually likes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, his parents just bought out a multi-million dollar software company, and Tex is supposed to take over the family business in a few years. I mean, not like Nixon. I guess things happen faster than you realize, but Tex is next and—”

“Wait.” I put my hand up. “Nixon runs your family’s business?”

“Businesses.” She chewed her fingernail. “He kind of oversees everything. Like the CEO to the CEO you know what I mean? Or I guess just the owner-operator. Whatever. Anyways, Tex—”

“Wait, one more question. Why is Nixon even in school?”

Monroe laughed. “I thought you’d been hanging out with my brother for the past couple weeks. You know just as well as I do that he doesn’t actually go to school.”

Oh my gosh. My boyfriend was a dropout. “He quit?”

She gave me a confused look. “Um, he technically already graduated. He was so many credits ahead that this year he decided to take enough credits to be Student Body President, but that’s it. Why do you think it seems like he’s always roaming the halls and has all the access cards to everything? They wouldn’t just give that to a student.”

“But…” Confused, I began to pace. “Why hasn’t he told me?”

“Chill.” Monroe jumped up from the bed and pulled me into a hug. “It’s not like it’s a secret. Everyone knows about it. I’m sure he just assumed someone already told you.”

“Right.” I smiled, even though it felt forced, and hurried through my morning routine. It bothered me that Nixon hadn’t said anything. But what bothered me more was the fact that I had been blindly trusting him for the past few days without ever forcing him to answer any of my questions.

The main one being… Who the hell was he?





Chapter Twenty-three


As promised, Grandpa was waiting outside my dorm at eight o’clock sharp. “Looking good,” I shouted at him once I stepped outside.

The minute he turned around I froze.