Co-Ed(45)

Slater just shook his head as if he was thanking God he still didn’t work for Wingman, Inc. then looked past Finn. “Shawn?”

“Hey! We were just going to watch a movie? Wanna hang?”

“No.” Slater sighed. “I don’t want to hang.” He made air quotes then stared me down. “Thought we talked about this.”

“She was with me, dipshit,” Leo piped up. “And she wanted to go out dancing with Alexa. I thought it would be smarter for her to take a sober-buddy than go by herself and get into trouble.”

Slater paled. “Uh, yeah, good point.”

They were both covering for me.

“Plus, the big guy’s sick.” Leo nodded to me.

I coughed. It was weak.

But Slater must have bought it because he visibly relaxed.

“I was just trying to be s-safe.” Shawn choked on the word, her gaze wide as I turned to her.

Finn’s eyes narrowed while Slater came closer.

Then Finn looked to the right, by the chair, and grinned so big I wanted to punch him in the teeth. He leaned down as if he was grabbing something off the floor and picked up a condom wrapper. He mouthed, “One?” then grinned. “Two?” He coughed. “Three?”

I would be murdered tonight.

“Safety…” Finn shoved them in his pocket. “…is extremely important. You never know when you might catch something. I mean, take diseases, STDs—”

So killing him. I am going to put a pillow over his face and hold it there until his legs stop flopping.

“—can be scary as shit,” he finished.

“Right.” Slater was looking at Shawn, though, not at any of us. Then he leaned down and grabbed her hands. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“You’ve been busy. Plus, I thought you were still gone.”

“I came back early.” He sighed. “And you know I’d cancel anything for you.”

Jealousy reared its ugly head. I clenched my fists.

Finn shook his head no while Leo mouthed at me to calm the hell down.

My body felt hot and wild, like I was ready for Slater to challenge me, to call me out. Hell, I was more than ready to run my fist through his face.

He was touching her.

It was different when it was Leo and Finn. Although their actions had sometimes irritated me, I knew they were innocent. I knew they didn’t date, other than one-night stands. Besides, they’d pushed me into this. And we didn’t share with each other, not that way.

“I know.” Shawn cupped his face. “I’m a big girl though, ’kay? I figured it out.”

Hell yeah, she did.

Three times she’d figured it out. Dipshit.

Slater exhaled and stood. “Fine, so what are we watching?”

“Eyes Wide Shut,” Leo said loud and clear. “It’s Finn’s favorite.”

Bullshit! Finn hadn’t even seen it.

Great, I was going to watch all the sex and all the orgies…

An hour after being with Shawn.

An hour after needing to be inside her again.

An hour after trying to decide how I was going to keep her by my side when I knew it was better for her to be across the living room.

“Well?” Slater shrugged. “We doing this?”

“Yup.” Finn started walking out of the room. “Oh, and Slater?”

“What?”

“I’ve missed your winning personality.”

“Bite me.”

“See?” He winked. “He’s ba-a-ack.”





Chapter Thirty-One


Shawn

Those movies? Where you had four hot guys surrounding you, and each and every one of them knew what you needed before you even said it out loud?

That didn’t exist in real life.

Because it’s not real.

Yet there I was, sitting with Slater in front of me warming up my legs and feet.

Finn to the right, handing me popcorn before I could reach for the bowl.

Leo to the left, providing the straw I hadn’t asked for, to the soda I hadn’t even known he’d held until he lifted it to my lips and winked, because clearly, I looked parched. Then there was Knox.

Directly behind me.

Arms crossed.

Sitting in a chair, huffing out his frustration every few minutes, and somehow, I noticed him the most.

Maybe it was his body heat.

Maybe it was the raw hunger I could feel penetrating the walls around my body. Or maybe it was just the fact that every few seconds, his hands were in my hair as if he couldn’t stay away.

Maybe he had no choice but to touch me.

This right here was not what I’d signed up for when I decided to transfer schools, yet, I couldn’t pinpoint why it didn’t feel wrong. Was it because I trusted them?

Leo joked, but I also knew there was this line he’d drawn that he knew not to cross. Finn was all kinds of charismatic, but he truly put others before himself. It was obvious that Slater was protective and concerned about my intense practice schedule.

I knew Knox and I— What we had felt different.

It didn’t feel like any of my other relationships.

I just wished I could have had that normal girl freak-out moment after sex where you called your best friend and gushed about all the things then asked if you were being ridiculous for picking out your wedding dress.