Take Me for Granted (Take Me #1)(81)

All semblance of control that I’d had earlier evaporated. “What the f**k are you talking about?” I asked, rising to my feet. “You f**ked Ari? I’ll f**king kill you.”

Donovan raised his eyebrows at my reaction, but he didn’t actually look that surprised. He looked smug. “Big reaction for the status of one groupie.”

“Ari is not a groupie. She’s my girlfriend,” I growled, fighting for control.

“She didn’t seem like anyone’s girlfriend when she was backstage at the New Year’s Eve show,” Donovan said, standing up to face me. “If you get what I mean…”

I didn’t think. I just acted. I lunged for Donovan, catching him off guard and connecting my fist with his face. It snapped his head backward, and he stumbled into the chair. But I wasn’t finished. All the pent-up anger from the weeks without Ari came flooding into me in an overwhelming quantity. I couldn’t even control it all. He had touched her, and I would f**king destroy him, just like I’d said the first time he’d tried something.

“What the f**k is wrong with you?” Donovan yelled.

All that did was bring more attention on us, but I was too far into this to care.

I’d lost the element of surprise, and Donovan was already back up on his feet. I reached for him again, but he blocked my punch. I pivoted and got a shot to his kidney that caused him to double over. I sent my fist into his face again. He fell flat on his back in the hotel room.

The rest of the band showed up at that moment and dragged me away from Donovan. I could see his face was bloody, but I hadn’t broken anything. My chest was heaving, and all I could think about was the bloodlust. He couldn’t touch her. I’d f**king murder him.

“Get him out of here!” Donovan cried as girls flocked to his side to check on him.

“I told you that I’d destroy you if you touched her, you motherf*cker.”

“You’re f**king insane. She’s just some girl. If you ever get signed—and that’s a big f**king if at this point—you’re going to see this for what it really is. You’re going to leave her, or she’s going to get tired of you cheating on her. You’ll look back on this moment and know I was f**king right.”

“That just shows how different you and I really are, Donovan. Because I love Ari. I respect her. I’d give her the world, the moon, the stars, the whole f**king universe. When I get signed, and I really do mean when,” I growled, shaking off the guys who were holding me, “I’m coming for your ass, just to prove you wrong.”

Chapter 48: Aribel

I already had organic chemistry homework.

It was a bit of relief to be back on a normal schedule again. The break had seemed like some kind of strange dream, something someone else had gone through and not me. I’d lost my virginity, lost my boyfriend, been kissed by a rock star, and been propositioned by someone whose relationship with me bordered on an arranged marriage.

At least some things always stayed the same—like homework. I had a tough class schedule this semester, and I needed to make sure that I stayed on top of everything. There was an introductory study session later tonight. I couldn’t decide if it was better to get involved from the get-go or try to do everything myself…like normal.

A knock at the door kept me from deciding. My heart rate shot through the roof as I wondered if today would be the day that I’d have to face Grant. I’d decided that I would do it this weekend. I’d let him break my heart this weekend.

Cheyenne came out of her room and jumped when she saw me. “I thought you were going to a study session!”

I narrowed my eyes. “I decided not to.”

Shelby and Gabi appeared a minute later. They were equally surprised to find me sitting in the dining room. They shot questioning looks at Cheyenne.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re having some people over to watch a movie,” Shelby said.

“Some people…as in?”

Gabi sighed. “I invited McAvoy over. We saw a lot of each other over break, and well, I guess we’re kind of together.”

I just stared at my friends. McAvoy…and that probably meant Vin and Miller and…

I shot out of my seat. “Are you saying Grant is going to be in our house?”

“No!” Shelby and Cheyenne said at once.

Gabi was shaking her head. “We told them not to bring him, but we thought you’d be gone.”

“You can’t just hide this stuff from me! I don’t want to be blindsided that his friends are going to be here in our house!” I started packing up all of my papers and throwing the stuff into my backpack.

The guys started knocking again, and Shelby rushed over to answer it.

Cheyenne gave me a pleading look. “Please don’t freak out about this.”

“Freak out? Why would I freak out? It’s every day that my roommates invite over my…whatever. This is stupid,” I grumbled. “Fuck Grant McDermott.”

Cheyenne giggled, and I glared at her.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have made that dirty,” she said.

“I swear, you just can’t help yourself.”

Our conversation cut off as Miller, McAvoy, and Vin walked into our apartment. They looked pretty shocked to see me there as well, so the girls must have said I’d be gone. Well, lucky for them, I was leaving.