Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(33)

I suggested we get “specialty” chocolates made just for the handsy bitch, but Aubrey nixed the idea for now. The emphasis on those last two words had made me laugh. Especially when she added, “I reserve the right to change my mind.”

Honestly, as much as Hot Shot and his brothers pissed me off so much, I’d room with fucking Lachlan before I shared a suite with Payton Webber. I didn’t hate many people. That cunt just radiated backstabbing bitch energy.

It was late by the time we got everything transferred over. Aubrey and I divided our time guarding things left behind, specifically so Payton couldn’t get anywhere near them. Thankfully, Jonas seemed to get that, and while we dealt with the room across the hall, he kept her out of his suite.

At some point, Captain Douchebag, thank you to Dix for that name, made himself absent. When I carried in a suitcase to find Jonas alone, I blew out a sigh of relief. He looked up from the notepad he was writing in. I just shook my head at the question in his eyes as I got the last of the things in.

By the time I’d unpacked, put things away, and made up my bed, it was time to send Dix away. We locked up both bedrooms then went out to dinner with him as a thank-you. It was almost ten when he dropped us off.

“Thanks, Dix,” she told him. “You were a lifesaver today.”

He lifted his chin.

Aubrey gave me a hug and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” before she headed upstairs without me. It wasn’t until that moment that it hit me. Last year had been bearable at times because she was right there. My roommate. My best friend. One of the sisters of my heart.

Now?

I was going to be living with a boy. Making a face, I turned to find Dix watching me with concern. The worry flooding his eyes had me lifting my own chin as I shrugged. “It’s going to be fine.” Even after trying to baby my voice, it still came out gravelly.

“Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?”

“Not sure,” I admitted, folding my arms. The front of the new dorm had a great view of the burnt-out husk of the old one. The smell of smoke lingered in the air. There were still floodlights up for the investigators. We’d seen the fire department out there several times during the day, clearing out more detritus. “Is it working?”

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Dix cautioned, then he leaned back against the car. “I’m sticking closer for the next couple of weeks.”

Before I could protest, he held up a hand.

“Hear me out?” The careful phrasing made me swallow my objections.

“Yes.”

“Thank you.” He nodded to the building. “You have friends here, but you also have enemies.”

Payton definitely qualified for the latter.

“Before that…” His expression darkened as he jerked his thumb at the destroyed dorm. “You had Aubrey at your back. Now you have this…punk ass kid.”

“Jonas…” Then raised my hands when Dix pinned me with a look. He wasn’t done.

“Now, you’re separated, granted by a hallway, but it’s still separation. You’re never going to treat her room as a safe space because of the Queen of the Junior Cunt Society in there.”

A laugh escaped me, and I clapped a hand over my mouth as Dix grinned. There was something that edged right on vicious in his smile. Although to be fair, I heard zero lies in what he said.

“That means you will be reliant on your own space more and more. Can you tell me, honestly, that you trust that boy?”

“No,” I said with a slow shake of my head. “I have no reason to trust him. Except…” When his expression shifted, I raised my brows. I gave him his turn, so now it was mine. He exhaled sharply then motioned for me to continue. I wished it was more fun to exasperate him. “He didn’t have to offer me that room.”

As rough as my voice still was, it cracked on that sentence. I wasn’t sure if that was the physical damage or the emotional questions I had.

“We’re not friends. He’s not pretending to be one either.” That much was clear. He did not like Payton. So maybe it was just as simple as the enemy of my enemy… “He helped me last year… more than once.”

“How?” At Dix’s question, I shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter.” I covered my mouth with my fist as a cough escaped.

“That’s enough talking,” he cautioned. “Aubrey asked me to call Doctor Don. He’ll be up here at the end of the week. I told him you didn’t want to go into the city, but if this got worse, you would.”

Translation, he would make sure I would go. Hence why he was staying…

“I’ll be thirty minutes away,” he pressed on. “Tops. Your new phone will be here tomorrow. I expedited it. If you need any help with the setup, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll be back to get you to see Doctor Don, and we’ll get all of this straightened out. Don’t be surprised if the lawyers reach out to you, too…”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because you got badly hurt on school property…that’s a million dollar plus voice, sweetheart, and there is gonna be hell to pay for that.”

Right. I didn’t think about that. I’d call the lawyers since I didn’t think we should be going after the school. It was a fire. Not negligence. Yes, I’d heard the rumors about arson too, but that didn’t make it the school’s fault.