He flinched. I knew it. I had hit the mark with that. “Come here, Princess.” He opened his arms.
“No.”
The hurt on his face made me regret my hasty word. “Okay.” He sighed and sat down on the bed. “You are right in some regards. Yes, our magic makes us want to protect you, but we have also seen how amazing you are this week. Not many people would have been able to handle what you have gone through. Also, I know you better than you think. You are forgetting that I have been watching you your whole life. I may not know all your likes and dislikes, but I have seen how you handle adversity and how you love being out in nature. I want to get to know you better. I want to know what your favorite color is, your favorite movie, and all that. Travis feels the same way. He was pissed at me for telling you about the bonding. He wanted things to progress naturally before we brought it up.”
I spun my braid as I thought about it. Would it have been better if I hadn’t known? Probably not; I would have been pissed if I fell for them, then found out. I would have felt like the relationships were built on a lie. This way probably was better. I eyed Kait. I didn’t want to admit that to him, though. I also wondered what kind of discussions the guys had about me when behind my back. Were they making arrangements to pass me around?
Chapter 2
I stood there, glaring at Kait as thoughts of them deciding how to share me flitted through my head. Eventually, it occurred to me that thinking about this was just making me angrier and it wasn’t doing any good. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, forcing myself to focus on something else. After a minute, I was calmer, but it took another moment before I could continue the discussion in a rational manner.
“Whatever, Kait. I’m not going to talk about this anymore.” Well, somewhat rational anyway.
He eyed me. “Princess, sometimes, you have to talk about things you find painful. It’s not going to go away.” He said it carefully, and gently, but that just made it worse.
“I’m not going to talk about it, Kait.”
“Fine, you can listen, then. Yes, we have been discussing the situation without you. No, we haven’t been talking about taking turns.” Fuck, my wall wasn’t as strong as I thought. He continued, “We have to make sure we are on the same page. David is having a hard time with it, as you probably can tell. None of us are going to force you into a relationship you don’t want, and we all want to take things slow. The feelings will grow naturally as we get to know each other. Stop worrying about it.”
I sighed. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like my feelings are not mine anymore, like fate just stepped in and took over. Even if we get to know each other better, how do I know my feelings are real, and not put there by the magic?” I turned my back to him and threw a few more books in my bag. “How do I know what you feel is real, and not just forced on you by the bond?” I rubbed my eyes. “We need to go if I am going to make it to class on time. I am done talking about this. Please?” I hated that I was pleading with him.
He came over and put his arms around me from behind, and I felt a light kiss on the top of my head. “Okay. I will drop it for now, but this discussion is not finished.”
When I found myself leaning back against him, I jerked away. I wasn’t going to give in that easily. Sniffing, I started to pick up my bag, but Kait took it from me and left the room.
I followed him out to the car and silently got in. He threw the bag in the backseat before settling into the driver’s seat. The drive to campus was silent until I turned the radio on. I leaned my forehead on the window as I stared out at the passing scenery. After a few minutes, Kait reached over and started rubbing my knee. I sighed but left his hand there. The cool glass helped me focus as I examined my feelings. What exactly about the situation with the guys bothered me?
I still hadn’t found the answer when we arrived. I climbed out of the car, while Kait grabbed my bag and walked around the car. He put his hand on my arm like a gentleman, and we walked to class like that. In the classroom, several girls took note of Kait, running appreciative glances over him. A flash of jealousy hit me hard, surprising me with its intensity. I was shaking as I sat down. My magic had surged and I just barely stopped myself from attacking the girls. This may be a problem.
The class dragged on and on, but at least this time I was able to pay attention, not that it helped. I had missed enough classes that I had no idea what was going on. We went to lunch, where I morosely ate my pizza. Travis met us and was doing his best to cheer me up. He threw a fry at me, and it hit me in the face.
“Oh, come on, Travis.” I wasn’t in the mood to play like this.
He pouted at me, and batted his eyes, until I had to laugh. He shot a grin at Kait, who just shook his head. “That’s better, Babe. What’s got you so down?”
“Just class. I am so far behind, I don’t know how I’m ever going to get caught up.” I scrubbed at my face. “Especially the math classes. Calculus
