I step away from him for distance and start to actually work on the stove. I don’t say anything, resolving to ignore him now.
“Juno, you live here because you’re going to be our little toy. I’ve heard Malcolm call you ‘pet.’”
I turn and slap him, my aim true. It cracks across his face and elicits gasps and laughter from the other witnesses. “You think this is funny too?” I look at them. The only few that are left disappear almost instantly, leaving me with Jack and the fury that’s on his face.
“How dare you, you bitch. I’m only telling you the truth. Might as well start right now, get you used to how things are going to be.”
He reaches for me, and instinct kicks in—as well as the self-defense classes that I’ve taken. I step in, grab his shoulders, and thrust my knee directly into his balls. He grunts with the hit, and stumbles away. I hear a slamming noise, but I don’t register it because I’m busy putting distance between myself and Jack.
I fling myself out of the kitchen door and directly into Malcolm’s chest. He’s here. He’s early, but he’s here. I don’t know how or why, but I’ve never been more relieved.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Malcolm says, rage on full display. It takes me a full second to realize that the words aren’t aimed at me. On the contrary, his hands are gentle on me as he moves me to the side. His eyes are on Jack.
The asshole just grins, though that falters as he tries to stand up straight. “What both you and she deserved. You can’t just change shit, Malcolm.”
Malcolm smiles, and I’m glad that I’m not on the receiving end of it. “Oh, I can. I’m the head of the house, and my family owns it. There are no fraternity rules here, so I can, by definition, do whatever the fuck I want.” He stalks over to Jack and grabs him by the shirt collar. “She is mine. No one else’s. My girl. If I ask her to clean this house and she agrees, that’s between me and her. If I decide that I have a pet name for her, again, that’s between us. Got it?”
Jack looks pissed, but he doesn’t argue. “Got it.”
“Good.” Malcolm throws him towards the door, making him stumble. “Now get the fuck out of this house.”
“Excuse me?”
“You no longer live in Granite House. You are no longer welcome on the property. Get the fuck out, now, and we’ll dump your shit on the lawn of wherever you decide to shack up next.”
Now Jack looks stunned. “You can’t be serious.”
“I have no reason to joke about this,” Malcolm says. “Get out of my house, or I will have the police remove you. And don’t come back here, ever. Setting foot off the sidewalk is grounds for any member of this house to rearrange your face.”
The anger is back, and for a second I think that he’s going to pounce on Malcolm, but he turns and stalks away, face absolutely terrifying. Malcolm follows him, I assume to make sure that he leaves the house. And he does, slamming the door so hard that the walls shake.
And then I hear him speak. Voice deadly smooth and steady, like a snake ready to strike. “What the fuck is wrong with all of you?”
There’s silence in answer.
“I’m actually expecting a response.”
There’s murmurs that I can’t hear from my place in the kitchen.
“Are you serious?” Malcolm says. “We don’t have many rules in this house. It’s college, you want your freedom. So there’s only a couple ones that are unbreakable. And I expect those to be followed or there’s the door, you can follow Jack. What exactly would you have let happen in this house if Evan hadn’t texted me to come back from class early?
“If Juno still wants to live here after this, she’ll pull her weight just like every other member of this house. If she chooses to do extra, that’s something she’ll choose to do.” He pauses, and sighs. “By tomorrow you all better have your shit together. Tomorrow, if you have questions, ask them. Right now I have some damage to undo.”
I jump back from the door as Malcolm comes through it. His face is still stormy. He takes me by the arm and we walk upstairs together, the grip he has on me not as gentle as when he first found me with Jack. He doesn’t say anything until he’s pulling me into his room, not mine.
He closes the door, and locks it, sighing. “What the hell were you thinking, Juno?”
My jaw drops. “What the hell was I thinking?”
“Why did you put on that dress? Did you want them to touch you? What made you think to play along with that? Why bother to instigate them at all? Are you crazy?”
He’s managed to keep his voice low enough even though it’s clear he would be yelling if he could. I don’t have the same restraint. “Are you fucking kidding me? He told me it was your idea.”
Malcolm goes deadly still. “What?”
I tear the dress off and throw it at him, not caring that I’m only wearing my underwear now. “Jack said that it was a housewarming present from you. That it was your way of initiating me into the house, and that if I didn’t do it I couldn’t live here, or worse, that my enrollment in school was at risk.”
He looks shocked. “Why would you think I would do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I think that I had to? This arrangement we have? I have to do what you say. How was I supposed to know this wasn’t what you wanted? Jack lives—lived—here, and he said it was what you told him. No one contradicted him. This isn’t my fault. And if you think that I would risk wearing a stupid costume over my enrollment and going after my goals, you don’t know
