The water ran as I eased the door shut, but not completely closed. She didn’t need that much privacy, but she would need a change of clothes. Thinking about the only person I knew close by who’d have some, I dialed my friend Royal. He recently started at Pembroke, working before so he came in as freshmen. His fiancée December was a recent transfer student, a junior like me, and they’d gotten engaged at the beginning of term.
“Bro, you do know what fucking time it is?” Sleep in his voice, he huffed. “The fuck you want?”
Mary Sunshine and how responsible to be going to bed before midnight. That’d have been his girl December’s doing, no doubt. I smirked. “I need a favor.”
“What kind?”
“A big one. December with you?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I need to borrow some of her clothes.” They’d hang on Greer a little since she was smaller, more petite and didn’t have December’s height but they’d do.
Silence for a second. “The fuck? You going to wear them or something?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, asshole. I need them for a friend, hers got ruined.”
Water slowed in the distance, still running but definitely not at full power. Perhaps, Greer was getting done in there.
“Do I want to know?” Royal asked in my ear, but it sounded like he was getting up.
“Just bring them.” I ended the call before heading toward the bathroom. If the water slowed, Greer just might be done.
Looks like it might be time to talk.
The Present
Greer
I’d turned down the water to hear what was going on outside the door, voices on the other side. It’d sounded like Knight was speaking to someone, but the moment he ended his call, I blasted that water right back up, scrubbing my hands and the water painting in red. Currently, Knight stood behind me, watching me while I scrubbed.
Until, well, he didn’t.
His touch on me had caused me to tremble, his fingers tugging up my sleeves. But the moment he made eye contact with me through the bathroom mirror, I found I couldn’t keep it. My face was coated in fucking blood, and I felt myself grow faint again, woozy. I’d never been good with blood, but with Knight behind me, I forced myself to nut the hell up and bring water to my face. He’d yelled at me tonight, tackled me and kidnapped me.
What the fuck?
I scrubbed at the spots in quick time, my hair also dotted in bright crimson splatter. Noticing my labor, Knight cursed and backed up off me. I’d been able to breathe for only a little bit before he started to work his shirt off.
A naked torso with perfectly chiseled abs pooled heat between my legs, a reminder of him between my legs. He’d touched me with his knee, the brunt of his hard weight pinning me to the bed. It’d gotten me excited in confusing ways, fear that he’d been pinning me down but also excitement because he’d touched me. The whole thing was as hella fucking confusing as watching him and his nakedness, the big guy sauntering his way over to me and dabbing his T-shirt on my face. He wet it, then dabbed again, and I flinched when he brushed it near my lips.
He frowned. “Relax. I won’t hurt you.”
Unless I gave him a reason, right? I talked? I folded my arms. “Can I speak?”
A sigh passed his lips, and when he shook his head, he dabbed my face again. “Depends on what you’ll say.”
That arrogant fuck. I wanted to scream at him, lunge and kick my feet, but something told me he’d have me out of this room and right on my back again. Something told me he’d make me burn, and as much as that confused me, I definitely hadn’t wanted that.
Instead, I decided to remain silent, allowing him to touch my face and chest with his damp shirt while trying not to reveal I felt anything about it. I tried to mask my fear, but each brush of my skin with rough fingertips worked a deep chill through me. My throat jumped when he touched it, and cursing again, he stepped back.
“You’re going to need a shower,” he concluded, and my stomach instantly turned. Would he make me shower? Force himself on me like he had before? I’d been confused, but not enough to want that. He threw fingers through brown-black hair. “I got a buddy bringing you clothes.”
“A buddy?”
He nodded before tossing his shirt in the sink. He ran the faucet, drenching it before wringing it out and hanging it off the towel rack. “His fiancee is a little taller than you, but it should work.”
Why was he helping me? Why were we here and not back at the frat house? Bryce had killed himself. We needed to call the fucking cops, not flee the scene. I closed my eyes, forcing a shuddered breath. “Can I speak?”
“You didn’t the first time.”
“Well, I want to now,” I snipped, my eyes flashing at the dark haze that cast over Knight’s normally brown eyes. They went brown-black, just like his hair, and taking a boot, he propped it back against the closed door.
“Shoot,” he said, irony in what he said, but I had a feeling there wouldn’t be any candidness here. Not if he didn’t want it. He was definitely in charge here, and because he was, I forced myself to check how I actually wanted to act.
“I don’t understand why we’re here.”
Apparently an easy one for him, he smirked. He put a hand out. “You’re obviously a little messy. Here to clean yourself up?”
That wasn’t what I meant and he knew that. My nostrils
