17. Gavin

SEVENTEEN

gavin

IT’D BEEN DAYS since I’d seen Daire. I had no idea where he’d gone off to, and if any of the others had a clue, they weren’t saying.

If Daire thought this made things easier after kissing and running, he was a fool. All it’d done was make me wonder what had scared him so much.

It also had me thinking about him nonstop.

When he came back, would he act like nothing had happened? Would I? Daire wasn’t someone who sat around talking about his feelings, so that told me I’d never get closure on the kiss.

Unless…he did it again.

I swallowed, pushing that thought all the way to the back of my mind. It had happened. It wasn’t going to again. The moment of madness had been just that. We’d been hyped up on adrenaline. Anger. Then we acted on it. Nothing more.

“Dismissed.”

I blinked my professor back into focus at the bottom of the lecture hall and realized I’d been zoned out for the entire hour. The cursor on my laptop blinked at me, the page still empty of any notes as everyone around me packed up and started to leave.

Well, shit. I hoped whatever he’d gone over wasn’t something that would come back to bite me on the ass in the form of a surprise test.

Shoving everything into my bag, I got to my feet and slipped out of the room before my professor could call me out for being a zombie. It felt good not to have to worry about anyone waiting for me, not when Joey and his friends hadn’t been back to school since their…unfortunate incident. From what I heard, it wasn’t even a sure thing that they would be coming back, not after the utter humiliation of the entire school seeing them naked, bound, and tattooed. Apparently East had made another video, one without him or our friends, and anonymously sent it to every student at Astor. Many of whom had gone down in the early-morning hours to see the scandal for themselves.

Just as Donovan had reassured me, there hadn’t been any blowback whatsoever on us. Rumors spread about Joey’s parents being livid and demanding names, but neither him nor his friends were saying a word.

Daire really was one scary motherfucker.

As I rounded a corner, my feet came to a sudden stop.

Shit.They were back.

Dressed in turtlenecks that covered their new ink, Joey, Carl, and Doug huddled together at the end of the hall, only this time they weren’t surrounded by their usual band of loyal followers.

In fact, several of the people standing nearby were whispering and laughing as Joey seemed to avoid their gazes.

Part of me felt supreme satisfaction at seeing them ostracized, but the other part of me felt that familiar anxiety start to creep up like an old friend. Just looking at them, seeing them standing together like they were waiting to give me shit…

No. They wouldn’t be doing that anymore. My friends had made sure of that.

Forcing my shoulders back and my feet to move, I headed down the hall in their direction, since there wasn’t another way to go unless I turned around—and I wouldn’t be doing that anymore.

Joey looked up, our eyes connected, and I saw the blood drain from his face. He whispered something to his friends, and they all nodded and left. Like hauled ass away from me as fast as they could without running. I couldn’t hide my surprise at their reaction as my jaw dropped.

No freakin’ way. One look at me and they’d tucked tail and run. Why the hell had I been mad at Daire again? I should’ve let him and the guys insert themselves into this situation a long time ago.

The relief was almost overwhelming as I headed to meet up with my friends during a lull in classes. For the first time in a long time, I was able to walk the halls without ugly taunts or hands on me. It was a slice of freedom I hadn’t even known I’d been missing.

The guys were all in their usual spot, a meetup room we’d commandeered that used to be a teachers’ lounge. Couches and chairs were packed in, enough seating for all of us even as our group kept growing with the addition of JT. As I stepped inside, I couldn’t help the smile that was dying to burst out.

“They’re back.”

“You just said that with a big-ass grin on your face.” West smirked, lounging on one of the couches with JT pulled into his lap. “Lemme guess, you got to appreciate Simone’s skill with a tattoo gun.”

“The oozing bit was my idea,” Travis said, looking way too proud of himself.

I shook my head and dropped my bag on the floor. “Actually, I didn’t. They’ve covered that shit with turtlenecks and scarves.”

“Pussies.”

My head whipped around to find the person that deep voice belonged to. Daire sat on one of the window ledges staring out to the courtyard. His booted foot was propped up in front of him, bent at the knee, and the other stretched out as he lounged back against the wooden frame.

It was the first time I’d seen him since our… incident, and the sight of him made my stomach do a somersault.

“Not so brave now, are they?” West chuckled as JT shook his head.

“What’s the problem, Golden Boy?” East said, crossing one leg over the other. “You don’t approve of your boyfriend’s actions? He was just standing up for his friend.”

JT ignored East, his soft brown eyes finding me. “I’m sorry for what they were doing to you. If I’d known, I could’ve⁠—”

“What? Gone and told your mommy the dean?”

“Knock it off, East.” West glared his best friend down.

“All I’m saying is…” JT squeezed West’s leg. “I could’ve helped.”

“Aww that’s so sweet, babe.” West pulled JT into his arms and kissed his temple. “But I didn’t want you to get in trouble or have to lie to your mom.”

East rolled his eyes. “Ugh, enough with the lovefest already. Can we go back to talking about what a genius I am to have come up with such a masterful plan?”

Preston chuckled. “Pretty sure that’s all we’ve talked about for the last few days.”

“No one asked you, fatherfucker.”

“I’d rather be a fatherfucker than have carpal tunnel from overusing my hand. Maybe if you put half as much effort into looking for a date, you might not be so hung up on us praising you every five minutes.”

East waved his hand in the air as though he were bored with the conversation. “Praise kink is so not my scene. But I bet you’re a really good boy for Daddy Archer.”

Preston grinned. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Travis sat down beside Preston and scooted in close. “But we’d like to.”

East scrunched his nose up. “Speak for yourself.”

“I am.”

As the guys continued back and forth, I made my way over to an empty spot on one of the couches, their voices fading into the background as I zeroed in on the only person in the room not participating in the discussion.

Daire had an arm propped up on his knee and his eyes closed as he leaned back against the frame. The morning sun streamed through the window and caught his raven-colored hair. The stubble shadowing his jaw line was darker than usual, emphasizing the harsh lines of his face, and as though he could feel me staring, he opened his eyes and looked my way.

My breath caught on impact. His stare was as subtle as a freight train. I tried to swallow, tried to look away, but it was like I was caught in a snare, and only Daire could release me. Thoughts of his mouth moving over mine, his tongue tasting me, flashed through my mind.

Jesus.My pulse was thrumming so hard, the blood rushing down between my thighs, and when my dick started to throb, I shifted on the couch.

“Right, Gavin?”

“Huh?” I picked up my bag, clutching it over my lap, and whirled around to face the rest of the guys. “What?”

Travis smirked. “I was just saying, I doubt Joey’ll be bothering you again.”

“Yeah, um, I don’t think so.” Especially not after Daire had put the fear of God in him.

“Well, if they do, you better tell us, okay?”

I was just about to answer my brother when Daire said, “He will.”

I saw how it was. He wasn’t talking to me, just for me. I narrowed my eyes on the grouchy bastard. “He is right here and can answer for himself.”

“Then answer.”

Ugh, he was so infuriating. How was I supposed to do that if he was talking over the top of me?

“I promise to let you know if Joey comes anywhere near me.”

“Or his dickwad friends.”

I shot lasers in Daire’s direction. “Or his dickwad friends. Happy?”

“Fuckin’ ecstatic.”

“See?” East gestured between Daire and myself. “This is the kind of discourse I enjoy.”

“Fuck off,” Daire and I said at the same time. But as Daire turned back to look out the window, I could’ve sworn I saw the corner of his lips twitch.

“So, Preston, my old buddy, old pal.” Travis slung his arm across the back of the couch. “Were you able to get any more info on that new band coming to Astor in a couple weeks? I know Archer is off the gig ’cause you two, you know, but he still reps the band.”

“Info such as…?”

Donovan snorted. “As if you have to ask. He wants to know if there’s any potentials he can hook up with.”

“Hey now.” Travis held up a hand. “Are you trying to imply that I’m a⁠—”

“Whore?” East interjected. “Yes. Yes they are.”

“Oh.” Travis smiled like a fiend. “Well then, carry on.”

“All I know is that they’re a new band Archer has high hopes for, and they’re in their mid-twenties.”

“Hot or fugly?”

“Travis.” JT scrubbed a hand over his face. “I swear, you guys need to learn how to filter your thoughts.”

“Why?” Travis looked around the group. “I’m with friends—well, and Daire.”

Daire flipped him off, and just when I thought he’d go back to staring out the window, those obsidian eyes tracked back to me. I could hear Preston giving Travis more details about the band members, but just like before, I was caught up in whatever trance Daire had me under.

Did he feel it too? He kept looking over at me.

Daire’s attention shifted to my lips, and the hand resting on his bent knee balled into a fist.

It was the first indication that he was aware of me in any way other than as another body in the room. That he might’ve been thinking of the kiss that we’d shared, because I sure as hell was. I felt flushed, too hot all of a sudden, and the ache between my thighs intensified.

But then his eyes flicked back up to mine and he gave that usual scowl even as he arched a brow that basically screamed: There a problem?

And as much as I wanted to be cool about it, to flip him off or scowl right back at him, all I could do was sit there and stare. Because there was a problem. A really, really big one.

I wanted Daire.