Chapter 12

A few ofthe guys from the circle arrive at Rush House. "Where do you want this stuff?" one of them asks.

"Thanks for your help," I say, passing him a couple hundred dollar bills. "Just put everything up in my room. Second floor, first door on the right."

"Got it," he says, turning to wave the other guys in.

"Did you change the locks like I asked?"

"Yup. We had Facilities do it. They were a bit anxious about it at first, but when we mentioned your name, they handled it," he says, uncaring as to why I asked them to remove someone else's shit and change the locks. That's the great thing about being a campus king. No one asks you about shit.

Except for Lux. She not only asks questions, but she also demands answers.

I head into the living room, where Christian and Jackson are hanging out. There's a home football game tonight, and nearly everyone on campus is going, so we're alone at Rush House tonight, which is a rare occurrence.

"Who was at the door?" Christian asks. He's lifting a couple of weights he brought up from the gym in the basement.

"The guys moving Lux's shit," I answer, sinking into one of the leather armchairs.

Christian drops the weights, breath heaving. "You sure you want to do this? Lux is going to be pissed when she finds out what you have planned."

Yeah, I don't give a fuck how pissed she's going to be. When Jackson told me he saw Lux and Ash at the campus coffee shop together, it lit me up like few things ever have. The one-fucking-person she chose have coffee with just happened to be Ash? Nah. That was deliberate.

It was then that I knew what I had to do.

Yesterday, I saw a side of Lux that blew my fucking mind. When she'd walked into the shower and refused to leave, I'd decided right then and there that I'd teach her a lesson about pushing me, give her a taste of the monster inside me.

And I had. I'd given her a glimpse of the darkest, most shameful parts of myself, expecting her to recoil—but, in the end, she didn't. She looked me in the eyes, saw the ugliness inside me, and didn't flinch away.

And that fucked me up.

My first instinct was to turn away. Out of shame, I don't know. I just know I couldn't fucking handle the very real emotions that gripped me in that moment, after we fucked, and she looked up at me with those doe-eyes.

Fuck,just remembering that moment makes my chest constrict.

And I can't allow that. I can't allow her to seep into the pores of my rock-hard heart, and take control.

But this shit isn't over, so I can't walk away either.

I'm fucked. That's what it boils down to, and I have to figure out how I can keep her close, but not so close that she pulls me under her fucking spell.

Jackson is digging into a bowl of ramen when he stops mid-bite to scoff at Christian. "Roman has to do this. And you wouldn't even be asking that question if you saw Lux sitting there with that douche. Like, damn. They were cozy as fuck, laughing and everything."

My jaw clenches at the thought of her hanging out with Ash. I know she only did it to piss me off. It's always a power play with her. She's always doing the fucking opposite of what I want her to do. It's infuriating. So, yeah, in response, I took shit into my own hands.

"I know she'll be pissed," I say. "That's the fucking point."

"But fuck, dude," Chrisitan says. "Having a chick living here is going to suck balls. All girls do is whine about shit."

"One month," I push out, already bored with this conversation. I didn't consult the guys before doing what I did, but I didn't really have a choice. Lux made her move, and I had to make mine. Timing is everything. "You can put up with it for a few we–"

My sentence is abruptly cut off when Lux comes flying through the living room door. The solid oak door bounces off the wall as she steamrolls through the living room, heading straight for me. Her face is flushed red, and it shouldn't turn me on, but it does. I love seeing her angry.

She's wearing a little sun dress, exposing her thick thighs, and her hair is damp. I can't help but wonder why that is. Jackson saw Lux leave somewhere with Ash. Where did they go? If I know Ash, he probably took her to the beach.

"Hey, Little Rabbit," I say with a smile.

"Where's all of my shit?" she yells, hands on her hips. She looks ready to strangle me. That might be fun.

"Upstairs, in my room," I answer evenly.

"You can't do this. You can't just move all of my stuff because you're mad at me," she fumes.

I shrug. "Not true, because that's exactly what I just did."

"Why, Roman? Why?" Tears start to gather in her eyes, but I know it's just because she's pissed. Chicks always cry when they're pissed.

I rise up from the chair and step toward her. Wisely, she takes a step back. Christian and Jackson are just watching this play out, both dead silent on the other side of the room.

"You know why," I say, my own anger rising to the surface. Knowing she was with Ash drives me insane. "You knew exactly what you were doing when you let the entire-fucking-campus see you with Ash."

Her eyes narrow. "So this is all about your fucking ego, is it? Me with some other guy. You care so much what other people think that you would take everything I own?" She shakes her head like she can't believe what's happening. Good. It was my goal to set her off balance. "Where am I supposed to sleep now, huh?"

I lift my arms. "Isn't that obvious?"

Something comes over her face, then. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was fear. But a second later, it's gone, replaced by that disgust that seems permanently etched on her face.

"You're such a fucking asshole," she spits moving to the door. Then she directs her attention to Jackson and Christian. "And you two just sit back and let this happen. You're all a bunch of fucking bullies." Before she leaves, she turns back to me with a threat. "I'm getting the administration involved. You might rule the entire campus, but they can't allow this. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen."

Once she's gone, Christian shakes his head. "You'd better be careful, Roman. This one might actually put you in your place."

I laugh. "She'll get over it. They always do."

"I've never seen anyone talk to you like that," Christian shakes his head. "This one is feisty, bro. You sure you want to take her on?"

I look at him like he's an idiot. "Do I have a fucking choice?"

He shrugs a shoulder. "Hey, listen, you're the bad guy in her eyes. Maybe I should take a crack at her?"

I step up on him. We're evenly matched, but could take him if I had to, and I would. We're brothers, but that doesn't mean he can even consider touching what's mine. "Touch her and see what happens."

He has the sense to laugh it off. "Dude, chill. Lucas is right, you're fucking whipped."

Lucas has never said that to me, which means they're talking about me behind my back now. And I know what this is. The guys just want a taste of her, because she's got something that most girls don't have. She's got an edge. She's got bite. She's not easily brought to heel, like most of the other girls here. It's why Ash is sniffing around her, too.

Christ,fighting these guys off is a full-time-fucking-job. And in my infinite wisdom, I just moved her into the lion's den.

I'm an idiot.

She must have hustled straight to the administration office, which is in a converted house owned by the University just down the street, because I get a call from Janet in the Housing Office fifteen minutes later. I half-expected Lux's threat to be a bluff, but I guess she wasn't fucking around.

"Hey, Janet. What's up?" I say innocently like I don't know exactly why she's calling.

"Hi, um, Roman, I have someone here claiming you stole her belongings." Janet is half-whispering, and I hear the hesitance in her voice like she's nervous about talking to me. She should be. My grandfather funds the grant that pays for her salary—and everyone else's in that office, for that matter.

"Yeah," I answer. "It's a domestic matter. Don't worry about it."

"She's saying she's going to go to the police if we don't do anything," Janet says. "It might be easier if you just return her property."

I suck in a breath because this shit is annoying. "I know you're not telling me what to do, Janet. You know better than that."

"I—of course," her voice lowers to a conspiratorial whisper. Lux must be standing nearby. "But I'm sure you don't want a police report filed about something so trivial."

Trivial.

I almost laugh at that. This is war. A war between Lux and me. A war of wills. And she has no idea who she's up against.

"Don't worry about it, Janet. I'm handling it."

There's a pause on the other end of the line like she doesn't really believe that. But I don't need her to believe it. I just need her to do her damn job.

"What do you want me to tell her?"

I tilt my head back and sigh. "Do I really have to coach you on this? Just tell her you'll pass her complaint to the higher-ups, and someone will get back to her. Then bury it."

Then I hang up because I'm done telling Janet the obvious. She's been the housing admin for over twenty years. One would think she'd know how to handle shit like this.

When I shove my phone back into my pocket, I look up to Christian and Jackson. They're both staring at me.

It's Christian who speaks up. "What if Lux ends up going to the police?"

"She's not going to go to the police," I say. It's a guess, but an educated one.

"What makes you say that?" Jackson asks.

I shrug one shoulder. "Because you jumped down her throat the other day about involving the police in campus business."

"Yeah, you know what though? She doesn't seem like the listening type," Jackson offers. "She just does whatever the fuck she wants."

"She's a liability is what she is," Christian says, picking his weight up again. "Shit's getting messy."

I lean against the pool table, arms crossed over my chest. "So what do you recommend I do, huh?"

Jackson picks up a pool stick, and levels it at a ball in the center of the table. "I know this is a foreign concept to you, Roman, but you're going to have to play nice and smooth things over with her."

I work my jaw. "Playing nice isn't my style."

"Yeah, we know," Jackson says. "But you don't have much of a choice this time, do you?"

I pause and reflect on that for a second. It's true, the more I push Lux, the more she just seems to retreat. My commanding presence isn't working as brilliantly as it usually does. I'm used to people just falling in line, no questions, no protests. Lux obviously needs a different approach.

Christ, I really hate it when Jackson is right.