Chapter Eight

Cory

I’ve just gotten the final touches for the dinner I'm making everyone done when Delaney’s door opens, and she appears like a furious angel in the entryway.

There’re a few seconds where we just stare at each other, me caught off guard by her appearing suddenly, her probably confused as to why I’m standing in her kitchen in just a frilly pink apron and my white cotton boyshorts, but there’re definitely reasons for both. “Do you… need a hug?”

“Thank the goddess,” she says before rushing into my arms. She squeezes me and I drop my stir spoon onto the counter and immediately return the gesture.

“Is it too early to ask what happened?”

“Just…can you kiss me?”

A shirtless Adam wanders in from Delaney’s bedroom, and I watch as her eyes take him in, and then me, pinging back and forth, then her mouth forms an ‘O’ shape, and her breathing changes a bit. “I’m interrupting, aren’t I?”

Adam snorts. “This is your dorm, Delaney.”

“It is…” she trails off, clearly wanting to say more about it. “Why are you both here when I’m not?”

“Here’s the thing,” I say the same time Adam says, “It was Cory’s fault.”

I scratch the back of my neck. “Yeah, that looks bad. We thought you would be occupied longer.” I am absolutely unwilling to finish the rest of that sentence.

Unfortunately, my partner has no such scruples. “Cory thought it would be hot to get off in your bed and leave our scents for you to find later. And then they wanted to cook dinner because we figured everyone would be home in a little while. Thought it would be nice, you know?”

“You know what? Not mad at all. That is pretty hot. Well done, Cory."

“You want to talk about the picture Wilder sent through?” Adam asks.

It almost seems like when Professor Wilder is doing something stupid, he becomes Wilder, and when he's more in our good graces again, people start reverting to Ash again.

Delaney reaches for the bowl of grapes on the counter and pops a few in her mouth before she answers. “I was sick of being ignored. So, I went to Wilder's last class of the day hoping I could confront him, and instead I happened upon him getting hit on by another member of the faculty.”

I inhale sharply, praying to the goddess that man didn’t do anything he can’t come back from.

“I accidentally interrupted their conversation. He swore he was going to reject her once we were able to talk about it, but I realized I couldn’t say one way or the other if that was actually true.

“If August and Jackson were in that situation, I have zero doubt they would laugh in the face of whoever decided to try their luck with them and then call me and laugh about it with me. With you two I know instinctively you would never entertain attention from anybody else. But Wilder? I don’t know him well enough to say. I know shifters are supposed to respect their mates and all that BS, but he hasn’t really demonstrated those traits so I don't actually know what would have happened if I hadn't interrupted. It bothers me that I don't trust him, even if that's all on him.”

“Okay,” I say as I turn to stir my sauce again with a new spoon. “So, you went to confront him about ignoring you, someone made a pass at him, and then what happened?”

“That woman sounded ridiculous coming onto him, and I made a noise that they clearly heard. They didn't know I was in there until then. She got catty, I probably got cattier, then before I know it, he’s pinning me against the door in the staff bathroom, promising me I’m the only one he wants.”

“But that picture he sent out, which was hot as fuck by the way, wasn’t in a bathroom,” Adam points out helpfully.

She eats a few more grapes, leaning a hip against the counter. I like how easy this all feels, us talking like this while I cook.

“Honestly I didn't know he took a picture, but you’re right,” she says. “I protested the location, so he took me home. I’ve wanted to say it did feel like we made some headway, I got out some of what I needed to say and he did the same, and he did apologize for his behavior, but like—"

“You’re not sure if he said what he said because you cornered him into it, or if he would have said it on his own, right?" I ask.

“Thank you!” she says. “That’s exactly it. I think I’m satisfied with what he said, and yes, I’m bothered by the fact that I couldn’t predict how he would have reacted to somebody hitting on him, but I’m so sick of these head games with him. It feels like every time we make progress, we lose so much more. It’s exhausting and so unhealthy.”

“It's almost like this is what happens when you force somebody into a bond without preparing them for it,” Adam snarks.

“Completely agree, but there's not much we can do about it now,” she points out. Both palms come to the island and her head droops, her shoulders sticking out, exposing the bite marks he gave her.

Immediately I step behind her and start rubbing her shoulders. “Please tell me you left him high and dry?” Unfortunately, I'm going to be working with him for a while as a teacher’s assistant, but he desperately needs some hard lessons.

She sighs, leaning into me more. “I got him to touch me finally, so there’s that. He got me off, so there’s that also. But then he made the mistake of saying I was his. His to touch, his to claim… it fucking pissed me off, so I got dressed and left. After throwing a bunch of crap at him about how he can’t just ignore me for a week and then decide to try and pick it up where we left off. He definitely did not come though. So, there's that.”

I’m trying to picture this whole scenario and end up laughing. “Did he actually get it in you before you left?”

She pops more grapes into her mouth, blinking her wide eyes at me. She chews carefully and swallows, but I keep eye contact, as does Adam. “Yeah. He got a couple of good thrusts in before I put my clothes back on.”

The front door crashes again, this time admitting August and Jackson. Their eyes fly wildly about the room before landing on Delaney, and then it’s game on. They stride towards her, and she knows she messed up.

“What’s up guys?” She tries to give the illusion that she’s not affected, that she’s all lazy and nonchalant right now, but every muscle is tight, ready to spring into action the second she needs to.

“What’s up?” August repeats, pulling his phone out and showing her the picture that Ash sent out. “What’s up is you left without anyone there to keep you safe. What’s up is you clearly sent us on a false errand to get us out of the way so you could go and do something stupid.”

“I… needed to do it alone?” It definitely comes out more as a question than a statement.

“Here’s a fun fact for you,” Jackson says. He’s getting closer to catching her and pinning against the counter.

Jackson gives me a head nod and then goes right back to the beautiful woman. “You told us we had to go across campus because you needed a rubbing of a statue there for one of your classes. Do you want to hear something so interesting? It’s on the other side of our dorm. All we had to do was go out the back access doors and walk around the corner and we would have run into it.”

She laughs nervously “It was? That’s… my bad.”

“So, we had to ask around,” August says, getting closer to Delaney now, too, “and after several people confirmed the statue’s actual location, we ran into something very curious. Wouldn’t you say it’s curious brother?” August looks to Jackson.

“Curious indeed,” Jackson replies, eyes gleaming. “We ran into a demon. On our campus. Yep.”

“He had your name in his mouth,” August supplies helpfully. “When were you going to tell us?”

Delaney looks at them, blank faced. “Tell you… what? That Wilder finally did something about our bond? It literally just happened. He’s probably regretting it about now though, to be honest.”

“No, not that,” August says. “Should I congratulate you?”

Delaney waves him off. “If not the Wilder thing, then what is it I’m supposed to have told you?”

“That you’re apparently affianced to this guy?”

“To Wilder? We’re already mated, I just said that. That’s not new information though, he claimed me a while ago. Are you guys feeling alright?”

“Wait,” I interject, realizing that there’s some sort of miscommunication going on here. “You’re not talking about Wilder. You think there’s something about the demon you saw that she’s supposed to have told you?”

They fold their arms across their chests and stare her down.

“I don’t get it,” Delaney finally says when she can’t handle the silence anymore.

“We talked to him,” Jackson informs us.

Delaney tries to encourage them to continue. What is it with these people and giving the shortest answers possible? “And?” she finally prompts.

“And when were you going to tell us you were fucking engaged to him?” Jackson questions. “From the way he was talking, it seems like a pretty damn done deal. And yet we haven’t heard about him.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Delaney says. “Go back. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Hell, indeed,” August says. “Are you saying you’re not engaged to him?”

“I don’t even know who him is! Don’t you think my hands are already full with you two, and these two I’m trying to court, and that stone guy out there I mated and barely get to talk to, and the fucking lion shifter that I can’t seem to make happy, and the maybe naga mate I have that won't talk to me? Do you really think I would be going around collecting more? Are you out of your mind?”

“Is this a bad time?”

We all whip our heads around to see Wilford standing in the open doorway. “Sorry, I knocked, but I don’t think you heard it. I could tell you guys were inside so… candy twinkles. I shouldn’t have just walked in, should I? I am so sorry. Let me go outside. We’ll try that again.”

The dude takes a few steps back, gives Delaney a little wave and a smile, and then he shuts the door. He waits two seconds and then there’s a knock.

None of us say anything because we’re all very confused. “Did he just—" August finally says when the knock sounds again.

“I’ve got it,” Delaney says, heading over to open the door.

“Hey Delaney,” Wilford beams. “How’s it hanging? Wait no that’s— that’s not what I meant to say. I was just talking to somebody who’s in our class, who heard from somebody else that's in another class —"

“Just get to the point,” Delaney interrupts, trying to fight a smile. She always smiles around this guy. It’s nice.

“Rumor is there’s a pop quiz tomorrow on how well we know our ‘mates’” he says with finger quotes. “I just wanted to drop by my information and see if I could get some from you? You know, so we could study?”

She tugs him inside the room and shuts the door behind him. “How’s your day going, Wilford?”

“Oh, it’s fine, I suppose.” He pulls a notecard out of his back pocket and hands it to her. “Here; I know we’ve talked a bit in class, but this should cover the stuff we haven’t gotten to yet.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” I’m really hoping he says yes, because I get the feeling he needs to spend more time with Delaney. “I made plenty. Honestly, I probably made too much, I just wasn’t sure what to do because there’re so many people around here.”

Wilford looks to Delaney before answering me. I notice that they both have their elbows resting on the back of the couch, and her hand is over his, clasping it lightly. “Yeah, you wanna stay?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose. Bonding time is sacred.”

“You guys are supposed to be pretending though, right?” Adam asks. “Seems like it’d be a good opportunity for you to see how this works. I promise none of us will whip our dicks out until after you leave. Unless you’re into voyeurism.”

“Adam!” Delaney chastises. “You’re gonna scare him off.”

At that, Wilford chuckles. “You sure I won’t be interrupting? I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I really did come by just to give you that notecard. Here, I have another one for you to fill out,” and he passes another one to her that already has prompts written on it for favorite food, favorite type of music, basic information like that.

“I’ll fill this out one condition.”

“What's that?” Wilford asks, swallowing loudly.

“You stop trying to avoid me on campus.”

“Oh, you noticed that did you? Heh heh. I… fine. The truth is, you make me nervous. I don’t know how to explain to you that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. People like you aren’t nice to people like me for no reason. Is this some sort of social experiment?”

Delaney tilts her head a little and her fingers tighten on his. “Wilford, I genuinely like you as a person. That’s all there is to it.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that? How much room for interpretation is there? Have you really thought about that statement in depth?”

She leans forward slowly, broadcasting her intentions. She leans forward, and I watch raptly, as her lips brush across his cheek gently, and he damn near swoons. His hand flies up to touch the place she kissed, and he’s trembling. “What was that for?”

“I told you. I like you,” she says simply. “And yes, I noticed you avoiding me. Pretty hard not to do. I don’t know if the singing thing embarrassed you, but you should know that was the highlight of my week. I loved it very much.”

“You did? Truly? You didn’t think it was lame?”

“No,” she affirms. “Absolutely not. It was sweet and thoughtful and fun.”

“Okay. Now I feel silly. I could have just spoken to you, couldn’t I have?”

“Always,” she reassures him.

Jackson stalks forward and leans over, planting his hands on the back of the couch. He’s right above Delaney. “Don’t think you’re getting out of our conversation just because you have a friend over.”

August sidles up beside him. “We need to know what’s going on. We can’t keep you safe if we don’t have all the facts.”

And then the sliding glass door opens. What is this, everybody shows up at once day?

“Fear not my love, your most astounding and favorite mate of all time is here in the flesh!”

Delaney’s eyes fly over and then she squeals and vaults herself over the couch and into Leo’s arms. “You’re here!”

“Technically, I’m always here. It’s just whether or not I have a working dick. I mean…you’re beautiful. Shall we?”

Delaney’s eyes light up and I know she’s getting excited and has completely forgotten all about everyone in this room because Leo is her elusive mate. I don’t think I’m going to remind her that we’re all definitely still here, and Wilford is definitely too polite to remind her, Adam is probably dying to see her naked again, and Jackson and August seem to enjoy watching her do just about anything. I wonder if that’s why they became her bodyguards. How far does the bodyguarding go? Makes you think, doesn’t it?

“This is all true.” She jumps into Leo’s arms and wraps her legs around his hips, whipping her shirt off and flinging it behind her as she starts to kiss him.

Maybe I was just with Adam, but the sight of all that skin on display is seriously hard to not react to. Especially when she starts running her hands all over Leo, he reciprocates, and she starts to make eager noises as she kisses him.

It doesn’t escape my notice that Wilford grabs a throw pillow and covers his crotch, which is awkward because it’s got a kitten wearing sunglasses on it. I kind of enjoy watching him during just about anything because his reactions are so entertaining.

Wilford looks like he can’t decide if he should watch Delaney and Leo, close his eyes, or run out of the room screaming.

“You are most excellent, my lady. May I place you somewhere soft? A bed, perhaps?”

Well, I guess we’re all stuck here for the time being.

???

WE INTERRUPT OUR SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING TO brING YOU THIS NEWSFLASH: DELANEY AND LEO ARE ABOUT TO BANG FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I’M PRETTY SURE YOU WANT TO SEE THIS, SO WE’RE GOING TO SWITCH TO A CLOSER POV FOR A FEW PAGES, AIGHT?

???