by J Bree
She groans and guzzles a little more of the wine. Her phone buzzes again and she gets back to texting Felix, totally engrossed with it because she’s just as obsessed with him as he is with her. The only thing that’s actually keeping them apart is fear and the damage that Riley has done to Sage. I think with enough patience and gentle prodding, she’ll get past that and be much happier with the infatuated footballer.
Gabe finds us an hour later, cooped up and giggling over our phones together. He takes one look at us all and rolls his eyes. “Fuck me, that’s a thousand dollar bottle of wine you’re chugging back there, Bond.”
I shrug and hold it out to him. “It tastes like swill.”
He shakes his head at me, taking the bottle and then scoffing when he realizes it’s already empty. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stand up and keep my legs under me if he insists we go out and socialize, but at least I no longer care about… well, anything.
“Did you guys bring swimsuits at least?”
Sawyer scoffs and rolls his eyes back at him. “Well, they didn’t bring fucking floaties and they’ll drown without them in this state.”
I decide that this type of slander against my ability to hold my liquor is unacceptable and I pull myself onto my feet, slow enough that I’m sure I won’t faceplant on the hardwood floor, and Sage groans at my decision to get a move on.
“If I’ve been forced to squeeze into one of Sage’s swimsuits and come to this stupid council-circle-jerk party, then you bet your ass that I’m going swimming.”
Sawyer has to help Sage get out of the storage room but when Gabe offers me an arm, I brush him off. He huffs at me and I very kindly keep it to myself that I could’ve told him to keep his fucking bond the hell away from me while I’m not at full capacity because my own bond is still straining after him in my chest. If he touches me, I might end up fucking him in the middle of the goddamned party just to catch a break from all of this… pining.
Ew.
It feels wrong to even think that way but, God, the aching and the straining every time I end up near one of my Bonds is slowly driving me insane. Maybe calling a truce with Gabe wasn’t a good idea because I’m barely holding my shit together.
When we walk past the kitchen, Sawyer curses under his breath and moves so he’s covering Sage’s tripping and stumbling ass. I startle when Gabe does the same for me, his shoulders somehow doubling in width and completely obscuring me from… whatever they’ve decided to protect us from.
I’m smart enough to keep my mouth shut about it until we’re outside, but Sage is too far gone and Sawyer is forced to slap a hand over her mouth, muttering threats and cussing her out.
When we find a spot outside that isn’t completely writhing with bodies and booze, Gabe murmurs to me, “North and Sharpe are having a disagreement over the protocol now that the Resistance is getting closer to the campus. He’s already made it well known that he’s not above coming after you. Hate North all you want, but he’s keeping you away from a whole lot of shit right now.”
Dammit.
I don’t want to owe that man anything, but even I can’t deny that he’s helping out big time with that shit
I pull the dress over my head and fold it up, carefully bending to slip it into Sage’s bag because my tits are a little bigger than hers and there’s a real danger of a nip slip happening tonight. When I straighten up, I find Gabe staring at me like I’ve grown an extra head and I have to glance down to make sure I’m not actually flashing the entire freaking party my goods.
“What? What the hell are you looking at?”
He grunts at me, shaking his head and muttering under his breath as he jumps head first into the pool, “I fucking hate you.”
Well, what the fuck have I done to him now?
Sawyer knocks into me as he shifts around to cover Sage while she strips. “C’mon, Fallows, you’re not that drunk. Give the guy a break.”
I’m lost, utterly freaking lost, but then Sage steps up next to me and giggles, “Guess he had to cool down a little. We might need to get you a swimsuit that actually fits your amazing tits.”
I scoff at them both because it can’t be that. There’s at least ten other girls here rocking a better rack than mine, and Gabe has probably fucked them all, the looks they’re all throwing his way are saying a lot on the subject.
We have a little bit of luck because Riley is nowhere to be seen, but then I spot Giovanna perched on one of the poolside recliners in a tiny bikini that makes mine look freaking supersized. To be honest, it’s not even a bikini, she’s wearing some red string that just barely covers her nipples and slit. It’s the early evening, the outdoor lighting and bonfire are already raring, so it’s not like she’s working on her tan and I’m not trying to slut-shame, but it’s just impractical.
Sage notices her the second we slide into the water, her happy and carefree joy just melting away until her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s looking self-conscious again.
Fuck that.
“Sawyer, we need some cocktails. Who’s dick do we have to suck to get them? I feel like you should take one for the team here, my friend.”
He scoffs at me, clearly not on board with more alcohol, as he strips down and jumps in to join us. There’s a huge tattoo spanning his entire back that I had no idea the little computer-nerd-slash-preppy-jock boy had.
I’m impressed. No wonder he’s bagged the ice hockey hottie.
I keep half an eye on Gabe where he’s talking to some other football players, laughing and joking with them only a few feet away from us. Even when they attempt to talk him into a beer pong tournament happening as far away from the council bullshit as it can possibly be, he says no, jerking his head in my direction without any further explanation.
It makes me feel like a burden and there’s nothing I hate more than that shit.
"I don't understand why I have to be here," I whine, and it's totally a fucking whine because I don’t understand why they're insisting on me being here if I’m just going to be everyone’s problem. A pool party. A pool party full of Gifted, Bonds and Bonded. The Council. Riley and Giovanna and North and fuck knows who else?! It feels like a recipe for disaster.
Sage shrugs at me. "Apparently it's a rite of passage. I didn’t want to come, but apparently this is supposed to be something we’ll look back on, years from now, and be so thankful we attended.”
I can literally tell which one of her parents had said it to her because Maria is so freaking obsessed with Sage being ‘normal’. She’s all torn up over the idea that Riley rejected her and now she’s hanging out with me, what will that mean for the good Benson name?
It’s fucking stupid and Sage deserves better.
“We should go find the drinks table, hopefully something is spiked strong enough to get our buzz back.”
Sage chews on her lip, shooting me a half-smile, but it’s clear that seeing Giovanna here has ruined her entire night. I’m suddenly overwhelmed with exactly how bullshit the entire situation is because Sage has literally done nothing wrong. Nothing.
As loath as I am to admit it, at least my own Bonds have a reason to hate me, and even if they’re blaming me for something out of my control, it’s not like I can tell them that.
The water around me ripples.
No one else notices, thank God, but it’s a good reminder to me to settle the fuck down. So I stop looking at Giovanna and I stop thinking about Gabe and the burden I am to him. I stop thinking about all of the things wrong with this stupid freaking party and I have fun.
I drag Sage and Sawyer over to the other side of the pool where there’s a waterfall and a slide. We sit on the edge and Sawyer manages to convince a couple of the seniors to grab us some beers. Sage is still quiet, but some of the gloom around her lifts and we can actually enjoy ourselves for five goddamn minutes.
When the crowd starts moving towards the food tables being laid out by the caterers, because of course this college party is being catered, we t
ake stock of how we’re feeling and decide food isn’t a good idea right now. Well, the food is a great idea, but attempting to walk around isn’t.
Gabe offers to grab me something, his shitty attitude over with, but I brush him off, watching as he hauls himself out of the water and walks over to the tables without bothering to grab a towel or cover up. Jesus, he really is too hot for words.
“You’re drooling. Are you sure you can’t just fuck him?” Sage whispers far too loudly at me and I splash her with the water.
Sawyer rolls his eyes at us both from where he’s perched on the side of the pool. “Not without bonding to him and apparently that’s off of the table.”
I nod, pulling my face into the picture of seriousness. “Absolutely not, no bonding.”
I glance over at Gabe and find him standing there with North, talking together before they both turn as one to look over at me.
Goddammit.
“Fuck yes, Grey just got back. We need to leave here, now,” Sawyer says, standing up and waving his hands at Sage.
She giggles as she tries, and fails, to pull herself out of the water, and it takes both her brother and I to get her out. The beers had given me my buzz back, but not so much that I can’t get my shit together.
“I have to wait for Gabe, just to let him know you guys are getting me home safe… you are taking me back, right?”
Sawyer scoffs at me, “Of course, we’re not leaving you here drunk and vulnerable.”
I laugh at him, happy at how easy it’s become between us now, he doesn’t wince at my mere presence anymore.
“What a rack! Reject, I can see why you’re so popular.”
I freeze at the sound of his voice and when I finally turn around, yup, sure enough, it’s fucking Martinez. Sage scowls at him but I hold out an arm to stop her from doing anything about him.
I just want to leave, some coward’s opinion of my character or body means less than nothing to me.
“What the fuck did you just say to my Bond, Martinez?”
I turn and instinctively shove myself into Gabe’s heaving chest. It’s a bad move because we’re both practically naked and my own bond has a freaking field day at all of the skin-on-skin action. He barely notices me though, the anger coursing through him is more than enough to distract him from me.
It’s kind of hot and I have to remind myself that it has nothing to do with him protecting me and everything to do with his own reputation.
“Just when I thought Gabe couldn’t get any more pathetic, he’s simping after the girl who threw him away. How does that reject pussy taste, Ardern?”
Gabe moves around me so fast that all I see is the blur of his big body moving and then they’re both on the ground. I bump into Sawyer as we both throw ourselves in front of Sage, which is dumb because she’s the badass who could light us all on fire if she wanted to.
There’s shouting over at the main house but I’m too busy backing Sage up against the pool fence, trying to keep her clear of the shifter brawl happening, to notice. I’m oddly proud to see that Gabe is kicking Martinez’s ass, just pounding on his face like he could go at it all damn day.
It feels like karma.
Sawyer groans and then steels himself as he wades into the fray to pull Gabe off of Martinez, narrowly missing a fist to the gut himself. Gabe doesn’t fight him but when they both straighten up, his eyes have a very feline look to them, his irises ringed with fire and still following his prey like he’s imagining tearing flesh from bones and picking his teeth.
It shouldn’t be so hot.
“What the hell is going on here? What have you done to my son?”
I glance around to find a crowd forming around us, muttering and with a whole lot of phones pointed in our direction. I wish I had a towel around myself but that’s the least of our problems now that Martinez’s father is here with a savage look on his face.
He’s shorter than Gabe and dressed in a suit, probably either on the council or works for someone who is. He looks a lot like his son, and he has the same gutless asshole air about him that sets my teeth on edge.
Gabe rolls his shoulders back, his jaw set like he’s planning on just taking whatever this dickhead says to him on the chin, and that doesn’t sit right with me at all.
“You always did have a vicious temper, I’ll have you off of the football team for this—”
I jump in without thought of how it looks or which of North’s rival councilmen surround us. “It was me. Gabe took a swing for me.”
As if called over by my admission, the crowd parts and Gryphon and North appear. North is holding a plate of food, which my brain registers but doesn’t really do much with because both of their faces are twin masks of thunderous, pissed-off Alpha males.
Great.
North’s eyes flick over the entire scene and then he says, “What’s happened, David?”
No one says a word, so I take the moment to butt in, throwing myself under the bus. Gabe took a swing for me and I’m not letting him take the fall for that. Football is his life, I have nothing left to lose.
“Martinez shifted in the maze during TT and hunted me down to use me as bait for the pond… girl. He started mouthing off and Gabe was defending me.”
Gryphon’s eyes shift between us both, Gabe’s knuckles still bleeding from where the line backer’s tooth broke the skin. I hold my breath, ready for him to call us both out and just be done with it, but then he turns back to the other and says, “You can’t fault Gabe for protecting his Bond… even if he took it too far. ”
David’s eyes flick back over to me and when they begin to glow, Gryphon plants himself in front of me, his hands relaxed by his side, but the tension in his shoulders tell me he’s ready to throw down with this Gifted man if he tries anything.
North shoves the plate of food at me and when he steps towards David, the crowd around us suddenly goes quiet, the fear rippling through everyone is so palpable that I almost choke on it.
Whatever he can do, it has them all freaking shaking.
“Take her home, Gabriel. Sage too, get them both out of here.”
No one dares to question him. Gabe doesn’t look fazed by the stern order either, he just grabs a towel and slings it over my shoulders while Sawyer does the same with Sage, both of them ushering us out. My legs are steady underneath me and, surprisingly, so are Sage’s.
When we get to the house, Gabe scoffs and shakes his head at me, leaning in close to murmur, “You’re too fucking good at lying, Bond. Only a pro knows how to get past Gryphon like that, even North was convinced.”
Chapter Seventeen
Be ready at 6.
The text from Gabe wakes me up at five in the morning and my head is still full of pain and gross and no thank you. I drink some water because I refuse to believe this is a hangover and dehydration must be to blame instead.
After yesterday, I can’t bring myself to be angry at being woken up by him, but I’m still not excited about being around Gabe this early in the damn morning without even a goddamn reason.
He’d walked me up to my room after the party last night, seeing me safely to my door and not judging me for groaning and stumbling up the stairs, so I think we’ve found a real peace agreement, like now that I’ve proved myself by lying and covering for him, he’s actually going to give this friendship a real go and stop lashing out at me every second he gets.
I get dressed in casual clothes because nothing on campus is open except the dining hall at this time in the morning so it’s not like I’ll need to impress anyone down there. I take notice again at the way my shirt is billowing on me now I’ve toned up a lot and I really, really need to find an income to get some new shit.
I can’t even show off all my hard work, dammit.
I stomp down the stairs, making enough noise to wake the entire building up because they’re all gossiping bitches anyway so no skin off of my nose if I ruin their last sleep-in of spring break. I get to the front of the building at the same ti
me as Gabe does, bouncing straight over to his motorbike when he holds out his spare helmet.
I’ve become a pro at getting it strapped on right and swinging onto the bike behind him so in under a minute, we’re flying down the road with a roar of the engine. The morning sun is bright already in the sky, but the chill of the early morning is still biting into the bare skin of my hands where they’re wrapped around his waist. When we finally pull up in front of the TT center, Gabe kills the engine and holds his arm out so I can climb off without landing on my ass.
It’s not where I was expecting to end up but Gabe has a key to get in and leads the way, turning lights on and ducking into the guy’s locker room to grab out his bag. I duck into the ladies to do the same, the new pair of sneakers that magically appeared after the bloodbath of the maze still shiny and white, where I’ve only worn them once.
I didn’t realize the college had a budget to replace damaged items but I guess Draven charges a shitload of money for tuition for a reason.
Gabe grins at me as I join him, looking way too freaking perky and I drawl, “You got me out of my dorms at the crack of dawn, before my curfew lifts, to work out? How did you get this past North’s obsession with keeping me locked up?”
Gabe grins at the rough, gravelly tone of my voice as he slings his bag down on the ground by the wall and strips out of his shirt. I do everything in my power not to watch the rippling of his insane muscles but I’m only human, and fuck, he really is too hot for words.
Fuck. Nope, I need to stop looking before my bond comes out to play.
“North didn’t enroll you into TT as a way to torture you, no matter how badly you want to believe that. Bonds are being taken off of the streets by the Resistance everyday. The ones we hear about aren’t even half of the actual cases. You need to know how to defend yourself, especially since you don’t have a gift of your own to use. You’re doing well in TT, but we haven’t actually covered anything about self defense yet and when I told North that I’m going to help you to train and workout, he agreed you need all the help you can get.”