RoseThe next day, I met my friends with their backpacks ready for the weekend in the lobby around nine in the morning.I made Christian get up to sit in his place, and received a roll of my eyes in return as he settled on the floor, wrapping one of my arms around his calf afterwards. Sky frowned at our little interaction, but didn't speak up, and neither did I stop the contact." Have you decided how we're going to do it? There are six of us, and Brigitte will fit five," I began." I'll go by motorcycle," Christian warned." I'll go with my car, so we can share the luggage and there will be more space," Theodore added." Then, Van Derr Waal will be the two of us in the Brigette and Harry and Sky will go with Theo," I concluded, drawing attention to the boy who kept his eyes on his cell phone.He raised his face, as if he wasn't paying attention to any of our words." What did you say?”" Oh my God, can't you hear anything we're saying? " I raised both eyebrows at him." I'm sorry, bu
RoseWhen I finally parked in front of my father's house, Christian was already standing there being questioned by the two of them. I sighed, getting out of the car before walking over to them. " Look, our little girl," Jack opened his arms, enfolding me in a warm hug before shifting his attention to Liam. “And you, I suppose, are the declared scoundrel.You came alone?”" Mr. Campbell, I told you it's not me you need to worry about." Liam approached my parents and I took advantage of their distraction to check on Christian." Are you all right? I didn't know you were coming so soon," I lowered my tone." I'm fine, I was just getting to know your parents. They're... interesting," he glanced at the two who were still interrogating Liam.I groaned in disgust, wondering what they had been up to when Theodore's Citroen parked right behind Brigitte." What had they done?” " When his mother saw my jacket she asked if I'd be willing to give up my criminal record.” He indicated the jacket of
Christian I called everyone in for lunch, and soon we were gathered around the table. My father was making an effort to get to know all my friends, putting aside the whole jealous and protective father act, he was interested in every aspect of our lives on campus, swapping stories from his own college years so many years ago. " Mr. Campbell, I must say that you are my example of a successful man," Liam declared finally, seeming to have become my father's number one fan." Rose, I like your friend. Why don't you date him? " My father surprised me.Christian, who was sitting facing me, frowned at the statement, while I stared at my father with both eyebrows raised." Do you want me to date a guy who introduced himself to you as a fully assumed scoundrel?"" At least he's assumed. It won't be a surprise to you," Jack argued.Before we could dwell on that subject, Jackson's cell phone vibrated on the table, and he smiled as he read a message on it." Rose, is this a quiet street? " Chri
Rose" Hey, what's the matter? " my mom came from her reading room when she heard me slam the door hard." No problem, I'm going to take a shower, tell Alex if she wants to meet me, to come up to my room and help me get ready for the party " I warned her as I ran up the stairs " ask one of the boys to get my backpack from Brigette.”I tried to make the hot water wash away all my frustration with Christian, and to some extent, it worked. I was willing to put that situation behind me for good, especially after getting out of the shower and finding my backpack and the cover with the costume on it on the bed. Putting on my robe, I went to my dressing table, beginning to dry my hair carefully before dedicating some time to my makeup.I was almost ready when someone knocked on my door, and to my surprise, a stunning woman dressed in a tiger print jumpsuit walked in. She was tall with golden skin, Latin features, and long brown hair." Rose?” " Are you Alex? Damn, you are beautiful! " I sta
Rose I felt my cell phone vibrate inside my purse, I picked it up, seeing another message from Christian.You could just assume you're jealous, there's no big deal about that. I didn't bother to answer, I put the cell phone away in my purse once again, heading to the door to the basement that was under the stairs. I went downstairs feeling irritated. Christian was playing with fire by provoking me like that. I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, finding my room empty, the bathroom door was open and there was steam coming out of it, even though the shower was off. I closed the door without any delicacy, denouncing my presence.Christian came out of the bathroom wearing only black pants with some chains hanging off them, surprised to see me. He hadn't seen me in the costume yet, and the way he ran his eyes over my body showed me that I had achieved the expected effect. " Is this your costume? " he asked with a half smile." Did I get it right? " I circled him slowly as he f
ChristianI turned off the shower and, feeling my skin freezing from the cold water, I tried to get dressed quickly remembering that Rose had told me that her father was waiting for me. Wearing clean underwear, I walked to the front of the mirror, watching the red welt that ran down my neck, making my body threaten to react as I remembered when she had done it moments ago." Damn it, Rose," I muttered, picking out the baggiest pair of pants I had.What was wrong with her admitting that she was jealous? She didn't have to act the way she did, just admit that she was wrong and I would drop the subject!Rose admitting she was wrong… as if that was ever going to happen.Putting on my pair of boots, I put on some kind of t-shirt and my leather jacket over it, attaching some chains to the belt of my pants. Great, this will do.Taking a deep breath, trying to clear my mind, I started up the stairs. The worst part was that Rose was right about one thing, she couldn't get out of my thoughts, a
ChristianWe gathered in front of the house where Theo’s car and Brigitte was parked, we would have to split up once more, and now I was not inclined to go by motorcycle." Same division as on the trip? " Theo asked. "I'll take the front seat," Liam warned me, heading toward Rose's car door." No you won't," she interrupted him, giving us a cross look." Why not?”" I am angry with you for talking to this idiot, so I am not going to spoil you, and besides, if you go in the front seat, I will be tempted to throw you out of the moving car.” She opened the driver's door, then went inside. “Just get in.”Liam watched us for a moment before turning to the other group who were getting into the car." Peterson, I'll take the front seat," he shouted, running to the other car.I got into the car, buckling up under Rose's angry stare. I thought she had calmed down after her little performance earlier, but apparently I was wrong. I watched her legs exposed by the almost obscene costume she was
ChristianI closed my eyes trying to find a more comfortable position, but it was hard to even breathe, let alone move." Chris? What happened? " I heard footsteps in the distance and a worried voice.I opened my eyes slowly, finding Rose with her wings and halo kneeling in front of me." Chris!”" I don't know, I started to feel bad and there's this pain," I gasped, my voice barely breaking, alarming my friend even more. Wide-eyed, she reached out her hand toward me, interrupting herself before touching me, not knowing what to do." Pain? Where? You're hot!”I brought my hand up to my lower back, closing my eyes again, hoping this would be over. I heard more footsteps approaching and didn't dare open my eyes to see who it was." What happened? " Monica was alarmed to see my condition." He says he's in pain and he definitely has a fever," Rose explained, "Chris, there's a hospital nearby, do you have health insurance?” I shook my head in the affirmative. Not that I wanted to end my
Christian"Did you hear Liam's speech? "Rose asked.I turned my head to the side to watch her, she was sitting on the floor next to the bed, wearing only my boxer shorts while drawing on a pad. No one had come home yet and we were enjoying the silence.I felt exhausted after everything that had happened over the last few days, I couldn't believe that this nightmare had finally come to an end. After getting home and taking a long shower with Rose, the only thing I could do was lie down and stare at the ceiling in my room, imagining how everything would happen from then on."Could you not hear? "I sneered."Do you think he was serious about his vision of the future? "she turned her face to look at me."I don't know, maybe. But...I kept quiet, wondering what exactly I was going to say. Because more and more the whole scenario he described came to life in my mind, and every second I found it more enjoyable."But? "New Orleans is a nice city. We could live near each other and... I can se
ChristianI sat down, taking the bottle of beer from my sister, taking a sip before she grabbed the bottle from my hand and slapped me upside the head."Your father-in-law has guaranteed that you'll beat Bobby and Otto at pool, they've never lost at the bar "My father pointed to the table where Rose and Jack were getting ready to start the game."My father-in-law is... a bit competitive. Rose got that from him," I commented."A bit? That's a joke, right? Last time the two of them ended up in a snow race just to break a tie in a series of board games "Cam rolled his eyes."Snow race? "My mother raised both eyebrows."While they were taking off their clothes," Theo added."Taking their clothes off? "Amber choked next to me."They had a series of target games in the middle of the course, and every time they missed they had to take off a piece. At the end of the race, he was only wearing shorts and boots and she was wearing a gym top, shorts and boots "I explained, taking the bottle of be
ChristianI stopped the bike in a parking space in front of the bar where Rose met Josh at the beginning of the year. I frowned as everyone got off their bikes there. That place wasn't one of my favorites and Rose must have known that, since we hadn't been back there since everything happened.She got off before me, taking off her helmet, running her fingers through her hair to adjust it and standing next to me when she noticed my hesitation in getting off the bike."Come on, it's about time we gave this place a second chance "she winked at me "let's enjoy it like we should have done that day. That was enough to convince me, so I took off my helmet and got off the bike. From there we could hear a band playing a cover of Aerosmith. Everyone started to enter the venue, not bothering to wait for me. I took a deep breath, slung my arm around Rose's shoulder and started heading towards the entrance. Both Rose and I ended up with the backs of our hands stamped indicating that we were unde
ChristianI was lying in bed, watching the sunset light coming through the small window in the corridor facing the cell I occupied. My cell was the only one occupied in the police station, and that was no surprise. In a town as quiet as Grayfox Mills, it was difficult to see any movement at the police station during the week, when all the university students were busy with their classes.Everything I wanted. To get on with my classes without having to deal with some asshole who decided to play with my girl! But that asshole made it impossible.I'd been there for over twenty-four hours, and that had been enough time to calm my mind, at least as far as Jax was concerned. But even though I'd taken a few naps during the day, I couldn't stop imagining how Rose was doing, the look on her face as I was handcuffed never left my mind, and I just wanted the chance to talk to my girlfriend and make sure she was okay.My biggest concern with everything that had happened was just her. I didn't reg
RoseMy gaze wandered around that hellish scene without knowing what to do. Everything unfolded in slow motion in front of me. On one side, Jax was lying, moaning in pain in a pool of his own blood, being supported by a waiter. His friends were on the other side, keeping some distance with an expression that ranged from surprise to fear, keeping as much distance as possible from Christian, who was standing next to me with both hands raised in a sign of surrender after handing Theo the keys to the bike. The sidewalk outside was starting to fill up as well, several people crowded near the glass window watching what was happening, some taking pictures or filming with their cell phones as the police approached us." Dad, do something " I begged for a magic solution, one that would stop my boyfriend from being taken by those men. "Chris..." I tried to put one of his hands down to pull him to me, but he stood his ground, looking the other way while someone talked to one of the policemen,
Christian" Chris, you heard the dean, he'll probably be expelled... CHRIS! " Rose raised her voice as I stood up, heading for the exit." What's his problem?”" Damn it, Christian, get back here! " I heard Rose call before I got into the elevator that was standing on the floor, not waiting for her to arrive to press the button to close the doors.I checked the time on my watch, great, it's right on lunch break time, I'll find this bastard and finish him off wherever he is. Deciding not to waste any time, I got on the bike, driving inside the campus, heading towards the main cafeteria. I stopped the Harley anyway at the entrance to the cafeteria, ignoring the stares I was attracting, I opened the door without a care, looking around for my target. But to my dismay, the son of a bitch was nowhere to be found." Chris, what are you doing here? " I heard Sky's voice approaching.I turned towards her voice, finding her standing next to Theo with a frown as she watched me." 'O'Donnel, hav
ChristianSavannah and her friends stood up, looking satisfied with the outcome of that little meeting. All they wanted was to make sure that they would not be involved in that situation and they succeeded. " So? You can start " Rose took a deep breath with her arms crossed. " 'We're going to talk in a meeting with the dean,” Savannah said." 'That wasn't agreed,” Addison pointed out." We haven't agreed on anything yet, Mrs. Miller, and we're just making sure we don't get involved in any of this,” she returned.It was at that moment that Jack decided to get involved, seeming not to agree with the proposal." 'We're not going to guarantee any of this without knowing what you have to say.”" We can guarantee that Alicia and Audrey are responsible for everything, we will give the names of all those involved and we will tell you in detail everything we have discovered. " Savannah said " we even have message exchanges to prove it.”Everyone considered that information for a second befor
ChristianI hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding Jack and Addison in an uncomfortable silence. Their gazes fell on me as soon as I walked through the door, causing me to stall in my seat." What?”" Were you arguing? " Addison asked." Ohhh no... Rose is just frustrated with the situation, I suggested she paint a little to distract herself " I explained " I was supposed to bring her breakfast at the studio.”" I'll do it," Addison volunteered, getting up.I didn't argue with the woman, sitting down in the same place as before, accepting the muffin Jack handed me. We sat there, eating in silence for a few minutes, until the sound of the doorbell interrupted us. Jack signaled for me to remain in my seat, getting up to go answer the door.Frowning, I remained silent, trying to hear something to find out who was at the door, but they were either talking very quietly, or not at all. I stood up, deciding to satisfy my curiosity at once, that's when Addison's voice reached m
ChristianI turned over in my bed, watching the face of Rose, who slept next to me curled up in a fetal position. My room was small and we didn't usually sleep there, but Rose couldn't bear the thought of sleeping in her room that night and I couldn't blame her. My girlfriend that day did not show all the usual tranquility when sleeping, which sometimes left me in doubt whether or not she had suddenly died in her sleep. On the contrary, she spent the whole night restless, and was not even sleeping on her stomach as usual.The silence outside the room showed that our classmates had probably already gone to class, only the two of us were left behind, trapped in our private hell. Deciding to let her rest a little longer, I got up, going to get dressed and brush my teeth before heading downstairs.The house itself seemed deserted, silence dominated the upper floor. I looked at the open door of Theo's room, where Jack ended up sharing the bed with Addison that night, finding the place empt