Lost silver falls univer.., p.13
Lost: Silver Falls University, page 13
I flipped the bedding package over, my lips dipping slightly as I saw the price tag. It was nearly forty dollars, and that was about all I had left. That wasn’t going to work.
Schooling my features, I stepped away from it, not willing to let myself overthink it too much. One day I would be able to buy bedding like this. I had no idea when, but I would make it happen.
“What was wrong with that one?” Julian asked curiously, standing next to me. He had probably seen me look at the price tag. No point in lying to him, right?
“I don’t want to spend that much money.” I shrugged casually. “I only have forty something dollars right now. That’s all I have left from what my Alpha gave me before putting me on the train.”
A scowl slipped onto Julian’s face as he grabbed the bedding and lifted it over my head. I frowned, arching a brow and looking up. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting you this. You clearly like it. Consider it a ‘welcome to campus present’ or something.” He flashed me those dimples as my mouth popped open.
“That isn’t necessary, we can totally find something—”
Suddenly, Julian tossed the bedding package over my head, and I turned to watch Caedmon catch it. He winked at me, carrying something else under his arm, as he walked back towards the front area without a word. I frowned, looking back at Julian in confusion.
“Save your money for something fun.” His lighthearted attitude was infectious and had me almost instantly agreeing before thinking through his words. “Better yet, save it for when you want to buy something to wear out when we go to dinner this week.”
“Dinner? Together?” I asked curiously, because call me crazy… but wouldn’t that be a date? That sounded like a date. The Hallmark movies I watched would suggest that was the case for sure. Was it weird that that was my main pull of knowledge when it came to romance? Clearly, it wasn’t very realistic since Theresa and Gerald’s type of relationship seemed to be far more common.
“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’ and led me towards a different section of the store. I followed after him, not bothering to fight the urge. Although, I couldn’t help the small sliver of doubt that began to sink in.
Why did he want to buy me something? Did he want something? It didn’t feel that way, but I couldn’t help but question it. I’d heard Gerald’s friends talk about how they would buy ‘forgiveness’ presents for their wives when they cheated on them. But the guys weren’t my husbands, so that didn’t make sense. We were just friends. They didn’t need to ask for forgiveness, they’d done nothing wrong.
“Do you have a bag for class?” he asked, coming to a stop in front of backpacks and purses. My eyes were naturally drawn to the wallets as well, noticing that they were far prettier than the secondhand one Gerald had tossed to me on my way out.
“No.” I shook my head, feeling stupid for not thinking of something like that. “Actually, I don’t have books or anything…”
“We can pick up your schedule and books tomorrow,” he assured me. “I can even show you around campus early, if you don’t mind getting up before class a bit.”
“I don’t usually sleep super well,” I admitted quietly. Mainly when Gerald’s friends came over to drink. I would lock myself in my bedroom and listen at the door, making sure I wasn’t brought into the conversation at all. The few times I had been, I’d pretended to be sleeping when they tried to get me to come out of my locked room. Unfortunately, the stuff I’d heard while leaning against that door had skewed my view on a lot of stuff throughout life.
Looking through the backpacks, trying to shake my thoughts, my eyes almost instantly gravitated towards a beautiful geometric patterned bag that had silver lines against the navy material. I ran it between my fingers and then looked towards a line of other, more plain, ones.
Except before I could move, Tore appeared behind me, causing me to jump. I looked up at him with a small smile, thrilled to see him. Julian reached over and grabbed something behind me, but I was far too caught up in everything that was Tore.
“Hey you,” I offered. Was it normal for a man to be this distracting?
“Want to go look at the discount stuff?” he asked curiously. I felt my chest relax. It was almost as if he knew that these prices were stressing me out. I nodded as he continued, “Julian, you got this?”
He shouted, ‘yep’ while walking away as Tore gently led me towards another bend in the store before we reached the now discounted holiday section. I mentally noted to return to make sure to get a backpack at some point when I had more money. I had no idea how expensive things could be, and it made me want to get a job more than anything.
Nearing the discount area, almost instantly my eyes were pulled to the beautiful collection of snow globes that seemed to be teasing me. Hadn’t I said this entire experience felt exactly like that? I found myself stepping forward to look at them as I picked up a stunning blue and silver one, my lips pulling into a smile at the castle inside.
“You like snow globes?” Tore asked, his voice rough.
He grabbed a random one and handled it with extreme care, making me smile at how soft the man could be. I looked at the discounted price of ten dollars and brought it against my chest, realizing that maybe this was a small gift I should treat myself to. I had been ditched by my family and dropped in the middle of nowhere—a ten-dollar gift wasn’t that much to ask, was it? I twisted my lips as a rough, warm hand tilted my chin up. I stared up into Tore’s eyes, loving the warmth there.
“What?” I asked softly, feeling embarrassed at the way he was looking over me.
His throat produced a soft sound. “What were you just thinking about?”
I opened my mouth and answered honestly. “I was just debating getting one.”
His brow dipped, as if confused. “You should get all of them. If you want them.”
I leaned my cheek into his hand. “I think one is perfect. We can always come back and get more.”
“Which one?” he asked curiously.
I offered him the one I was holding, and he swallowed. “I don’t want to accidentally break it, little bit.”
Little bit? That was cute. I liked that name.
I shook my head. “You won’t.”
He took it and looked it over, his smile growing slightly, as if not meaning to. “I love it.”
My chest warmed as I leaned into him further, wanting to rub against him affectionately. Tore made me feel like a kitten, needy for affection. The way his eyes heated on me made me think that he knew the effect he had on me, at least in part.
“Are we ready to go?” Dakota’s voice called from somewhere nearby, making Tore tense slightly. The snow globe jostled, but he held onto it. I closed my hands around his as I offered him a smile, proving my point that he hadn’t broken it. His eyes flashed dark as he handed it back to me and wrapped his arm around me, covering me further in his warm scent.
“Almost!” Tore shouted back before looking down at me. “Do you need anything else?”
I shook my head. This was far more than I could have asked for from today… these men, bedding, and a snow globe? That seemed perfect for me. I just wondered how long this moment would last until my own snow globe broke.
8
Effie Harlow
“Caedmon.” I poked his hand gently, the others standing behind us, their energy seeming to circle around my own. I wondered briefly if they even knew they were doing it, wrapping their magic around me. I wasn’t about to bring it up and risk them pulling it away, the sensation making me feel both flushed and oddly protected. It was confusing.
Caedmon was currently finishing up his transaction, and upon my touch, his dark green gaze dipped down to where I had poked his hand. Almost instantly, I felt bad about touching him without permission. While the others had been touching me consistently, he hadn’t been nearly as much. He probably didn’t like touch, and I felt a surge of guilt for putting that on him. I withdrew my hand and clasped the snow globe more firmly against my chest, feeling embarrassed. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable at all.
“Yeah?” His eyes ran over the snow globe in my grasp, curiosity jumping in his gaze.
“What did you end up getting?” I asked, attempting to direct his attention away from my touch. It worked as his eyes lightened, meeting mine, and a teasing smile pulled on his lips, making me blush.
Diane handed him a folded receipt, and Julian said something in a quiet tone from behind us that had Caedmon frowning, looking over my shoulder briefly. I was far too caught up in his change of expression to catch his words, though. See? That was the issue with me. I was constantly in some way distracted. But didn’t I say beautiful and interesting things were my weakness? Caedmon was very much both of those, and I couldn’t help but stare at him with a bit of fascination.
I felt like there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about Caedmon, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to dig underneath the surface level and see what he was hiding. Despite it being literally none of my business.
“Bags are being brought around,” Diane offered as Tore and Julian walked out the front door, leaving Dakota standing behind us. I put my snow globe on the counter, sliding it towards her, and offered her a small smile.
Instantly, her eyes lit up, and Caedmon made a frustrated noise as I pulled out my worn wallet. I nudged him slightly, trying to comfort him despite not knowing what was wrong, as she took one of my ten-dollar bills. I had about ten cents left, so I put it in the donation jar, smiling at my transaction, feeling it was worth the money as she handed me a cute light blue bag.
Finally, as I turned to walk away, I looked up at Caedmon. He was staring at me with an intensity I didn’t fully understand.
“We should make sure we grab something to eat before heading back to campus.” Dakota’s rumbled voice ran across my skin as Caedmon muttered something, leading me forward as I offered the other man a small pleased look. Half because I was in a good mood, but also because he had suggested food, and the idea of us all eating together sounded oddly appealing.
“Can I?” Dakota asked, motioning towards my purchase as Caedmon scoffed at something. I handed him my bag, and he gently opened it and examined the snow globe, his lips pulling up into a stunning smile before he nodded and handed it back to me. I wasn’t positive why these men seemed so interested and had such odd reactions to my snow globe, but maybe they just hadn’t seen many? I know I had been truly captivated by them when I first saw them. It was why I had started collecting them.
Before I could ask Dakota about his expression, Caedmon let out a deep, vicious growl that had me snapping my head up to see faces turning away from us. I offered the man a confused look, but he just shook his head and wrapped an arm securely around me. I loved the warmth of it, and despite it hurting my ribs a little bit, it was absolutely worth it.
As we stepped out of the cozy store, I realized that it had grown dark out, more quickly than usual, the clouds that were coming from over the lake masking any possible sunset or evening light. I let out a small happy sigh as snow began to swirl down towards my face, my gaze following the small icy flutters to my sneakers, where my toes were curled up slightly. I regretted not wearing socks.
I could feel the frozen air breaking through the small hole I had in one of them and the worn material up top. I didn’t want to mention getting socks or new shoes, though, because I think my possessions, or lack thereof, made Caedmon uncomfortable. I didn’t blame him. I could tell from just looking at him that he came from money.
The sound of a car door slamming shut had me jumping and looking up. Tore and Julian jogged across the icy street, clearly having put some purchases away in the truck. They seemed to be laughing about something, and I found myself wanting to know what that was. Would it be weird to ask? I felt like they were going to think I was nosy. I frowned slightly, thinking about how Theresa would always say I needed to keep my ‘nose out of shit’ and that I needed to ‘mind my business.’
“Hungry, little bit?” Tore asked, his eyes glinting with something that had my face heating. As I wiggled out from Caedmon’s grasp, a low sound broke from his throat. Wondering what was wrong, I looked back at him. He offered me a blank look, so I intertwined my fingers with Tore’s and squeezed.
“I could eat,” I agreed, remembering what Julian had said about not having had a chance to eat yet. I didn’t like that at all. I wondered if the others had eaten. I hoped they had, but either way, this would fix that.
Before I could ask them where we were going, Julian appeared on my other side, flashing me a dimpled smile before leading me forward. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Hadn’t I said the man was infectious? I think he made me smile more than anyone else ever had. It was addicting to be in his presence.
The effect the other three men had on me was odd and intense, to say the least. Caedmon inspired almost a sense of strength, and I found myself wanting to be protective over him, despite him never asking for it. Despite him not saying much of anything to me. There was just a slight vulnerability to the way he looked at me, one that had me wondering what put it there.
Dakota put me under an intense spell. One I didn’t fully comprehend, and I found myself wanting to gravitate closer to him. Wanting to feel his arms wrapped around me as his wolf rubbed against mine. It was intoxicating.
Then there was Tore. The fenrir wolf inspired both fear and a sense of security in me. It was contradictory and wouldn’t have made any sense if I didn’t understand fully why the feeling existed. I feared him because of his magic and what it reminded me of… but I didn’t fear Tore. I had seen the authentic concern and guilt in his gaze when he thought he had left bruises on me. Gerald would have never worried about Theresa like that.
I was lost enough in thought that when I noticed an absence of voices from behind me, I came to a stop between Tore and Julian to seek out Dakota and Caedmon. Both had stopped on the sidewalk and were talking quietly, their body language tense.
“Are you two coming with?” I asked softly.
Both snapped their gazes over as Julian made an amused sound, Tore keeping quiet but rubbing a thumb over my skin. Our fingers were so tightly intertwined that I wondered if we would even be able to separate our hands when we chose to part.
“We were going to drop some of the stuff off at the dorms, little wolf,” Dakota explained, his eyes heating on me. Caedmon offered him an amused look. I really couldn’t keep track of their relationship. Maybe I was reading too much into it. Whatever this was, it was better than fighting, right?
“Don’t you two need to eat? Have you? If not, you should,” I suggested, not really wanting them to leave and also concerned they hadn’t eaten yet.
Dakota’s smile grew. “I ate lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat something back at the dorms, Effie.” I had no idea why he was smiling, but I couldn’t help but smile back, my eyes moving to Caedmon. His face was filled with an odd, almost surprised expression that he shuttered before answering.
“We have groceries at the dorms. I ordered more to be delivered about an hour ago,” he mumbled, his brow dipping as he ran a hand through his hair.
Nodding, I nibbled my lip and hesitantly added, “Promise to come back?” It applied to both of them, but I knew Dakota would come back. In fact, he stepped forward, brushing his lips against my forehead before taking the keys Julian tossed his way and walking towards the truck. Caedmon hadn’t answered yet, and he was watching me with an intensity that made me feel a bit on edge.
Had I done something wrong?
“Yeah.” Caedmon inhaled sharply. “I’ll come back, Effie.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I knew I said I would be more careful with touch, but I found myself hesitantly opening my arms. The movement had his gaze sharpening as if I was somehow a threat. The two men behind me had yet to say anything, but I could feel them watching this entire thing with interest. I went to go look at them, giving up on the hug when he didn’t move… but then I was being squeezed to a hard, muscular chest. I let out a small surprised squeak as Caedmon picked me up, his nose burying against my throat as he inhaled sharply. I sighed into it, not minding the pain in my ribs, loving the feel of him against me.
Then he was gone.
I watched him get into the truck, Dakota offering me a small head nod as he drove away, the two of them seeming to be back to talking, their faces serious. I turned around and found Julian watching me, his hands in his pockets, with a warm, amused smirk. I blushed as I looked up at Tore, his gaze on the truck instead, almost looking thoughtful. I wasn’t positive what to say, because even I knew the interaction with Caedmon had been something. I didn’t know what, but it was something.
My stomach rumbled loudly, and I nearly died of embarrassment. The one time that had happened at home, Theresa had gotten upset, and Gerald was pissed. His words were something about me being ‘ungrateful’ for the food I did have. At the time, I’d been fourteen, and apologized immediately. Over time I had stopped apologizing for that type of thing, knowing he was going to be mad either way.
“Food,” Julian immediately said, not even noticing how embarrassed I became as he grabbed my hand and gently led me towards a warmly lit diner nearby. I arched my brows, looking over the almost retro restaurant that we entered, the space filled with bright blue and pink booths that matched the soft, happy music playing over the speakers.
I couldn’t help but relax, finding the place extremely appealing. It was probably why it was so crowded in here. I could feel eyes on us, but my gaze was instead pulled towards a girl my own age, if I had to guess, standing at a small podium, looking at us expectantly.
I had seen a lot of unique people today, but this woman was sort of impossible to not notice, considering she had legitimate blood-red hair. It wasn’t a ‘natural’ shade, but I think, like my own, it was natural to her. It fell in a straight veil down to her hips, where her hands were placed, staring at us with curiosity. Well, at me with curiosity. I normally would have been intimidated by such a direct gaze, but instead I offered her a friendly smile.
