out to the Camaro out the front and unlocks my door for me before walking around to get in his side. I’ve never been in a car without central locking before. It looks pristine, the leather seats are older but it’s clear he takes good freaking care of this thing. I sit down delicately, like somehow my ass is going to destroy this car just by being in here.
Gryphon slides in with less hesitance but no less care, clearly he loves this car and it strikes me that this is the first thing I actually know about him, other than his work in a TacTeam and the way he dresses.
I know a lot about Gabe, thanks to our forced proximity, and both of the Draven brothers have shown too much of their amazing personalities at the dinner table. Atlas has spent our weeks of having contact with one another sending me little stories and snippets about himself, never pressuring me to do the same in return, but inevitably coaxing them out of me. Even since I told him about North’s monitoring my phone, he’s been rigorous in his attempts at getting to know me.
Gryphon has done everything he can to stay at arm’s length from me.
My bond reaches out to him, straining against the tight restraints I have on it as I tug it away before I brush against him. There’s something about his distance and the way he’s kept himself away from me that makes my bond desperate for him.
He’s the most dangerous of them all.
When he pulls up out the front of the dorm rooms he cuts the engine, the sudden silence in the cab without the rumble of the engine is uncomfortable. I wait for a moment, but when he doesn’t say a word I get out, mumbling a quiet thank you before heading back up to my room.
With my bond weeping in my chest harder than it ever has before.
Chapter Ten
As much as I'd like to wear some cute, tiny dress that shows off all of my hard work in that stupid TT class, I'm also keenly aware of the fact that I'll be getting onto a motorbike with Gabe and it probably isn't the best idea to fuck with him like that, especially since we had that little... moment the other day. I've never been so keenly aware of my own bond and how it's reacting to the world around me.
Something about being here, around these men I'm fated to be with, has lit a fire in me that I'm desperate to smother.
I check my outfit in the mirror one last time as I walk out and sigh because I didn’t exactly have a lot of options. This whole deprivation thing North has me on is the perfect torture because I might just crack to get a decent pair of cute boots and jeans that hug my ass a little better. I don’t look bad though, and the jacket Sage lent me covers enough of me that the low cut of my cami is hot without being too much.
When I make it downstairs to where Gabe is waiting, the sight of him knocks the air out of my lungs. Dark blue jeans, a white tee that’s stretched out over his wide chest, and his football jacket slung over his broad shoulders, he looks like every college girl's wet dream. His light brown hair is styled for the first time, not a lot, but enough that I know he’s putting some effort into his appearance for the night, which raises questions. Is it me or the other people going to the party that he wants to impress? Is it because the council members are attending and he doesn’t want to make North look bad? Should he even be caring about that sort of thing?
This is all too hard and convoluted to think about and, God, it’s not smart but my bond writhes inside of my chest with jealousy over him being out here, looking like this, with half of the girls from my dorm walking around trying to grab his attention.
I’m not stupid enough to do something about it right now but, fuck, do I want to.
When his piercing blue eyes meet mine there’s a smug look on his face, he knows I’m checking him out, and I have to scramble to save face.
“Hoping to pick someone up tonight?”
He scoffs at me and holds out his spare helmet. “If I was looking to get laid, I