I sighed, shaking my head. "Annulment was never going to work anyway. Neither is divorce, apparently." I groaned, rubbing my face with both hands. "This whole everything is such a mess, Bree. When is it going to get easier?"
She shrugged. "I would have said when you work out who is trying to kill you, then kill them and also get rid of your stalker. But then even after that, you'll still be in love with three pig-headed, dominant assholes who couldn't share a bowl of popcorn, let alone a woman they all claim to care for."
I glared at her. "Thanks, babe. Real helpful."
She beamed. "I try."
"And I'm not in love with all of them," I added in a grumble. "Maybe two of them... the third is barely more than tolerated."
Bree snorted a laugh. "Okay, cool. We're lying to ourselves. Just so I know where we're at." She checked her watch and cursed. "I've got to go. I need to hear the rest of this, though. Can we hang out this afternoon?"
I nodded. "For sure. Come by the house? Kody will be training Arch until dinnertime, so we can—"
"Perv over their insanely hot bodies while they wrestle around on the ground, all sweaty and delicious?" Bree beamed at me like a damn shithead. I glared, and she nodded enthusiastically. "I'll take that look as agreement. Catch you later, babe." She hurried out of the dining hall, snickering to herself, and I rolled my eyes.
I knew she was just teasing, but apparently, I was also turning into a jealous psychopath because I wanted to threaten her with permanent blindness.
Standing up and picking up my own bag, I started at the sound of a voice behind me.
"Shouldn't you be in class, Miss Danvers?"
My bag almost knocked my can of Coke flying, but Professor Barker's hand shot out and grabbed it just in time.
"Uh, I had a fifteen-minute gap in my schedule," I told him, carefully taking the can from his outstretched hand. "Thanks."
He just smiled at me, but it wasn't a professional sort of smile. It was too intense, too interested, too... creepy.
"Well, that works out well. I wondered if I might speak with you in my office?" He held his arm out, indicating that I should walk with him out of the dining hall, but my mental danger-meter was beeping like crazy.
Giving him a tight smile, I shouldered my bag properly and ducked away from his reach. "Sorry, my next class starts now. I need to get going."
My professor's eyes narrowed slightly, then his expression faded into a watery smile. "Of course. I'll be sure to catch you again another time."
Something about the way he emphasized catch made my heart pound with nervousness. Surely he didn't mean... No, not Professor Barker. He was just a run-of-the-mill predator professor. Nothing more than that.
I nodded with a noncommittal smile and hurried out of the dining hall, tossing my Coke in the recycling on my way out. Call me crazy, but I was more than a little suspicious of anyone even remotely touching my food or drinks.
"Good gossip session?"
I jumped so hard I almost screamed, then whirled around and punched Archer straight in the chest. And immediately regretted it because, holy crap, his chest was hard.
"What the fuck, you lurker?" I demanded, cradling my now injured hand.
He just fucking laughed at me while rubbing the spot I'd hit. "You don't have a terrible punch on you, Princess. Maybe you should let me show you a thing or two..." His brows dipped suggestively, and I backed up a couple of steps.
"Uh-huh, I just bet you'd love that. A little bit of ground and pound, huh?" I gave him a knowing smirk, and he answered it with his own.
He gave a pained groan. "Hearing you talk dirty with MMA terms is unfair, baby girl. You're lucky I'm not dragging you into a supply closet and fucking you stupid right now."
My pulse raced. "Why haven't you?"
His teasing smile evaporated, and the look he gave me in its wake was dead-set caring. "Because you're afraid of small spaces, Kate." He reached out, twisting one of my braids around his fist to pull me closer for a kiss that was shockingly tender. "Now, get to class and learn things."
Archer released me and sauntered down the hall to his own class like he hadn't just blown my fucking mind and left me with a damp patch in my pants. Fucker.