This Fearless Girl (St. Clary's University #2) - E. M. Moore Page 0,11

arm out of the way.

He catches my hand and squeezes it. “I’m fine,” he says. “I’m not worried about me. I’ve lived through worse.”

Do I even want to know what that means? Wyatt has a past. Tracking him down to the prison acquainted me with that fact, but I think there’s much more to unravel there.

I mean, if I even want to.

I don’t.

What I need to do is find the treasure, find my dad, and somehow get off of Cole’s radar.

“I don’t like how interested he is in Dakota,” Stone muses.

“He escorted her out to me.” Lucas’ lips thin as he glances my way. “He told me to keep her safe.”

Stone laughs derisively. “If she’ll let us.”

“Screw you, Jacobs.”

Ignoring me, he says, “Rich coming from him. He’s the one who’s putting her in harm’s way.”

“I can handle myself.”

“Obviously,” Wyatt says. “I’ve been wanting to tell you since it happened how badass you were that night. If it weren’t for you—” He swallows, taking a moment for himself.

“Yeah, if it weren’t for her, my dad would be completely healthy.”

“Get the fuck over it,” Wyatt says. “You know she saved our asses, so stop putting on a show in front of her.” He turns back, giving me a wink.

“Anything else?” Stone asks. His gray-blue eyes are like two heat-seeking missiles with lie detectors.

I chicken out from saying anything else. As much as I want to take Stone down for any part he could’ve played, I don’t want what Cole said to be true. Dickie giving Wilder secrets to the Jacobses? My whole body rejects the idea. If not for me, then for my father’s sake. First Marilyn with their sham marriage, then his only friend in the whole world stabbing him in the back? If he is alive, he may not even want to come back.

Lucas comes over, his fingers brushing under my chin until I look up at him. “I’m going to make you something to eat. It won’t be anything near Wyatt’s ability, but I can toast a bagel.”

His offer is so sincere that I can’t help but smile back at him. “I like bagels.”

Wyatt groans. He reaches a hand out to Lucas who’s started to walk away. “Help me up, asshole. No way is Dakota eating a bagel the first night back in the house.”

Lucas slaps his hand. “You’re not cooking for her. You’ll hurt yourself. You’ve probably been sleeping on the couch since you got back from the funeral.”

Wyatt glances at me. “I’m fine with a bagel,” I reassure him. “When you get healthy, you can make me an elaborate dinner,” I tease and Wyatt winks at me in response. My heart drops at the gesture, remembering another reason why I wanted to be in my dorm and away from these guys. It’s too easy to fall back in with them.

At least I can still stay mad at Stone. As soon as the thought flits through my mind, my lips buzz with the ghost of his kiss. More things were destroyed than my childhood home that night. All the trust we’d been building is gone. Sure, it may not have been Stone’s fault Lance was there, but his father is a monster, and where one is, so is the other.

Stone looks between all of us while Wyatt finally lets me inspect his dressing. He presses his lips together in concentration, and I pretend not to notice. Before my bagel even pops from the toaster, he’s gone. Despite being relieved that he’s not hovering over me, I know what loneliness looks like, and I recognize it in Stone Jacobs.

As Lucas said—we could be more alike than I think.

5

My room in Jacobs Manor is exactly as I left it barring one thing. There’s a laptop box in the middle of my freshly-made bed with the cell phone they bought me sitting on top.

I lower myself to the very edge of the mattress, already feeling more comfortable here than I did in the dorms by myself. My stomach is full. My mind is occupied. I may be sleeping a few doors down from the enemy, but it’s the enemy I know, not the one I don’t.

However, the enemy is probably also the one who bought me the laptop I’m staring at with glee. With everything else going on—his father being shot, Wyatt with his knife wound, and Cole’s threats—he still found the time to search out a laptop for me and buy it. He remembered his father ruined mine. It’s probably