This Fearless Girl (St. Clary's University #2) - E. M. Moore Page 0,66

shoulders. “What if I were to do this?” Wyatt asks, throwing a punch at my face. I move out of the way and counter, throwing a punch to his face.

He cocks his head and drops his hands in disbelief. “Why haven’t you ever just kicked Meghan’s ass? Why be her verbal punching bag if you could shut her the fuck up with a well-placed punch?”

“Dad told me not to use force unless I absolutely had to, and Meghan is one of those things that doesn’t seem necessary to respond to. Dad didn’t like calling attention to ourselves, and anything that distracted us from the treasure was frowned upon.”

“But surely, he wouldn’t have cared if it made them stop bullying you,” Lucas says.

I stare at him, because yeah, I think my dad would’ve cared. When I say anything that distracted him from the treasure, I mean everything. He barely wanted to pick up my library books, and the only reason I ever got them was because he had to go to the library to do research anyway. If he’d had to go out of his way, I wouldn’t have had books in my life. Period.

Wyatt’s face hardens, but he doesn’t push it. We both know what his thoughts are on my dad.

I love my father. I want to find out what happened to him. I tried like hell searching for clues while we were in the mountains last weekend and came up with nothing. I don’t think he’s around anymore, but I can’t know for sure; I may never know for sure. And until we find him, or remnants of him, I’ll always have my doubts.

We spend the next thirty minutes going over other self-defense moves, and I actually find it fun. It’s even more fun to prove to Wyatt and Lucas that I’m not the damsel in distress type. Plus, Wyatt actually teaches me some things that I didn’t know. It turns out, he wrestled in high school before his world went to shit, so he’s pretty freaking good at it.

I learned how to implement an arm bar and a rear naked choke.

At one point, Lucas snaps a picture of me choking Wyatt out and sends it to Stone, who calls him back right away. I can hear his laughter through the speaker, and a warmth settles in my gut. My imagination takes off, bringing up a fantasy of all of us doing this together, and it frightens me how real it seems; how much these guys have taken over my life since they came into it. From hating them to longing for them. It’s like the world has flipped on its head.

Lucas chuckles. “Yeah, he tapped out.”

I giggle snort, and Wyatt playfully shoves me to the rubber mats. “Get ready for school, Tits.”

I pull him back with me and give him a huge, smacking kiss on the cheek. “Did I hurt the cowboy’s feelings?”

“Not even remotely, sexy. But if that was you hurting me, I’d keep letting you do it because the hurt is so good.”

23

My good mood flushes down the toilet when we step onto campus at Saint Clary’s. Damn, I really hate small towns. And colleges that are so fucking tiny they’re more like high school. Oh, and bitches who make it their personal mission to be bitches.

Stone meets us at the front of the school. He’s relaxed and laid back. He actually fucking smiles when he sees me, which practically makes me burst wide open. When I get closer, though, there are the beginnings of shadows under his eyes. “You okay?” I ask as we walk up the steps to meet him.

He shrugs. “Just a late night talking over stuff with my dad.” He doesn’t elaborate, and the look on his face tells me there’s so much more than what he’s just said. He turns and heads into the school, though, so none of us can call him out on his half-truth.

Lucas and Wyatt break off toward the library while Stone and I continue to History. “How was the drive?”

“Fine,” he tells me then stops me just outside the door. He lowers his voice, “After classes, I made arrangements for an antique jeweler to take a look at the ring. We have to drive into Leedsville, so as soon as your Mythology class with Lucas is over, meet me in the parking lot.”

Excitement builds in my stomach, and my heart beats a little more rapidly. We might actually get some answers about the treasure my ancestor