Amanda covered her mouth to try and control the giggles that were trying to escape. She couldn’t believe that Tabitha just slammed the door in all their mates’ faces. “Ooh they are going to be mad at you,” she said in a sing-song way.
Tabitha shrugged. “Serves them right,” she replied as she walked back over to her bed and lay down on it.
There was a small knock at the door again.
Tabitha rolled her eyes. “I’m not getting up to answer it this time.”
Vita looked over at Amanda, who was shaking her head. Vita’s heart started to pitter-pat against her chest as she got up from where she was, walked over to the door, and opened it slowly.
Deak was leaning against the doorway.
Vita sucked in a breath; she could smell his cologne or his natural scent. She know what it was but it was causing a flurry of flutters in her stomach.
“Hello, love,” he said to her softly.
She could feel her cheeks start to warm at the sound of his voice. She leaned against the side of the door. “Hi, Deak.”
“I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, and didn’t need anything.”
Vita gave him a small smile. “Thanks, but I think we’re good for the night. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Deak leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently as he took in her scent one last time before leaving. As Deak turned to walk away, Hudson slipped into his spot and looked at Vita. “Please can you just let me talk with Amanda for just a moment?” he asked.
Vita sighed for a moment and then her eyes widened. “How has he been tonight”? She asked both Deak and Marco.
Marco looked over at Deak and then back at Hudson. It had slipped his mind about Hudson having anger problems because he had just been acting like his usual overprotective self Now actually, now that you mention it, he hasn’t been having anger issues since we got back onto campus.”
Amanda looked at her curiously. “Okay, why?”
“There were hex bags placed all around the campus that were made to trigger Hudson’s temper.”
“And you found them all?” Amanda said with reluctance. She didn’t want to get her hopes up.
Vita nodded. “I think I did. Just talk to him and see.”
Amanda let out a sigh as she sat there for a moment deciding on whether or not she was ready to talk with him. Then she slowly got up from the bed and walked to the door. She leaned her head against it and sucked in a breath. She could feel his presence through the door, her stomach in a storm of flurries and her heart beating as her body filled with anxiety.
She opened the door slowly and looked at Hudson.
He was leaning against the wall across from her with his head hung down.
She looked around the hall and noticed that Deak and Marco had left.
Hudson looked up when he sensed his mate. “Hey,” he said to her.
“Hi.”
“Can we go for a walk? I promise I just want to talk.”
Amanda looked at the girls that were hovering together with her behind the door. Both of them tried to push her out the door and give him a chance. They flung a sweatshirt at her right before they closed and locked the door behind her. She looked down at the sweatshirt and realized it was Hudson’s that she had kept.
Of course, that was the one they’d give her.
Hudson smirked watching Amanda grunt and groan as she put his sweatshirt on. Once she was done, Hudson held out his hand to her. She was hesitant to gran it but knew that she needed to give them a chance to show that he was not the same guy he’d been these last few weeks.
When they got outside, Amanda let out a shiver. As the weather was starting to change, the nights were getting colder. Hudson stood in front of Amanda and started to rub her arms to help warm her up. It was a nice gesture. She looked up at him and smiled, but Hudson did not return the expression. His brows were furrowed as he stood there rubbing her arms but there was no affection in the motion.
“I’m sorry about the other night,” he said softly. “I should have been there for you and I wasn’t. I guess those allies did a number on my head and I couldn’t get past the anger.”
Amanda nodded slowly. Something was missing from it; it was almost like he was saying sorry just to say it and hoped things would go back to normal. She felt there was something still different about Hudson; even though all the hex bags had been removed there was still something off about him. A piece of her hair fell into her face as she let out a sigh. Hudson lifted his hand to brush the hair away from her eyes and that’s when she noticed something she hadn’t seen for a long time: he was wearing the bracelet he wore in high school. The memories started to flood her—every time he grabbed her that bracelet dangled from his wrist, it haunted her. She didn’t know what it was, but there was something bad about that bracelet and he was wearing that?”
Hudson’s hand froze in mid-air as he followed her eyes to the bracelet. “MY bracelet? I found it a while ago in my room and had forgotten about it. Why?”
Amanda gulped as she tried to gather the courage to ask the next question. “Can you take it off?”
Hudson took a step back as he felt his defensive walls go up. “Why do I need to take it off?”
“Because I don’t like it and it brings up too many bad memories for me.” Her voice started to shake but she wasn’t going to let this fear control her. She straightened up, lifted her chin, and looked him square in the eyes.
Hudson was confused, how could this bracelet bring back bad memories? He liked wearing it. The detail of the design was intricate and the leather straps that bound it all together were cool. It made him feel different and confident as he wore it. “I don’t want to take it off and you can’t make me,” he told her.
Fighting for my Mate
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)