The crowd watches on silently as Wilder batters him, delivering crushing blow after crushing blow until the sweat drips from his forehead and blood runs down his fingers and splatters his chest. He’s heaving by the time he’s finished, and Deke is unconscious, covered in blood, and definitely in need of a hospital visit—not that I give a shit about him to make sure he gets to one. Wilder loosens his hold and Deke slumps to the ground. Standing up straight, Wilder’s face is drawn tight, his pupils dilated, making him look beastly, as he surveys the crowd before storming off, out of the clearing and into the trees.
Fucking hell, I think we just caught a glimpse of Wilder’s monster.
***
“Ugh,” I groan, dropping my forehead to rest against the wooden table in the library. “There’s no way I can learn all of this in a week. I’m going to fail.”
Emilia, the bitch, just cackles beside me.
“For the number of hissy fits you’ve thrown, you could have finished an entire subject by now.”
I lift my head and glower at her, but I keep my mouth shut. She’s probably right. Studying just isn’t my thing. Especially with everything else hanging over my head right now, but the guys insisted I come and get some work done. Cam had to go to a swim session anyway. The national championship is right around the corner, and even with everything else going on at the minute, he’s intent on winning it.
Mason’s been subdued the last few days, spending more time alone than normal in the gym. I think he's stressing about going to see his dad, not that I can blame him. He’s never really opened up to me about his childhood or his dad, not that he really needs to. The emotional damage is plain to see for anyone who looks closely enough. As someone who’s been through what he has, I know it’s best not to push these things. He processes his feelings in his own way—at the gym—and clearly that’s been working for him. He had the patience to wait for me to finally come to my senses before confiding in the guys what was going on in my head; so I can at least have the patience to wait for him.
West has also been flat out keeping tabs on his dad and my mother. He practically sits glued to his computer screen, watching them every second of the day to make sure one of them doesn't make a move against us. I think it’s safe to say we’re all on edge, and none of us are making healthy choices right now. We need this fucking shit done with before it ends up killing us. We haven’t come this far, fought this hard, to let fucking stress take us out.
Beck is the only one out of all of us who seems capable of looking toward the future at the minute. He keeps shoving college brochures under our noses and telling us to pick one so he knows where to apply to for jobs, but I have no fucking clue which one to pick. Do I want to live by the beach? In a mountain state? Do I want to see snow in the winter? And that’s just the weather and terrain, then there’s the type of colleges—community, regular, or fancy-as-fuck private ones. Not to mention, whatever we choose has to have a reputable swim team, probably some sort of wrestling team or something for Mason and I, and it needs to have a good computer program for West. There are so many factors, and that’s not including the most important one of all—Hawk. I haven’t spoken to him about any of this, and I have no idea what his plans are. We’ve only just found each other, so I’m sure as shit not going anywhere he’s not going to be.
The really fucking annoying voice in my head also keeps whispering Barton’s name every time I think about it too, but really, things are too up in the air when it comes to him to know whether or not he’s a factor I need to consider. For all I know, he could be playing us, in which case, I see his death playing out in the near future—along with Maria’s.
But yes, all the recent talk of the future, and going to college is why I’m here, complaining for the eighteenth hundredth time about how I’m going to fail these exams—in which case, all this talk about college will be futile.
Wilder enters the library with a frown on his face and makes his way toward our table. “I’ve seen far too fucking much of this place,” he grumbles, slumping into his chair. He doesn’t make a move to pull out any textbooks or his tablet, though. He just sits there, sulking.
Emilia just frowns and rolls her eyes at the pair of us before getting back to her work, and with a heavy sigh and zero enthusiasm, I do the same. I have made it through about half a page of notes before Emilia snaps, “Aren’t you going to at least do some work?!”
Wilder looks completely horrified at her suggestion. “God, no, why would I do that?”
“Eh, so you can pass your exams and go to college or whatever it is you want to do once you graduate?”
Wilder waves off her words. “Pfft, I don’t need good grades for any of that.”
I scowl at him and grumble, “I wish I didn’t,” which earns me a bark of laughter from Wilder, one which is loud enough to draw annoyed looks from the surrounding tables.
“You don’t, Sunshine. You’ve probably got more money than I do. You can buy your way into any college, any future, that you want.”
My mouth pops open. Daaaamn, I’m that rich?
“Seriously?” Emilia snarls, looking seriously fucking pissed, and I quickly close my mouth. She waves her hand over herself. “Do you not see the scholarship kid here, actually working her ass off to get into college?!” She slams her textbook shut, and holy crap, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so pissed. She gets to her feet, all the while scowling furiously at Wilder. “Some of us don’t have the fucking luxury of getting everything in life handed to us. Grow some fucking respect for the people around you, or keep your goddamn mouth shut next time.”
Snatching up her belongings, she storms out of the library. Wilder's gaze follows her, not looking the slightest bit chastised. He doesn’t look away from her retreating form until the library door closes behind her. When he does finally turn to look at me, I swear I see goddamn hearts in his eyes.
“I think I’m in love.”
I snort. “You seriously pissed her off, you dumbass!”
“And I’ll do it again if she throws that fire my way. Nothing hotter than having a girl blow a fucking fuse at you.”
I shake my head, not knowing how to respond to that. “You should go apologize to her.”
“That’s an excellent idea!” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Girl could do with some de-stressing, anyway.”
He quickly grabs his still packed backpack and rushes out of the library after her. Fucking idiot’s got no chance. Emilia’s more likely to tear him a new one than fall for his unique brand of charm.
After telling her off for not confiding in me that Deke was bothering her, I told Emilia all about what went down at the last fight night. She was shocked, but she also seemed furious with Wilder for what he’d done, and ever since, any time he’s around, she gets unduly agitated. I can’t figure out what that’s all about.