Enforce(43)

“What? You have a magical trashcan that cleans clothes?”

“Nope. You can’t wear those again. They’re ruined, and there are rules here. You can’t just wear a ruined uniform.”

“I hate the stupid rules!” She stomped over to the trashcan and tried pulling the clothes from it. “This uniform is all I have!”

Cursing, I pried the clothes away and returned them to where they belonged — in the trash — and dragged her to the couch. “Sit.”

“But—”

“Sit,” I commanded. “You thirsty?”

“No.”

“Hungry?”

Her stomach growled loudly. She closed her eyes, refusing to answer me.

“That’s what I thought.”

Why was it so hard for her to accept help? Was it because I’d been so horrible? I needed her to trust me, and, well, the only way I could think of to make her feel better was to cook for her. It was what my ma would have done. So I threw a hamburger patty into the microwave, hit defrost, and went to work baking some fries. It was a staple in our kitchen. For some reason, it made me feel normal, less Italian, when I had a hamburger and fries. The guys always knew it was a bad day if I was at Mc Donald’s. Not that I’d been there in weeks, considering we were on high security.

When the food was done, I put everything on a plate and walked back into the room, holding it out to her.

Tears pooled in Trace’s eyes as she took the plate and whispered, “Thank you.”

“You need to eat more.” I cursed.

Just then, the doors opened. Chase strolled in with a garment bag, followed by Mo, Tex, and Phoenix.

“Are you okay?” Mo ran to Trace’s side and hugged her.

Trace had just taken a huge-ass bite out of the burger, so she nodded and then coughed.

“I made her half a cow,” I explained. “I’m sure she’s in meat lover’s heaven right now.”

“Aw, you killed a cow for her?” Mo sighed and gave me a wink.

Annoying twin sister. Yeah, yeah, first a granola bar, now a cow. Laugh it up, Mo.

“Good God, people, he put frozen meat in the microwave and pressed defrost,” Chase muttered. “Is this all you needed, fearless leader?” He held out the garment bag.

I nodded, ignoring his sour mood. What the hell was his problem? Chase’s eyes fell to Trace then back to me. Right. She was the problem. Or better, it was me being with her that was the problem. “Right sizes?”

“Yup.”

“Good,” I said in a cold voice. “Just put the bag over there, and we’ll take it over once classes are out.”

I said we on purpose so Chase would know I wasn’t backing off. I wasn’t going away. He glared but did what he was told — because Chase always did what he was told, which made me feel slightly guilty. He may like Trace, but I liked her too, way more than I should, and I wasn’t going to let him sneak in and steal away the one girl who made me want to feel again. The one girl who, for some reason, had snuck into my heart and refused to leave.

Phoenix leaned against the counter, his stare pensive, and directly set on Trace, like he was waiting for her to call him out or something, which was crazy. Then again, Phoenix had been acting bat-shit crazy for the past few days. I knew I needed to talk with him, but part of me felt guilty because I’d been the one to snap at him at the party.

Tex squished himself between Mo and Trace and put his arm back on the couch. “So, what are we doing this weekend?”

“We…” She placed her hand on his knee. “…are doing nothing. I’m going to be a good friend and hang out with my roommate who was brutally assaulted by the stupid assholes who go to our school.”

Tex pouted. “Nixon, can’t you just order a hit on the ones who started it so I can have some alone-time with your sister?”

Trace laughed. “Order a hit? You guys talk like he’s Mafia or something.”

The room fell silent, and then everyone laughed nervously — it was awkward as hell.

The rest of the hour went by fast between Mo and Tex arguing over what to do with Trace, Phoenix staring a hole through the wall, and Chase trying to sit as close as humanly possible to Trace. I was ready to lose my mind.

“Guys! Just go hang out. I was going to go to the store anyways,” Trace finally said above the noise.

“No!” We all responded in unison. Right. Like that didn’t look totally suspicious.

Her eyes narrowed. “Is the store dangerous or something?”

Mo shrugged. “No, it’s just not smart. I mean, you shouldn’t leave campus by yourself. Besides, you need a car. You don’t have a car.”