“Juliette?” Greyston interrupts softly, drawing my eyes to his. A wave of calm passes through me, casting the nerves aside as I get lost in a sea of blue. “Where do you want me to start?”
“Um, that’s my stuff there. I think I still have a few boxes in the closet from when I moved in,” I tell him, my voice smooth and controlled, and point to my side of the room. “I should be able to fit most of it in my car.”
While Greyston puts together one of my broken-down boxes, I start stripping the bedding off the single bed. Greyston and I are working together to fill a couple of boxes with my belongings, and I’m trying really hard to ignore Ben, but I can feel him standing right behind me.
“Look, Ben,” I say without turning to face him, “I have nothing left to say. Honestly, I don’t even care anymore.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he snarls, grabbing my arm lightly and forcing me to turn around.
Before I even know what’s happening, Greyston has pushed his way between us, forcing Ben to break his hold on me. He stares directly into Ben’s eyes. “I believe she told you she had nothing to say. Why don’t you run along to class now, boy, and leave us to pack up her things?”
Something goes through me when Greyston stands up for me. I don’t know what it is as I’ve never experienced anything like it before. My entire body tingles, my knees feel weak, and my breathing deepens as he stares Ben down.
“And just who the hell are you?” Ben demands. He doesn’t give Greyston a chance to respond before looking behind him at me. “Is this the clown you went out with the other night?”
“So what if it is?” I ask snidely. I know it’s wrong to lie about something like this, but I can’t help but let Ben believe that Greyston and I were together in some way.
He sneers at Greyston and then me. “Didn’t take you long to move on.”
I can’t control the maniacal laughter that suddenly fills the room. “You’re joking, right? You’re accusing me of moving on too soon? You’ve decided to play the pot today, then?”
Ben’s nostrils flare, and he focuses solely on me. Whatever he’s about to say won’t be pretty, but I’m ready for it.
Greyston doesn’t let him get a word in edgewise, though, turning to me and holding my upper arms lightly. Slowly, he runs his hands over the length of my arms, and I sigh when they clasp mine. “Why don’t you take the first box out to the car while I finish up here, then we can head home.”
“Home?” Ben repeats. “You’re living together?”
I narrow my eyes angrily at him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but—” Before I’m able to finish telling him that I’m just Greyston’s tenant, Greyston shakes his head, silently telling me I don’t have to say anything. Why?
“I’ll meet you out by the car after I’m done here, okay?” he says, tilting his head toward the door.
Glancing once more at Ben, I nod before grabbing the box on my bed, and heading for the door. “I’ll see you outside,” I say to Greyston.
“Juliette,” Ben calls after me, but I don’t turn around. “Juliette!”
I keep ignoring him and continue down the hall. People are looking at me again, and I try to pretend not to notice. Instead, I focus all of my energy on not dropping the box or having the bottom of it break apart, spilling its contents in the hall.
After making it to my car, I put the box in the back seat, moving around and leaning on the trunk while I wait for Greyston. I check my phone periodically and realize that almost twenty minutes have gone by since I left my old room. Worry starts to set in, and I’m about to go check if everything is okay when I see Greyston emerge with another two boxes stacked in his arms.
I push myself to my feet and meet him halfway, taking the top box from him and leading him back to my car. “So, did he leave after I did?”
“More or less,” Greyston vaguely replies.
I push the box into the back of my car and turn to him. “What does that mean?”
Greyston closes the back door and smiles at me. The way the right side of his mouth curls up a little crookedly, flashing his brilliant white teeth, makes my stomach flip; I wonder if he knows that’s a pretty deadly weapon. “He tried to start something, and I finished it. I don’t think he’ll be bothering you for a while.”
I’m curious to know what he said to Ben, but the look in Greyston’s eyes tells me more than I need to know. That and the fact that the backs of his knuckles are red and slightly swollen.