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“Hello?” A groggy male voice sounds on the other end of the line.
“Kav…” My voice breaks as the tears spill over.
“Kas?” he asks, immediately on alert. “What happened?”
The thin string holding control over my emotions snaps. My body starts wracking with sobs. Kavanagh, bless his heart, waits me out. This isn’t his first rodeo dealing with my emotional breakdowns. Unlike my siblings, when frustration overwhelms me, I cry. Of course, that triggers more frustration, leadingto more tears. The harder I try to settle down, the worse it becomes until I end up a sobbing wreck that most people don’t understand. Getting the tears under control, my voice wobbles, still emotional.
“Ka…Kar…Karoline.” That’s all that needs to be said.
“What did she do now?” he grinds out.
“She”—pausing to take a deep breath, I blow it out slowly before trying to speak again—“She is here.”
“Here where?” he asks before answering his own question, his voice laced with anger. “She’s at Groveton? Now?”
“Yes.”
“What the fuck for?” he yells, outraged on my behalf.
“She showed up a few nights ago without warning,” I pause to take a sip of my tea, hoping it calms my frayed nerves. “Her bullshit excuse was that Mom was concerned because I wasn’t home for the holidays. She is messing with my life here.”
“Not that you don’t have a right to be upset, but you need to explain what she has done to make youthisupset. You don’t just fly off the handle like this without reason.”
Launching into the events of tonight, more tears surface, but the sobs stay buried. Throughout the entire story, Kavanagh stays silent. By the time my story is over, he is seething. My face heats in embarrassment as I quickly gloss over what happened between Brock and me in his room.
“Okay,” he starts. “You are safe right now, correct?”
“Yes, I am in my room. Kennedy and the guys are somewhere in the apartment.”
“Good. I am going to try and call Karoline and get her ass off campus. Are you able to stay where you are tomorrow?”
“Yes, there are no classes, and my tutor session isn’t until Monday after classes.”
“Perfect. Let me take care of our dearsister,” he tells me, sneering at the word sister. “Stick with your friends. I will call you tomorrow.”
Kavanagh hangs up without saying goodbye. My phone is still next to my ear when it rings again, startling me.
Pulling the phone away and checking the caller ID, my shoulders sag as I decline the call. Hoping a message will appease Brock, my fingers move over the screen.
Me
I’m okay.
We will talk tomorrow.
Powering down my phone to get some rest, I place it on the nightstand and burrow under the covers, trying to chase away the residual chill that has set in.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After realizing Kassidy left my room, I do a quick sweep through the party that is still going strong. Callum and Rodney are still shooting pool and making a lot of money in the process. Rodney is racking the balls for their next game when I approach Callum.
Seeing me heading toward him, his face shows confusion. Meeting me halfway across the room, I give Callum an abbreviated version of events. His face hardens with each word spoken. Once he hears the whole story, his fingers start moving across the face of his phone. Before I can blink, he and Rodney are leaving.
After they leave, I stand around the pool table when Carver approaches me, reminding me about the state of my pants. Ignoring the strange looks, I return to my room. Quickly cleaning up and changing my clothes, my head spins as I wait for Kassidy to respond to at least one of my calls or messages. So much happened tonight, both good and bad, that it is hard to find a starting point as they all started mingling together.
Pacing the floor of my room, the door opens, causing me to look that way. Zanko walks in, looking just as pissed off as me.
“That bitch is gone,” he sneers out in reference to Karoline. “Have you talked to Kassidy yet?”
