“Okay, that was a joke. A bad one, admittedly, but still…” Walker raised his hands in surrender. “I’ve never had a gun aimed at me before. It’s really way more terrifying than I imagined.”
“What are you doing in my room?”
“Not actually in your room. Just standing in the open doorway.” A line of sweat was breaking out on his forehead. “Sorry, I thought the ‘it’s unlocked’ note was an open invitation. I swear, I didn’t mean to…” His eyes darted around the cinder-block walls as if the end of his sentence might be found there.
“How did you know where I live?”
A door closed somewhere down the hall. Talley moved to the left, concealing herself so no one passing by would see the gun. Her connection to the Alphas might be able to get her out of a lot of sticky situations, but she had a feeling having a firearm on university property and threatening another individual with it wouldn’t be one of them. Walker glanced down the hall, apparently coming to the same realization.
“I swear, I’m not here to hurt you and will explain everything if you’ll just give me a chance.”
A chorus of laughter moving towards them made up her mind for her. “Come inside and close the door. Try anything, and we’ll see which is faster, a Shifter or a speeding bullet.”
“What the Hades are you doing?” The voice in her head sounded like Scout. “You don’t point guns at people and order them around. Shouldn’t you be apologizing or crying right about now?”
A few months ago, she would have. She clearly remembered the first time Charlie placed a gun in her hand. Her stomach had rolled, and she thought she might puke. But that was before. That was when life was still somewhat normal and she believed herself to be safe in the world. Now the feel of steel in her hands gave her a sense of peace and a dose of courage she’d never had before.
Plus, Jase had been making her practice that stance and speeding bullet line for the past three weeks.
Walker stepped into the room, stopping just a few feet inside. Since his hands were still up in surrender, he had to kick the door shut with his foot. It was the first time a guy had been in Talley’s room. Her roommate, Allie, was very vocal about her feelings on having guys over, so whenever she and Jase got together, it was always in his room. Since Allie declared it an all-girls-all-the-time space, she wasn’t concerned with the placement of her undergarments. Two bras hung from her bedpost and a pair of bright yellow underwear hung out of a dresser drawer. Talley was embarrassed for her, but only a tiny bit. It was hard to feel much in the way of empathy with a person who liked to watch countless hours of Fox News and left half-eaten food lying all over the room.
Talley cleared her throat and searched for what to say next. Jase hadn’t really planned anything beyond the threat. What did she do now? Her mind filtered through every single action movie she’d ever seen. “Talk,” she finally said, deciding to keep it simple.
“I knew where you lived because I stopped by the housing office and asked.” Walker’s hands were still up, but he squared his shoulders and looked straight ahead as he answered, reminding Talley that ‘not dominant’ wasn’t the same thing as ‘weak’. “I told the lady working the desk that I was your boyfriend and drove over 1800 miles to surprise you. She wouldn’t tell me your room number, but she did suggest I hang out around the Honor’s dorms. Once I got here, I started asking around. A girl with pink hair and purple glasses told me where to find you.”
Talley blinked at his explanation. Could he really not know what he was doing?
“You do know that approaching the home of a member or potential of the Alpha Pack without an invitation is considered a hostile act, right?”
The color drained from Walker’s face. “I didn’t mean to… I was just…” His chin quivered. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I swear to God, I didn’t know. I just wanted to see you again.”
Talley dropped the gun. Jase’s voice barked in her head that it was an act and to pick the damn thing back up, but she just couldn’t. Somewhere over the past year she’d begun to read people’s faces almost as well as she could read their minds. Walker really didn’t know. He was just a Shifter from a small pack who had no idea how things worked in the Alpha Pack. It was like a kid from a small town getting dropped in the middle of New York City. He might have some of the basics down, but he didn’t actually know how to navigate the strange world he was suddenly thrust into the middle of.
Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t and wouldn’t do something to hurt her or someone she loved. “We’re going to talk,” she said, flicking on the safety and placing the gun on her desk. “And while we’re talking, I’m going to need to touch you. You understand why?”
“You want to See if I’m telling the truth.”
“Right.” She wished she could also See what the best set-up would be. The easiest thing would be to hold his hand, but that would be way too awkward with some guy she didn’t know. Actually, it was often awkward with the guys she did know. Awkwardness aside, there was also the issue of personal safety. Without her gun, she had no advantage, and by getting close enough to touch him, she was pretty much at his mercy. She’d picked up a few self-defense tactics over the summer, but she knew she couldn’t actually take on a fully grown Shifter, even if he was completely submissive.
But he doesn’t know that. Jase’s voice reminded her. You’re only as badass as people think you are. Fake it.
“Sit in that chair,” she said, pointing towards her roommate’s desk. “Keep your hands palm down on the desk. Move them and it may very well be the last thing you do. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
Talley squared her shoulders, and in her mind, imagined herself as Agent Romanoff from The Avengers. Strong. Lethal. Incapable of taking crap off of anyone. She could do that, couldn’t she? Pretend to be that kind of girl? At the very least, she could give it a try. What’s the worst that could happen?
The words “raped” and “pillaged” come to mind.
Shut up.
You know, you always say, “shut up” when you mean, “please stop being right.”
There were times when Talley wasn’t sure if these mental conversations with Jase were a sign she was spending too much time with him or evidence that she was going insane.