“Please,” I begged, trying to whip my arm out of his grasp.
The shadows over his face deepened, but he dragged me with him to the table, keeping his eyes trained to the back of the library. I hurriedly swiped the worn sketchbook off the table, and then we were out the door.
“Stay quiet since I'm technically not allowed to be out after curfew.” His hand loosened a little. “So let’s not get caught.”
“I wasn’t aware that you cared much about that.”
Cade’s chuckle was short and sweet, but he stayed silent the rest of the way to the girls’ hall. We didn’t run into anyone else. The hall was just as unmoving as it usually was during curfew hours. I pulled the phone up during our walk and began texting Isaiah, which Cade had to help me with because I had no idea which button to press. Just as we reached the girls’ hall, Cade’s phone began vibrating, and he answered it quietly.
“Check the library,” he whispered, glancing behind us once. “There was a loud thud in the back, and instead of investigating, I decided to take Gemma back to her room.” Then, the line went dead, and Cade pushed his phone back into his jeans.
“Was that Isaiah?” I asked, watching the darkened corners of the girls’ hall. We were almost to my room now, and thankfully, the duty teacher hadn’t made her rounds yet, but I still felt unease moving through my blood like sludge. I was on edge—likely with good reasoning.
“Yeah.” He glanced down at me. “He said to tell you to stay in your room all night.”
I rolled my eyes, but before I could say anything, Cade sighed. “And he said to put an emphasis on the words all night.”
My lips twitched as I pulled the phone out and texted him again.
* * *
Me: Yes, your highness. I will stay in my room.
* * *
His response was instantaneous.
* * *
Isaiah: All night.
* * *
“Just listen to him.”
I pulled the phone to my chest and glared up at Cade. “Again! With the snooping!” I whisper-yelled. He was worse than Tobias when I used to hide my sketches from him.
Cade’s lips curved, but he said nothing as I quietly opened my door and slipped inside.
Sloane popped up off her bed, her hair falling back behind her shoulders. She sighed before plopping back down onto her pillow. “Finally! I’ve been waiting for you to watch our show. Tutoring with Isaiah should take, like, one hour, max.”
A light laugh floated out of me as I tucked the new phone into my pocket, pushing away Isaiah’s text from my mind, along with everything else. I was safe, and that was all that mattered at the moment. “Let me get changed for bed, and we can watch it. You didn’t have to wait for me, though. You could have skipped ahead and filled me in later.”
She sucked in breath. “Absolutely not.” She peeked up at me just before I went into the bathroom. “And you better never watch without me. Our friendship depends on it.”
I couldn’t even hide my smile as I shut the door behind me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Isaiah
I’d waited until mostly everyone was in the common room to slip out early Saturday afternoon. Cade and Brantley were currently creating a diversion and getting everyone stirred up over our lacrosse game that ended with thrown punches to the other team.
The Wildcats didn’t accept that we’d beat them in the last few seconds of the game, and a few of the guys had words, and before I knew it, Shiner was flying over our goaltender’s back to defend him after a sucker punch to the jaw.
Coach brushed it under the rug, although I was sure my uncle had heard all about it.
I, for one, did not partake in such felonious acts. In fact, I was the one who had pulled Shiner off and held the peace. There was definitely a time for throwing punches, and being on probation with the SMC wasn’t one of them.