Breakfast the next morning was an awkward affair. Everyone seemed to be treating me like I was some fragile fucking butterfly, and it put me in a nasty mood. Yes, I had a traumatic childhood, but it was in the past, and I had been dealing with it in my own way for five years. The fact they were suddenly treating me like I was breakable was pissing me off. I’m no different today than I was yesterday, you dickheads. Eventually, I lost my patience with them after Caleb willingly offered the last pancake.

“Can I borrow someone’s car? Mine is still in the school parking lot.” I needed a change of scenery because I was worried I’d bite someone’s head off if they kept up this behavior much longer. That reminded me I really needed to move my car to the boys’ house so I wouldn’t end up in this situation again. Having been travelling to and from school every day in Caleb’s Mustang, it just hadn’t been a priority so far.

They all seemed to hesitate and looked to River for a decision, except Cole, who answered from where he was washing dishes.

“I’ll take you into the city, if you want,” he offered. Nice, but the whole point was to get away from the kid gloves for a bit, not trap myself into an awkward car conversation for hours.

“We can take my bike. No talking necessary.” He must have read my mind, but that sounded much more appealing.

“Done. Let’s go,” I accepted, hopping off my stool.

He didn’t take my urging, instead studying my clothes. “That won’t do.”

I looked down at the skinny jeans and close fitting gray sweater I had on.

“What’s wrong with this?” I frowned.

“You’ll freeze,” he retorted. “It’s a decent drive, and it’s a pretty cold day.”

Good point, but I hadn’t packed anything much heavier when we’d grabbed my clothes a few weeks earlier. I was going to need to take another trip to my dorm soon.

“Here.” Caleb tossed me a leather jacket that he’d grabbed from his room. “It’ll be huge on you, but at least not as big as one of Cole’s.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling gratefully, and slid my arms into the soft leather, which still managed to smell like cinnamon and vanilla. As I was yanking on a pair of low-heeled suede boots, River warned Cole to be careful and the big guy grunted in reply.

The ride into the city was exhilarating on the back of Cole’s sleek, black Harley Davidson Breakout. Spending an hour and a half wrapped around his huge, leather-clad frame with the crisp wind in my face did wonders to clear away the cobwebs of my foul mood, and when we arrived I was in considerably higher spirits.

Dismounting the bike after he parked it, I buzzed with energy, and my cheeks hurt from smiling.

“That was incredible! Why have I never done that before?” I was bouncing a little on my toes, and Cole chuckled at my enthusiasm. I paused at the sound, trying to remember whether I had ever heard him laugh before. Over the last few weeks, my initial fear of him had subsided, but I still carried a healthy dose of cautiousness in our interactions. Having seen his lethal potential in our combat sessions, I would have been an idiot not to be a bit wary. In a stark contrast to Mr. Gray though, Cole appeared to take no pleasure from inflicting pain. The way his eyes hardened and jaw clenched whenever we were sparring gave me the impression he was not enjoying it, which reassured me.

“All right, Vixen. What do you want to do with your day?”

I grinned at his play on my name; he was sharper than I’d given him credit for. A kit was a baby fox, while a vixen was an adult female one.

“I don’t know; I just needed to get out of the house. After everything I told you guys last night, this morning has been...”

“Suffocating?”

“Exasperating.”

He nodded in understanding. “Do you want to just browse in some shops and then go for lunch somewhere?”

“That sounds perfect!” I clapped my hands together while he locked up his bike then pocketed the keys.

We spent the next few hours leisurely wandering through shops. Cole had mentioned he needed to pick up some new boots because he’d worn a hole in his current ones, so I used it as an excuse to browse through the women’s section and ended up spending far too long trying on every pretty pair that caught my eye. What could I say? Everyone had their vices; mine happened to be shoes. Cole was a surprisingly good shopping companion too; given that he scowled at the majority of pairs I tried on, I knew the few he nodded at must have been fantastic. I made a mental note of those so I could come back another day and buy them when I had a car to carry them home in.