“You want me to look less conspicuous? Fine. But you have fifteen minutes to do it before your next class.”
The student store was packed full of hoodies and other university merch and Rhodes looked at it all with distaste.
I, on the other hand, was excited to make the alpha blend in at least a little bit more.
I started flipping through the hoodies on the rack, but Rhodes stopped me. “It has to have a zipper for this,” he said, lifting his jacket to show me his gun.
“I don’t suppose I can get you to forgo that entirely?” I asked with a hopeful smile.
“Not a chance.”
My smile dropped and I muttered insults under my breath about scary mobsters and their need to have guns at all times as I moved away from the sweatshirts. “Go wait in the changing room and I’ll bring your new clothes to you.”
Rhodes shook his head. “I don’t want you out of my sight.”
“I think I will survive five minutes alone in a campus store. If anything happens I’ll call for you and I’m sure you’ll put that thing you refuse to take off to good use. Now go.”
I could tell he still wanted to argue with me, but also that he didn’t have anything to say to my words either. Because I was right. The most dangerous thing in the store was him and he wasn’t going to be hurting me any time soon.
With a growl, Rhodes left me behind to browse in relative peace.
Taking my time to find a few zip-up hoodies, a plethora of different hats, and a backpack that I hoped would make Rhodes fit in even just a little bit, I brought my spoils to the counter where a familiar face was standing.
“Hey! You’re in my Intro to Photography aren’t you?” the cheerful girl asked as she started to scan my purchases. She was a beta, I could tell it almost right away because of her faint minty scent and the general way she carried herself. Betas always seemed to walk through life like they had no weight on their shoulders. They didn’t have to worry about heats, or pheromones and this particular beta didn’t have to worry about grumpy mobsters that leave you all alone in your nest after making you see stars.
It made me a little bit jealous.
“I am, and you’re—” I tried in vain to remember the name she’d used when we were going around introducing ourselves.
“Kailey,” she provided. “And you’re Perrie Chandler.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised you remembered,” I said, surprised. We hadn’t gotten around to changing my surname on my university paperwork yet.
Kailey flipped a lock of blond hair over her shoulder and leaned in close like she was about to share a secret with me. “How can I not when you’ve got such a sexy shadow,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“Who, Rhodes?” I scoffed at her words, even though something ugly twisted in my chest at her calling him sexy. “He’s just…”
“Your bodyguard, right?”
I blinked, frowning at her. How did she know he was my bodyguard? I glanced over my shoulder at the curtained fitting room that Rhodes had disappeared inside, trying to figure out how long it would take him to get to me if I called.
Kailey kept talking, oblivious to my sudden suspicion. “It’s crazy, I’ve seen you in the papers, but I never thought you’d actually be coming to our school. I mean your brother goes here, but it’s different, you know? ’Cause you were sick and everything.”
The sudden tenseness in my shoulders eased a bit. She wasn’t recognizing me as Edison’s wife, no, but as the mayor’s daughter. The one he trotted out for sympathy votes because of her leukemia.
It had been so long since anyone had looked at me with the expression Kailey was giving me and it grated against my skin like sandpaper. “I’m healthy now, so why wouldn’t I go to school?”
My words came out sharper than I’d intended them to and I watched the girl flinch.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”
But I cut her off. “Is it ready for me to swipe?”
Looking deflated, Kailey nodded. “Go ahead.”
I quickly swiped the black card that had been left on my bedside table with a note from Edison telling me it was for whatever expenses I had. Then I pulled the bags of clothing she’d packed off of the counter and gave her a nod. “See you in class.”
My browsing and ill-fated conversation seemed to have taken longer than I thought it had because Rhodes was already peeking out of the changing room with a frown as his dark eyes took in my expression. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I said tartly, shoving the bag at him. “Get changed.”
Rhodes took the bag, shooting me one last concerned look before ducking back inside.
I heard the sound of the bag opening before I heard him scoff out loud. “You’re joking, Perrie.”
Despite my soured mood, my lips pulled up into a pleased grin. “I am, in fact, not joking. Put it on, please.”
A few minutes later Rhodes emerged in the dark blue zip-up hoodie with the university’s logo emblazoned across the front and the new backpack slung over one shoulder.
“And the hat?” I asked, nodding at the baseball cap that he had gripped in one hand.
“Come on, kid, I look ridiculous—”
“The hat,” I sang cheerfully, waiting until he put it on and glared at me from underneath the bill.
Even with all of the gear, Rhodes still had an air of danger about him, but at the very least this would make it easier for me to go to my classes. “Perfect, this is what I expect you to wear every day or some iteration of it.”
“No. This is not perfect. I look like an asshole. I’m too old to be wearing this shit, Perrie, and I haven’t been a student for fifteen years.” Rhodes tugged on the hem of the jacket he was wearing with a deep frown.
