Elliot has been acting weird since she got home from practice today. Typically she comes over after showering and does her homework on my bed while I grade papers. Today, however, she's doodling circles on the top of her page and sighing every few minutes. Kind of adorable, but it's driving me crazy wondering what's wrong.

I set my pen down and stand up from the chair at the small desk by the window. I sit down on the bed beside her and gently run my hand down her back. "Are you okay?"

She nods, blackening the edges of her latest creation. I give a sigh of my own and pat her on the ass. "Come on, tell me. I'm a big boy. I can handle it."

Elliot shoots me a skeptical look, but then rolls over onto her side. "Promise you won't get mad."

I hate when people say that. It almost always means that whatever you are about to hear will piss you off. That being said, I already promised to be there for her when she needs me and part of that is not acting like a dick when she tells me something I may not like.

I take a deep breath. "Okay, let me have it."

She sits up the whole way and crosses her legs in front of her. Her eyes remain wary. "I'm serious, Hunter. You can't freak out, and I don't like keeping things from you, so I want to tell you."

My pulse begins to quicken. Since our current situation is still precarious, I'm afraid of what she's going to say.

"I promise."

She laughs once. "Okay, well remember that in a few minutes." She flicks her long, dark hair over her shoulder and meets my eyes. "Holden started a rumor at lunch that Judah got into a fight with my new boyfriend."

My stomach drops a little further. "Do they know who?"

"No," she says.

This time, I breathe a sigh of relief. I reach over and squeeze her shoulder. "Okay, we can handle that. Judah said he isn't going to say anything, and you trust him, right?"

"Right."

She answers automatically, but her tone lacks enthusiasm. Something's not right.

"What else happened?"

She turns her eyes away from me toward the window. "You're going to get mad."

I'm already mad imagining all of the horrible things she could possibly tell me. The fact that she's upset at all right now is reason enough for me to find the person who made her this way and teach him a lesson—but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to take a deep breath and think everything through as it comes.

I grab her hand. "Elle, look at me baby." Her eyes shift back to me, and I bring her hand up to my lips. "Let me fix it, okay? Whatever it is, you should never be afraid to tell me something."

The look in her eyes is desolate and it destroys me. What could have possibly happened today to make her feel this way?

She takes a shaky breath. "I don't want to ruin your life."

My eyebrows pull in, confused by her admission. I tug her closer to me and wrap my arms around her. "What could make you think that?" I kiss the side of her head. "Huh?"

She sniffs like she's been silently crying. "The guys are determined to get to the bottom of what happened to Judah. If they find out..." her voice trails off with a strangled sob. She grips the front of my T-shirt, looking up at me with tears in her eyes. "You could get in serious trouble. Like trouble you can't come back from."

I know the risks of being with her. I've weighed them in my own head too many times to count, but they don't matter anymore. I want her, need her even, and I'm too selfish to let her go now.

She squeezes me tighter and lays her cheek against my chest. "I just got you. It's not fair if I lose you already."

"You won't lose me, Elle." I lean back and tip her chin, kissing her once. "You won't. No matter what happens, I'm not going anywhere."

She kisses me back harder, gripping the back of my neck. I work my lips over hers to calm her, but it calms me too. Being near her is enough to take away any doubt that we belong together. I know we do. All that's left is to figure out how.

***

As promised, Oliver and I are running the lifts and helping with the tubing park at the resort this weekend. Elliot is inside bartending which I'm not exactly thrilled about. All that keeps running through my mind is drunk vacationers making lewd comments and eyeing her like she's on the menu.

"Whatcha thinking about over there, Mayweather?" Oliver smirks at me as he loads inner tubes onto the conveyor.

"Nothing." I attempt to keep my tone casual, but he sees right through me.

He lifts his beanie and looks me in the eye. "You know what pisses me off the most?"

I raise an eyebrow, and he shakes his head. "Every time you were in one of these pissy little moods it was about my fucking sister."

"I'm sorry. I should have been honest with you."

He nods. "Yeah, you should have." He stops throwing the tubes on the belt for a minute and readjusts his gloves. When he's done, he looks up at me with a serious expression. "First and foremost, Elliot is my main concern. If I think you've stepped out of line with her in any way, I won't hesitate to retaliate. You've put me in an awkward position here, man."

"I know, I really do. And I wouldn't expect anything less." I pause for a moment and attempt to swallow the growing lump in my throat. Just the thought of someone causing her harm—myself or otherwise—wrecks me more than I ever imagined. "I promise you I would never hurt her. I mean that, Ollie."

Oliver nods again, and his expression softens. "Let's hope not. Because if you do, the way Judah looks right now will seem mild compared to what I do to you."

I don't blame Ollie one bit for feeling that way. My own need to protect Elliot forced me into doing terrible things. I just hope that was the last of it, because I would hate to see what I would do to him if it happens again.

He's quiet for a moment and then turns to me, the somber expression back on his face. He starts messing with his hat again. I brace myself for what he's about to say. "Listen, man. I know you have strong feelings for Elle—"

I start shaking my head, and he laughs a little. "Ollie, I already told you. I love her."

He nods. "Yeah, you said that—but I'm worried."

I'm starting to think there's something I don't know. Elliot was acting weird all week and now Oliver can't spit out whatever the fuck he wants to tell me. That's not like him. He's never afraid to say what he's thinking.

I sigh heavily and toss another discarded tube onto the conveyor. I square my shoulders when I turn back to him. "Just fucking tell me."

He takes a breath. "There was an incident during lunch period yesterday."

"Yeah, I know. She told me."

Oliver blows out a long breath, clearly relieved. "Okay, good. I didn't want you finding out that little shit called her a whore while you're at school and beating him to death in the hallway."

My blood instantly boils, and my jaw starts to twitch. "What did you say?"

The low tone of my voice makes Ollie visibly flinch. "Um, I thought you said she told you."

He takes a step back when I take one toward him. "Who said it?"

Ollie braces his hands on my shoulders and looks me dead in the eye. "I'm going to tell you and then you're going to count to ten and forget about it, okay? I got it covered."

My posture remains rigid. "Who?" I ask again, but this time I try to speak more calmly. His expression is skeptical, but he releases me and sighs.

"It was Holden, but—"

I pull away from him abruptly and stalk toward the parking lot. Ollie jumps on my back like a spider monkey before I make it three steps. I drag him with me for a few more until the weight of him face plants us both into the snow.

He's still clinging to me, and I struggle to push him off. We catch sideways glances from several skiers on their way past, but he just laughs.

"Get off of me," I growl and then give him a forceful shove.

He falls onto his side, still smirking. I push myself up on my knees and grab a handful of snow before throwing it at his face. He dodges it with another chuckle, clearly amused with himself.

I brush my pants off when I stand and turn to glare at him while he does that same. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

He grins at me. "It was the quickest way I could think to stop you."

"Stop me from doing what?"

He rolls his eyes. "Building your criminal record, obviously." He walks over and gives my shoulder a squeeze. I fight the urge to punch him. "You need to chill. I know you want to murder that kid, but you can't."

My nostrils flare. "You said you took care of it. What did you do?"

He releases me and then shrugs. "I threatened him—and then I told Judah."

Now I'm really going to hit him. "Why the fuck did you tell him?"

He looks at me like I'm some kind of idiot. "Because, genius. Judah can take a swing at him and not serve time for it."

I cross my arms, extremely uncomfortable with Judah being involved further. "I don't know, man. I don't trust him."

Ollie scoffs. "I know him. He's just as pissed as you are right now. He'll set him straight."

"And what if he wants to tell the truth?"

Ollie shakes his head. "He won't hurt Elliot. Exposing you, exposes her too. He would never do that to her."

It's total bullshit that I'm supposed to put all of my faith in someone who, I not only assaulted, but is definitely in love with my girlfriend. It doesn't exactly put one's mind at ease. Ollie senses my tension and sighs.

"Listen, I know you don't like him, but you have nothing to worry about. Underneath all that chauvinist exterior, he's a good dude, and he cares about her." His eyes drift away from me for a second and then he clears his throat. "And, uh—she cares about him, too. So you need to make shit right with him."

He readjusts his hat once more and turns back toward the conveyor. I don't say anything back because I know he's right. If I don't make nice with Judah then there's always going to be the worry he'll change his mind and destroy everything I have. I know I'm the one who put it all at risk, and I have to be the one to fix it.