Chapter 6 Do You Want to Come In?

Catherine's POV

The moment Aunt Lassey saw Lynn, she gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God!"

I could already guess what Aunt Rosie's next line would be. What a beautiful child!

Lynn looked like he had absolutely no idea how to handle someone reacting to him like that.

He glanced over at me, his eyes basically asking, What's her deal?

I burst out laughing again and gestured to him. She's complimenting you.

"Okay, I won't keep you! Talk later, love you!"

"Love you too, sweetheart! Next time you have a break, feel free to bring your friends over. I just learned a new apple pie recipe!"

Lynn was standing right there when he heard that. His eyes went wide, and he looked at me. I was already trying not to crack up. "Did she just invite me to your house?"

"Why do you look like that? Aunt Lassey really likes you, she's super friendly." I couldn't hold it in anymore and just started laughing.

Every bit of frustration and sadness from the day just melted away.

Lynn hesitated. "Can I actually go?"

"Why not? When we have our next break, if you don't have to go home, I'll bring you with me. You in?"

Lynn didn't even pause. He nodded. "I'm in."

We spent the whole walk back talking about what kind of gift to bring on a first visit, and before I knew it, we were standing at my dorm.

"See you tomorrow morning!"

And then, I watched him open my dorm door before I even reached for it.

"Wait… how did you do that? Why does it open for you?" I walked around him in a circle, completely baffled.

Lynn smiled for the first time like someone who'd just pulled off a perfect scheme. "I filed a request with Vera to move in as your partner. There's still an empty room, isn't there? Unless you don't want me here?"

"Oh my God, you're staying with me? I'm so happy!" The surprise completely knocked me off balance. Without thinking, I grabbed his sleeve and started pulling him inside.

Lynn followed along without any resistance.

The suite had two bedrooms, a living room, a gym, a kitchen, and a bathroom. You could tell the academy actually wanted students to have real lives here.

Lynn looked around, and he seemed genuinely satisfied with the place.

"Do you want to see my room?" I asked. "We could watch a movie together!"

"What?" Lynn raised an eyebrow. He crossed his arms and looked at me like he was trying to figure something out.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just… Catherine, you trust people too easily. Don't invite someone into your room like that, especially guys you've just met."

Lynn chose his words carefully, like he was genuinely trying to warn me.

I had no idea what he was getting at. "It's just a movie. Why are you being so serious about this?"

Did he think I said something rude?

Lynn rubbed his temple, and despite himself, he almost smiled. He explained calmly, "What I mean is, we're partners, but we don't really know each other yet. I don't think you're at the point where you'd actually be comfortable being alone with me in your personal space. You get what I'm saying?"

It hit me all at once.

I felt the heat rush straight to my face. I hadn't looked in a mirror, but I knew, I was absolutely red.

I genuinely just wanted to watch a movie with him. That was it. So what did he mean? Was it what I thought he meant? Was he hinting at something? Or did he think I was hinting at something?

Every single thought in my head ground to a complete halt, like a rusty engine seizing up.

Liam Hammer's POV

I was already regretting what I said the second I saw her face.

She looked like an overripe tomato, frozen, staring at me, completely unable to speak.

A few seconds of silence that felt like an entire century.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought it was a little inappropriate." The moment I started explaining, I knew it was a mistake.

Should've just said nothing.

Thankfully, Catherine pulled herself together pretty quickly. She hesitated, then tried to explain herself. "I wasn't thinking anything like that. I just… I think you're a good person, and I wanted to watch a movie with you. I'm not great at being around guys…"

I caught the shift immediately, from embarrassed and flustered to something quieter. More guarded.

My gut told me something had happened to her. Something involving a guy. Something that hadn't been good.

My whole body went tense. My stomach dropped. "What happened? Why do you say that? Did something happen before?"

I knew I was pushing into territory that wasn't mine. But I couldn't stop myself. I needed to know. The predatory instinct that ran through my hybrid blood was already burning — I wanted to tear apart whatever had hurt her.

I didn't fully understand why I felt this way. For now, I chalked it up to Catherine herself, the kind of person she was. If she'd never crossed paths with me, she would've been the girl everyone at this academy loved without question.

Catherine reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I'd noticed she always did that when she was nervous. "When I was interning at a company… he was my boss."

God, I already hated where this was going.

"He seemed great at first. Polished, well-mannered. I hadn't even been there a week before he started coming after me hard." She was looking down as she said it, like somehow it was her fault.

"But I didn't feel anything for him, so I turned him down…"

Her shoulders trembled slightly. "I didn't expect him to be like that. When he didn't get what he wanted, he turned on me. He started cutting me off, pushing me out."

Catherine took a slow breath, then looked up at me with a smile that broke something in me. "But actually, I was going to say, I've been through being shut out before, so the people here who are trying to do the same thing don't really scare me."

That man is finished.

And here she was, using her own pain to make me feel better. I was losing my mind.

I clenched my fist and held my anger down as hard as I could. "Do you still have his contact? Home address? Where his company is?"

I was going to level it. Literally.

Catherine caught on immediately, her whole expression shifted to something cautious. Good. She knew exactly what I was thinking. Smart girl. "Lynn. Why are you asking that?"

I made a slow, deliberate throat-cutting gesture.

She grabbed my hand, eyes wide and bright. "No! What are you thinking?!"

Then her voice softened. "I know you want to go after him for me. But that's all over now. How could I let my friend do something with consequences that serious — for my sake?"

Consequences.

That's not how it works for me. My family would make sure there were none. I could handle it and walk away clean.

But I didn't say that. I knew it would upset her, and her feelings mattered to me. So I just nodded quietly.

Catherine clearly wanted to move on from it too. She came back out of her room with her laptop, held it up, and smiled at me. "Movie? What do you say?"

"And apparently there's a meteor shower tonight, we can make wishes!"

Sure. I'll wish for that man to drop dead by morning.

Catherine was beautiful tonight. The smile she gave me was the warmest thing I'd seen in my entire life. I wanted to keep moving closer to her.

I wanted to protect her.