Eden's Playground: Graystone Academy Book One, BE Kelly [good short books .TXT] 📗

her, Duff turned her to face Anson to let him take his turn with her, and he had to admit—watching the two of them in person was hot. He wasn’t jealous of them kissing like he was in his dream earlier. He had high tailed it over to her dorm room, ready to kick his brother’s ass for going against his word and kissing her. But now, watching the two of them together, he seemed to lose all his fight and the jealousy that had him sprinting across campus earlier.

“Not a deal-breaker,” Duff said. Her being a virgin wasn’t something that made him want her less. Hell, he wanted her more since finding out that she had never been with another man, if that was even possible. He and Anson would be the first men to touch her, to claim her, and to make her theirs and that was hot as fuck.

They ate breakfast together and the looks and whispers around the dining hall didn’t seem to faze Eden. She seemed oblivious to the way the other witches and shifters were judging the three of them together but he could tell by the shitty mood his brother was in, Anson was picking up on some of the other student’s rude thoughts.

“Don’t let them bother you, Anson,” Duff whispered across the table when Eden got up to grab something more to drink.

“I wish I could block them all out, but they’re so loud. They’re all thinking it, too,” Anson said.

“Thinking what?” Duff asked.

“That we’re going to kill Eden like we killed Geneva,” Anson whispered.

Duff looked around the crowded dining hall and back to his brother. “I didn’t even know Gen, really,” Duff breathed.

“I know, but it’s what they’re all thinking,” Anson said.

“What’s everyone thinking?” Eden asked, returning to the table. She sat down in her seat and looked between the two of them, waiting for an answer to her question.

Anson sighed, “Everyone’s thinking that we’re together,” he lied. He shot Duff a look and he worried that his brother’s lie was going to cost them both. If Eden knew that Anson flat out lied to her, she’d be pissed but he understood why his brother did it. He couldn’t tell her what everyone was thinking—it was too painful. He lied to spare her feelings and that had to count for something.

She smiled at Anson and then looked over at Duff. “Are we together?” she asked.

“I hope so,” Anson quickly agreed.

“Me too,” Duff added.

“Good,” she said. Eden sat forward in her chair and pointed between the two of them. “Well, then, there is one thing you should know about what I can do. You see, I’m not just a witch, I’m also an empath. I pick up on people’s moods, what they’re feeling, if they’re nervous or worried. And here’s what sets me apart from other witches and empaths—I can tell when someone is lying to me.”

“Shit,” Anson murmured under his breath.

“Yeah—that about sums it up. I don’t usually call people on their shit. Not unless I’m truly curious about why they’re lying to me. My mom calls me a ‘human lie detector’. So, how about you try giving me the truth. I won’t ask again. You two want to be with me, I’ll need the truth,” Eden said. The more he got to know her, the more Duff liked her. She was different from other girls on campus. One minute, she was shy and sweet and the next, she was fiery and fierce.

“I really like her,” Duff breathed. “Just tell her, Anson.”

His brother looked torn and Duff felt bad for him. Anson quickly looked around the dining hall once more and back to Eden. “They think that we’re together and that Duff and I will kill you the way we killed Geneva.”

“That girl you found in the woods?” Eden asked.

“Yes,” Anson said. “But we didn’t kill her. I didn’t kill her,” he shouted. Everyone around them seemed to pick up with their conversations and the hum of the crowd filled the once quiet room.

“Busy bodies,” Duff grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Eden said. “I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have pushed. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Duff insisted. “We shouldn’t have lied to you and everyone else needs to mind their damn business.”

“He’s right,” Anson agreed, “you didn’t do anything wrong.” She smiled at him and Anson smirked back at her.

“And?” she asked.

“And I shouldn’t have lied to you, Eden. It won’t happen again,” Anson promised.

“We give you our word,” Duff added.

“I appreciate that,” she said. “Now, how about you two take me to town and show me around? I need some new things and I’d still like to do some research.”

“It’s a date,” Duff agreed.

Eden

They spent the rest of the day together and she couldn’t remember having a better time. She picked up way too many new outfits and some things for her room, including some bedding that was more to her taste, a lamp, and some pillows. A girl could never have too many throw pillows. She got the supplies she needed for her classes and even had time to swing by the book store on campus, before it closed, to pick up her books. The only thing they didn’t have time for was going to the library to do some research on her Aunt Bianca’s death, and she wondered if that was intentional.

The guys didn’t seem to want her to look into Bianca’s death and she wasn’t sure her father would be any happier with her snooping. Anson and Duff dropped her off at her dorm room after dinner and promised to meet up with her bright and early for breakfast. She was hoping that they would want to hang out—maybe even spend the night, but they seemed to want to take things slowly with her. They both gave her a scorching kiss goodbye and when she pushed them out of her dorm room and shut the door, she