Gabriel's POV
Broba giggled as I threw a piece of paper at the back of the guy in front of us. He whipped around to look at us, and we quickly looked away, stifling our laughter.
I never knew class could be this fun until I met Broba.
The class ended soon after, and she stood up to gather her things.
"Gabriel, one of these days your playfulness is going to catch up with you, you know," she teased, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Well, hopefully that day isn't today," I replied.
She laughed and winked. "Hopefully. Bye, Gabriel."
"See ya, Peanut." She walked out, and I sighed. Damn, she was awesome.
I had a free period, so I headed out to the yard to meet Alec.
"Hey, man," Alec greeted as I approached.
"Hey." We started chatting, but then a guy I'd never seen before came up to us.
"Gabriel, right?" he said.
"Yeah. And you are?"
He sized me up from head to toe. "Finn. Listen, I'm going to make this short: stay away from Broba. Or else."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. She's fine as hell and she's mine. But you're in my way. Stay away."
"Or else what?"
He grabbed my shirt. "You'll find out."
I scoffed and shoved him off.
"So, is that clear? I wanna see that girl without her glasses on, moaning my name."
That little pervert.
"Burn in hell," I growled.
"What's wrong, Hall? Does it bother you that you can picture me eating her ou—"
I punched him.
He looked up in disbelief. "Let's go then, bitch."
He kicked me in the gut, doubling me over. Alec shouted for him to stop, but he ignored it and kept punching me in the face. I felt my nose start to bleed.
I managed to land a punch on his nose, but he hit me harder in the gut again.
Man, that hurt.
My vision blurred as I heard Alec calling someone who was coming into the yard to pull Finn off me.
"Stop! Leave him alone!" a voice yelled.
Finn stopped and turned.
Broba.
He checked her out and licked his lips. "Hey, it's not what it looks—"
She shoved him off me and helped me to my feet. She said something to Alec, then walked with me toward the dorms, to my room.
She pulled out Alec's key, which he had just given her, and opened the door.
Carefully, she led me to the bathroom and sat me on the closed toilet seat.
She grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet, pulling out antiseptic and gauze.
Broba looked at my face and winced but put her hand gently on my cheek and began cleaning my cuts.
I watched her. She looked focused and calm as she treated my wounds.
When she reached a particularly bad cut, she looked at me. "This might hurt a bit," she warned.
I shrugged.
She took my hand, and I noticed how perfectly hers fit in mine.
She applied the antiseptic, and we both winced.
Then she wrapped the cut with a bandage.
"Why?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I don't like jerks. Plus, you've been amazing to me." She looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry."
I returned her gaze. "Why are you apologizing?" I held her hand tighter. "You didn't do anything wrong."
We stared at each other for a long moment before I spoke again. "You're really good at this," I said, nodding toward the bandages.
She laughed. "Thanks. It's my specialty." She flipped her hair, and I laughed.
"Thank you," I said, pulling her into a hug. "You saved me."
"Dude, this girl likes you," Alec said from his bed.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
He looked me in the eye. "Positive. The moment she saw you on the ground—before I even called her—she rushed over. She likes you."
I sighed. Of course I liked her. How could I not? She was sweet, funny, kind... and so damn beautiful. Just seeing her face made me lose it.
"Shoot your shot, man. Today was a perfect example of how many guys are out to get her. I'd do it before some tool steals her away," he said matter-of-factly.
I stared at him. "You just think you're Mr. Love because you have a girlfriend."
He smiled, thinking about the girl he loved. "You know it."