Running from His Claim (Beauty and the Beast #2)

Chapter 34

I stood at my locker that Friday morning, fiddling with my books. The halls were mostly empty now but I had an unexpected free lesson. It meant that I wasn't late for class and that I could disappear into the library again. Yes, the library had become my new favorite place since Vic left.

"Hey, beautiful."

I looked up to see three guys standing around me. Two had their arms crossed while the third was leaning on Amber's locker. I got the feeling of being caged in and my shields instantly went up.

"Uh, hi?"

"We saw you at the party on Saturday," the closest one smirked, leaning even closer. "Too bad you left before we could hang out."

I looked around at their sinister looks and suddenly wished this hall wasn't so empty. "Sucks to be you?"

They laughed mockingly and stepped closer. "It's fine, we'll get to know you soon enough," the leader said, his expression turning hard. His eyes roved over me lazily, making me feel exposed and uncomfortable. "I've always wondered what a real Queen B is like in bed."

I bristled, then my eyes widened and I grinned at him. "Hey, don't I know you? Weren't you the guy getting his tail majorly handed to him by Strandton recently?"

He growled and lunged for me - and was instantly pulled back. Logan stood between me and the three guys. His back was to me as he stared the leader down. The guys backed away slightly, looking around for the rest of the team.

"Leave," Logan said quietly.

When they realised that it was just him, the cocky grins came back. "Or what, pretty boy?"

Logan didn't blink. He kept his eyes on the leader as he passed me his black binder. I accepted it and held it against my chest like a shield, hoping they weren't about to fight. Logan took a threatening step forward right into the guy's face.

"Watson, come on," one of the other guys said nervously, tugging on the leader's arm.

Watson glared up at Logan for a second longer, then his eyes flickered over to me and he smirked. "See you around."

We watched them walk away. When Logan relaxed I sighed. He turned to me, his bright blue eyes quickly assessing me, and stepped closer in concern. "Okay?"

I nodded quickly, handing his binder back. "I'm fine. Thank you, I don't know what I'd have done if they tried anything."

He raised a brow then smirked.

"What?"

He simply reached into the binder, took out two crisp sheets of paper and passed them to me. "Yours."

I smiled and accepted them. "Thank you."

He flashed me a grin and walked away. I turned back to my locker, looking through the pages. The first one was of the flower I'd seen him sketching weeks ago. He'd completed it and even though it was simple black and white, it was breathtaking.

I smiled, touched, then flipped to the next one. This one had me laughing. He'd sketched a bag of flour and under it he'd scrawled 'other flour'. He'd remembered my lame joke and chose to run with it.

I stuck them to the inside of my locker, grabbed my books and left. The near attack just minutes before was already forgotten.

After classes I had to attend final practice - and I had rehearsal. Chris whined for a bit before he gave in and let me attend rehearsal first, but I had to swear to rush to practice as soon as I could.

I was laughing when I walked into the auditorium. I dropped my bag near the stage and stepped up to it, tucking my hair back. "Hi guys."

Liam grinned at me, stepping away from the people he was talking to. "Hi! I haven't seen you all week!"