The Boy In Room 307

Intervened

Gravity pulled Mia backward over the high glass barrier, the shimmering blue water of the indoor pool waiting ten feet below. Air rushed past her ears. Her hands clawed uselessly at the empty space.

Before her heels could completely clear the tiled ledge, a massive, calloused hand shot through the air and locked around Miller’s wrist like an iron clamp.

Miller’s shove ground to a violent, shuddering halt.

"What the—" Miller grunted, his drunken laugh cutting off as his arm was yanked backward with brutal force.

Jayden Cole stood towering on the ledge beside them, his dark eyes ablaze with pure, unbridled rage. His face was pale, his jaw set like carved granite. Even with a subtle limp, his physical presence completely eclipsed the room.

Without saying a single word, Jayden twisted Miller’s wrist downward. The massive football player let out a sharp yell of pain, his fingers involuntarily opening up and releasing Mia's jacket.

Mia tumbled forward, landing hard on her hands and knees on the slick tile floor. She gasped, clutching her tight chest, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She was safe. She hadn't hit the water.

"Cole?" Miller snarled, clutching his throbbing wrist as he stumbled back a step. "What the hell is your problem?!"

Jayden didn't answer right away. He stepped directly over Mia, putting his body between her and the crowd of football players. He loomed over Miller, his chest rising and falling in slow, dangerous breaths.

"Touch him again," Jayden said, his voice dropping into a low, lethal whisper that carried clearly over the thumping bass of the lounge music, "and I'll break your arm in three places."

The surrounding crowd went dead silent. The cheering stopped instantly as dozens of athletes backed away from the sudden, suffocating tension.

Miller’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment and drunken anger. He squared his broad shoulders, puffing out his chest. "You think you can talk to me like that, Cole? You're a washed-up cripple! You can't even run down the court anymore!"

Ethan scrambled over, stepping beside Jayden with his fists clenched tight. "Back off, Miller. You almost threw him over the glass!"

"Stay out of this, Brooks!" Miller shouted, taking an aggressive step toward Jayden. "What's the matter, Cole? You hiding in your room for eight months just to come out and protect some weak little track boy?"

Jayden didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. He took a single step forward, crowding Miller's space until their chests almost touched.

"Try me," Jayden growled, his dark eyes pitch-black with fury. "Step up and see if my leg stops me from putting you on the floor."

Miller raised his fists, his breathing heavy and chaotic. For three terrifying seconds, a full-scale brawl hung in the air by a single thread.

Before Miller could swing, Jayden reached down, grabbed Mia roughly by the back collar of her denim jacket, and hauled her straight up to her feet.

"Hey! Let go of him!" Ethan demanded, reaching out to pull Mia back.

Jayden whipped his head around, glaring at Ethan with such raw, venomous hostility that even the soccer captain paused in his tracks.

"Don't touch him, Brooks," Jayden snarled. "He's my roommate. He's coming with me."

Without waiting for a response, Jayden yanked Mia by her collar, dragging her away from the pool deck, past the stunned crowd of athletes, and straight out the double doors of the lounge into the cool, quiet night air.

"Jayden! Let go!" Mia choked out, her feet stumbling across the paved courtyard path as she tried to keep up with his long, forceful strides. "I can walk!"

Jayden ignored her completely. His grip on her collar remained absolute, pulling her along like a ragdoll. His breath hitched slightly as his left knee buckled under the sudden strain, but he didn't slow down. He marched through the dark campus paths, hauling her all the way to Dorm Building 3.

They burst through the heavy front doors, past the warden's desk, and up the three flights of concrete stairs. Mia had to scramble to keep from falling flat on her face as Jayden dragged her down the quiet hallway of the third floor.

He reached Room 307, unlocked the door with a harsh twist of his keycard, and yanked her inside.

Jayden shoved Mia backward into the room.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind her with a deafening c***k.

Mia stumbled, her back slamming hard against the wood of the door. The breath exploded from her lungs. She barely had time to recover before Jayden stepped up, placing both of his palms flat against the door on either side of her head, trapping her completely in his shadow.

The room was pitch-black except for the pale moonlight filtering through the blinds.

Jayden loomed over her, his broad shoulders blocking out the light. His heavy, ragged breathing filled the small space. His face was inches from hers, his sharp jaw tight, his dark eyes wild with an intense, chaotic emotion she couldn't understand.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jayden growled, his deep voice trembling with rage.

Mia clamped her jaw shut, her hands pressing against the hard wood behind her back. She dropped her voice into her raspy lower register, trying to sound firm despite her racing pulse. "What is your problem? I was handling it!"

"Handling it?!" Jayden scoffed, a harsh, disbelieving laugh bursting from his throat. "You were two inches away from falling ten feet into a pool! You were terrified! Your whole body was shaking!"

"I would have managed!" Mia snapped back, glaring up into his eyes. "You didn't have to drag me through campus like a dog!"

"You're an i***t, Max!" Jayden yelled, slamming one palm against the door beside her ear. The loud bang echoed in the small room. "You let people push you around! You let that drunk football brute handle you like paper, and you just stood there!"

"I tried to push him off!" Mia yelled back, her chest heaving against her tight binder. "He's twice my size!"

"Then use your mouth! Fight back! Call for help!" Jayden’s voice cracked with raw, explosive frustration. He leaned in closer, his chest nearly pressing against hers, his eyes burning into hers in the dark. "Why do you let people treat you like you're weak? Why do you just stand there and take it?!"

Mia bit her lip, her heart hammering wildly. She couldn't tell him the truth. She couldn't tell him that falling into the pool meant her entire life would be destroyed, that her chest binder would be exposed, that she would be thrown out of Crownridge in disgrace.

"I don't need you to rescue me," Mia said softly, her voice raspy and stubborn. "I didn't ask you to come to that party."

"I wish I hadn't," Jayden spat, his teeth grinding together.

He leaned down, his face dropping until his lips were inches from her ear. His hot breath brushed against her skin, sending an uncontrollable shiver straight down her spine.

"And what about Brooks?" Jayden asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low whisper that sent chills down her neck.

Mia blinked, confused. "What?"

"Ethan Brooks," Jayden growled, his tone laced with a dark, bitter jealousy he clearly didn't even understand himself. "I watched you all night, Max. Sitting at the bar with him. Smiling at him. Letting him put his hands on your shoulder. Letting him whisper in your ear."

Mia stared at him, her lips parting slightly in shock. "Ethan was just being nice—"

"Ethan wants something from you!" Jayden barked, stepping even closer, crowding her so completely she could feel the heat radiating off his body. "He doesn't give a damn about track! He's hovering around you like a hawk! Why are you letting another guy get so close to you?"

"He's my friend!" Mia yelled, frustration boiling over inside her. "Unlike you, he actually talks to me! He doesn't draw lines on the floor and tell me I'm a nuisance!"

Jayden went completely still.

The silence in the room returned, thick and suffocating. Jayden stared down at her face in the dark moonlight, his dark eyes sweeping over her sharp jawline, her wide eyes, and her parted lips. His breathing remained heavy and uneven.

He looked at her as if he were looking at a complete stranger—and yet, his body refused to step back. His hands remained pinned to the door on either side of her head.

"Why are you so obsessed with who touches me?" Mia asked softly, her raspy voice barely above a whisper. "Why do you care, Jayden?"

Jayden’s jaw twitched. He opened his mouth to spit out another harsh insult, another rule, another cold rejection.

Instead, his eyes dropped down to her lips.

He stood there in the dark, pinned against her, his mind completely reeling as a terrifying, chaotic thought echoed in his mind—a thought he couldn't control, couldn't explain, and couldn't fight.

He didn't want Ethan touching his roommate.

He didn't want anyone touching his roommate.