EMBRACE winrina

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Karina POV

Having Jeremy over at the same time that Win was supposed to return was by no means intentional. He had asked to come over and spend some time together, and I might've declined had certain events not taken place the previous week. I needed something to take my mind off of the brunette who continued worming her way into my mind, and I knew Jeremy would do just that.

I just hadn't expected him to be over for so long.

I was quickly becoming frustrated with the fact that Winter was always in my head, even if she hadn't intended to be. She didn't even remember what she had done to me on Thursday night, and even if I didn't plan on ever refreshing her memory, that did not mean I didn't think about it. I hardly thought about anything else.

And it was beginning to really piss me off.

I stood at my door as she came into view, walking next to Giselle as the two conversed about a topic I was unsure of. Despite the fact that I hated how she could easily break my barrier and play with my emotions, I still worried about her constantly. Keeping her out of Leo's grasp didn't prove to be too much of a challenge, although I knew it would be a different story if she decided that she didn't want to listen to me anymore. She certainly had a mind of her own, and I knew that even if I could change her mind about certain things with a little bit of convincing, she was still just as hard-headed as I was. She didn't like to take no for an answer, which bugged me but I couldn't blame her.

Though I knew I was capable of keeping her safe from any physical harm, I had no idea what was going on inside her head. I payed close attention to the way that she forced a smile on her face while Giselle was talking to her, and even if she had told me otherwise, I wondered if she was depressed. What had she really gone through in the past few years? I was dying for her to open up a little bit and talk to me about it, but at the same time, I didn't want her to because I really needed to distance myself.

And the best way to do so was to play teacher and think about something other than the warmth I'd felt on Thursday night when she kissed me.

If I so desperately craved lips to kiss, I had Jeremy's, and if I really needed a woman's touch, I doubted it would be all that difficult to find one that was actually legal.

I was thankful that it wasn't Thursday because I didn't need to spend any extra time with her. When the school day ended, I grabbed my bag and immediately headed to the gym. I was ridiculously tense, courtesy of Win and Lavender, and I needed to release my frustration in a way other than having meaningless sex. I knew Percy would probably be waiting for me in the back, so I changed out of my school clothes and went to find him.

He was unwrapping tape from around his hands when he turned to look at me. "I was beginning to think you'd never come back."

"You're kidding, right? Who else would be willing to let me beat them up for free?"

He smirked at me, grabbing his focus mitts. "I'm sure if you looked hard enough, you'd find a handful of volunteers."

I grabbed my gloves out of my bag and slipped them on, and Percy cocked his head at me. "So what are we doing today? Just the mitts or do you wanna try me in the ring?"

"As appealing as that sounds, and as certain as I am that I'd kick your ass, I can't today, remember? You so much as split my lip on accident and I'll have to answer to my boss."

He leaned towards me, smirking his ass off. "Most people do Karina, that's sort of what the title 'boss' implies."

I hit his shoulder lightly and let my expression loosen up a bit. "You know what I mean. I can't stand in front of a bunch of high school students looking like I just got the shit beat out of me."