Chapter 5

Zach’s POV

Aria losing her memories was affecting me more than I thought it would. I didn’t expect her to completely lose trust in me and everything I said, it was like starting over with a stranger. Even the way she dressed was different. She was wearing a flowing black dress with a top that hugged her gorgeous breasts and heels that made her legs look even better than before. It was hard to not think about those legs wrapped around me as I would pound into her.

I groaned at the thought causing her to look at me strangely. I gave her a smile that I hoped was innocent as I led her to her first period biology class.

“Here you go, text me if you have any questions, okay? I’ll meet you out here when class is over and we’ll walk together to math” I told her. I went to hug her but restrained myself, she was unfamiliar with me right now and I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

“Alright. Thanks, Zach.” She gave me a small smile, and her hips swayed enticingly as she walked into the room. I bit my fist and turned around to run right into Wendy again. Seriously, this girl is every where.

“Hey Zach, I thought we could talk about prom, you know, since we are going together.” She smiled up at me.

Internally, I rolled my eyes, “look Wendy, I already told you, we are only going together because our fathers are in business together. I didn’t even have a chance to talk to Aria about it before you spilled the beans and upset her before the accident. There’s nothing really to discuss. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to class.”

She pouted as I pushed past and went to history class where I sat down in between Finn and Marcus.

“Our mate is really looking good today.” Finn smirked.

“I told you already, there’s no ours involved, she’s mine, she’s always been mine. Back off.” I told him.

“You can’t mess with fate, man, she was meant to be ours, just like I knew you were a part of our quad. We need her to complete the quad so we can break the curse. We all knew it when we turned eighteen and per your insistence, we waited until she was eighteen to ensure she was all of ours’ mate. Now that she feels the effects of the bond, there’s no reason to hide it anymore.” Finn argued.

“You know Finn is right, Zach. You’ve kept her from us for too long. Playtime is now over.” Marcus chimed in.

“I don’t want to share her with the two of you, I don’t know how many times I have to say that. She will be mine, and only mine. I couldn’t give two shits about the curse being broken. And Marcus, you never acted interested before, why the sudden change?” I questioned.

Marcus ignored me before Finn turned back towards me. “Sure, keep telling yourself that. Eventually, fate finds a way.” Finn chuckled before turning his attention to the front of the class where Mr. Reginald just walked in.

With a frown, I looked down at my phone hoping for a text from Aria, but I only had notifications from Wendy. Without even reading them, I deleted Wendy’s messages and looked out the window where I saw a flash of a blur at the far end of the parking lot. I blinked and the black blur was gone.

Class dragged by but as soon as the bell rang, I was out of my seat and making my way to Aria’s first period class so I could take her to algebra.

As I approached, my smile faltered when I saw her talking and laughing with Jared Hicks. I cracked my knuckles and sashayed over to where they were before pulling Aria into a big hug, swinging her around.

“Put me down you big oaf!” She scolded, making me laugh. I looked Jared in the eye and bared my teeth at him before setting her back on her feet.

“Uh, I’ll see you later, Aria.” Jared said as he hurried away.

“What was that for?” She complained at me as I grabbed her hand and led her away. The tingles were driving me crazy, but I did my best to show no reaction to them as I pulled her into algebra.

Mr. Zane was already in the classroom and looked up from his papers when we walked in.

“Ahh, Zach, are you going to behave today or do I need to separate you and Miss Montgomery?” He mocked.

“I’ll be good, sir.” I begrudgingly grumbled so I could sit next to Aria.

“Welcome back, Aria. As your teacher, I received an email about your…condition…if you need help with class, please let me know.” Mr. Zane directed at her.

“Thank you, sir.” She said sweetly which irritated me.

I rolled my eyes as she followed me down the aisle. I pointed at her normal seat and sat down next to her.

“Please open your books to page…” I tuned out the rest of Mr. Zane and nudged Aria.

“What?” She hissed.

“You didn’t text me last class.” I pointed out, feeling like a simp but I really missed her while she was hiding away at her house.

“I didn’t think I needed to.” She replied simply before opening her book and flipping through the pages.

“So, you understood what the teacher was talking about?” I asked.

“Yes, I seemed to have retained my learning, which would’ve been a bitch if I had to relearn everything in these lessons.” She said.

“Good, that’s good.” I muttered dejectedly. I was hoping she’d struggle only just a little so I could help her out in her studies after school at my house. I needed every excuse I could get to spend time with her.

I spaced out during the class while Aria seemed to have been telling the truth and having no issues with the lesson. Next thing I knew, the bell was ringing for end of class, and students were standing up to exit the room.

I grabbed Aria’s hand and pulled her from the room as quickly as possible so we could get away from that jerk, Mr. Zane.

“Hey! My hand is attached to my arm you know!” Aria complained as I dragged her to gym.

“I just wanted to make sure you had time to change, Aria, gym is next, and we have to change into our gym clothes.” I told her as an excuse.

She clicked her tongue and let me drag her along while all my senses hummed in awareness at the mate bond flowing to life. All I wanted to do was pull her into the nearest closet and kiss her senseless, but I figured she wouldn’t appreciate that.

“Okay, here’s the girl’s locker room, I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I told her as I left her and went to the guy’s locker room.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was assaulted with male voices in the back corner of the room whispering, “damn, did you see how hot she looked in that dress? I had no idea the prude was hiding that body under those baggy shirts.”

“Hell yea, those tits are begging to be touched.”

Already knowing who they were talking about, I stalked to the corner of the room and found Jared with his buddy Frank who had a cat-like grin. Without warning, I punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground with one hit. I turned to Jared who raised his hands and moved backwards to try to get away. I fisted his shirt and shoved him against the wall, “don’t talk about Aria that way.”

“Boys! Settle down!” Coach Bonet called as he walked into the locker room.

I shoved Jared back and walked past Coach to go into the gym where I saw Aria talking to the new girl.

“Oh, it’s you.” The girl greeted when she saw me going towards them.

“It’s me?” I asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’m catching Aria up on what she’s missed out on.” She told me.

“I think that’s my job as her best friend.” I replied.

“I think Elle has been doing a fine job.” Aria retorted.

I snorted and pulled her towards me, “come on Aria, nobody knows you better than me. She’s new, she can’t teach you the kinds of things I can.”

Aria’s pupils blew wide, and I realized how my statement sounded.

“Zach, we need space. This codependency isn’t healthy.” She whispered huskily.

“What if I don’t want space, Aria?” I whispered back as I leaned into her personal space. My eyes flickered to her lips, and I seriously regretted telling her in the hospital we were just friends.

“What are you doing?” She asked as I continued to stare at her lips.

“This.” I took a deep breath and leaned in.