“Accosted? No. Not possible with this one,” Bray says dismissively as he backs away from the couch. He knows me well enough to understand that I’m not going to call him out publicly. Not because I’m protecting him. I have my own reasons.
“And who’s your girl, Heyworth?” Bray asks.
“Camrynn Reynolds.”
“The little blond reporter? She’s cute. And very accommodating, right? The scholarship girls always are.” Bray’s nasty expression turns smug as his gaze flicks back to me.
I don’t flip him off. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
Besides, while it’s true I’ve got an athletic scholarship, it’s not because my family’s poor. My dad’s a world-class trauma surgeon. We’re not rich, but we’re fine.
Once Bray stalks over to the door, shoves it open and slinks out, I turn my attention back to the plant, pushing its branch away as I sit stiffly.
“Arya,” Heyworth says, which is surprising. He usually only acknowledges me when I’m with Eden. Heyworth has a type. Petite, blond, impressed with him.
“Declan,” I say, echoing his cool tone and not bothering to thank him for intervening.
I shouldn’t need to thank any guy for his help. It should be safe to sit in a GU building while I wait for my friends.
But with or without Brayden, I’m not safe. No girl is.
As my gaze drifts to the inky black beyond the windows, fear closes in around me. I won’t dare walk out there alone. Too many close calls.
Fuck Casanova. Fuck Brayden. And even fuck Declan Heyworth and every one of his burly friends. Especially the Viking for not warning me he was S Riksen. If not for his lie of omission, I would never have come here after dark.
“Do you believe Delmer was telling the truth about the lavender roses?” Heyworth asks.
Ah, so that’s why he addressed me. He’s not interested in whether the encounter rattled me. He wants an opinion on a sleazy rich prick that he and his friends had a fight with.
I tell myself that’s fine. It’s good that he respects me and doesn’t patronize me, right?
“You know Delmer and his Lambda Delta brothers. Was it just a joke?” he continues. “Or was it something more?”
I force my gaze to turn back to Heyworth’s handsome All-American face. Light gleams off his glossy black hair, which is even darker than mine.
“Something more? Such as?” My voice is low and dry, like I’m a bored frat boy, too.
“Like homage to a would-be mentor?”
My brows rise. “What?” My head tilts as the vile thought creeps into my bones. “Is there reason to believe Casanova has a mentorship program?”
“No reason except that an entire group of men who usually only pledge allegiance to their house made a public display of wearing a rose favored by a serial killer.”
“Just boys being boys, I expect. That’s still a thing, right?” My tone has more than a trace of disgust.
“If you say so.”
Heyworth doesn’t seem like a boy. He never has. But he does seem like someone who believes he’s above the law. Like all these rich legacy pricks.
The memory of the night my friend Tavi and I were trapped in the Lambda Delta house rises like bile. Drunk frat guys are dangerous. It’s why I put that entire scene in my rearview.
Even so, they’re not as dangerous as Casanova. And I can’t believe they’d be in league with him.
Then the vile things Bray’s friends did that night come drifting back.“You ready to share the caramel candy?”
Looking away from the billionaire playboy, I scowl at the darkness. Even if they’re not in league with Casanova, I bet that psycho would approve of the Lambda Delta world view. Girls as a commodity to be used, traded and fucked.
We escaped, but that didn’t make the night less harrowing.
