Sadly, my classes are about to start, so I eventually have to leave. I can’t wait around, and I’m annoyed as hell.
The whole day is miserable. My head is constantly on a swivel, scanning for unfamiliar faces anywhere near me.
During lunch I spot Kaen and Zion in the cafeteria. I’m tempted to walk over and ask for details, because I know they were loosely friendly with Vin and Rob, so they might have some fresh news about the brothers. But I hold myself back, because I don’t want to stir up any noise about the whole situation.
After lunch, when I’m very carefully trying to avoid bumping into Dereck, I go back to security again, but the head officer still isn’t there. He’s dealing with something with the provost, and his employees dismiss me again, too busy watching a game on one of the monitors to care.
That’s when I realize that the only person standing between me and walking alone through the campus park woods is… Dereck.
Fuck!
In my last lecture I don’t see Kaleb. Maybe that’s good, or maybe it’s bad, because I have no idea what he’s planning.
When the lecture ends, Dereck suddenly appears outside the classroom.
I flinch when I see him. He looks awkward and embarrassed, clearly sober now. Shame had to hit him hard, as he immediately starts apologizing, nearly folding in half.
"Alex, I feel so stupid about what happened, drinking never does me any good, I really…"
"I don’t want to talk about it, Dereck," I cut him off, glancing around nervously. "There’s nothing to talk about. There’s nothing between us and there never can be."
His face goes a shade paler. He tightens his mouth.
"You really mean that?"
"Yes!"
"But you’ve been with others beyond Bay, right? So it’s not like you can’t move on…"
"I’ve never been with anyone else! And I’m not planning on doing so for now."
He narrows his eyes. "You are lying."
"What?!"
"I saw your neck yesterday when you rolled off the bed. You have a mark on your neck gland. These marks fade in two years. So it can’t be Bay’s."
I freeze for a moment, staring at him like an idiot with my mouth hanging open. I know very well that I still have Bay’s mark on my neck, I just never thought about it before, but Dereck actually makes a good point. That kind of mating mark should have faded already. I probably need to look into it. But it definitely isn’t Dereck’s business.
So I snap at him, "It’s from Bay, it stayed longer by some kind of miracle. And by the way, I don’t owe you any explanations." And I head out with the flow of students.
As I approach the exit, my entire body tenses up.
Dereck follows me and suddenly says, "I just walked through the park, didn’t see anyone, so I think it’s clear," as he notices my tense expression and watches me nervously scanning the people near the exit.
"Maybe you’re stressing out for no reason?" he mutters with a shrug.
"Those idiots wouldn’t show up here unless they were planning something. I’m sure of that," I say sharply.
We step outside and students scatter in all directions.
"Come on, let’s follow that group," Dereck suggests. "We’ll take the long way, but it’s safer."
It sounds reasonable, so I agree. "Sure."
The path chosen by that group of students leads through an even longer stretch of woods, but walking behind them feels safer, so I decide we should follow.
A moment later I realize we just made a huge mistake.
