“Why thefuckweren’t you here when we woke up?” Cara demands.
I sigh. “Look, it’s been a long night. The basics? After I left my pack, someone was following me. A guy, I think. I’m pretty sure he had a knife, and I gotsuperscared. I ran out onto the road, was lucky enough to run into another guy, one who goes to Greywood. He scared whoever the fuck was following me off—apparently, he’s had dealings with the forest stalker. Long story short, I’m pretty sure I got spotted by the sort of person nobody wants to get spotted by, so Dorian Acheron offered for me to stay with him for a bit so that I didn’t bring any shit back to campus and you guys.”
Cara blinks several times, lips parting.
“Dorian Acheron, as in the guy who’s so deep into criminal dealings it’s a wonder he goes to college?” Valerie asks calmly. “Yeah, he sounds like an ideal candidate to protect you.” Her words are coated with sarcasm.
“Shit,” Cara murmurs. “I’m sorry. Are you okay? Being chased through the woods must’ve been so fucking scary.”
It was, but not in the way she thinks.I don’tlikelying to my two only friends, but I see it as a necessity to protect them, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
“I’m okay,” I assure her. “Mainly, I’m worried about bringing stuff back to you guys. I don’t know who was after me, whose path I crossed—Dorian won’t tell me—but I think it’s someone bad. Worse than Dorian. I won’t say that Acheron is agoodguy, and his crew is scary, but they’re the lesser evil.” My lips twist. “The vibe I got from the guy chasing me was…notgood. I’m pretty sure he wanted to kill me and bury me in a shallow grave, or worse. So, yeah, I’m accepting Dorian’s protection. Just for a bit until he takes care of his own dealings with whatever the fuck is going on, and I’m safe to come back.”
Valerie sips her coffee. “That’s sketchy,” she announces. “You’re being sketchy and withholding shit.”
“Of course I am,” I agree. “I don’t want to get the two of you in deep shit. I’m going to keep some stuff to myself for your safety.” That much is completely true.
“Fair enough,” Valerie says with a nod, looking me over. She brushes a few strands of her long, reddish-brown hair out of her face, giving me a long up and down. “Looks like Dorian’s treating you well. Is he into you?”
“I think so,” I say. “He’s not my type, though. I’m just accepting his protection for now, which was probably extendedbecausehe’s into me.”
“Guys don’t like to be shirked like that,” Valerie replies, blue eyes darkening into a midnight color. “Don’t lead someone like Dorian on.”
I let out a puff of laughter. “Believe me,I’m not. I made it patently clear that I wasn’t going to fuck him."
“Dorian Acheron, hmm?” Cara asks, eyes brightening. She is easily one of the most sexual people I know, all about free love, and is known for leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake wherever she goes. “I’ve seen him around campus. He’s hot.Reallyhot. Like, I’d let that man tie me up and fuck me however he feels like fucking me hot, you know?”
I swallow, trying to keep my nerves from fluttering. I’m trying not to think about getting down and dirty with Dorian; my arrangement with him is temporary. Just until he and his housemates are convinced that I’m going to keep my lips closed. I don’t understand why they’re so worried; I literallydidn’tsee anything, I mainly just inferred. They must be into some prettydark shit to be so suspicious.
“You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days,” Valerie says to Cara, finishing her coffee and washing the cup. “You’ll let the wrong guy fuck you and then your face will be on the 5 o’clock news.”
Cara smiles serenely. “Not while I have Mira around to vet my guys for me.” She turns to me. “You’ve probably saved me from getting killed once or twice.”
On the rare occasion when Cara manages to drag me and Valerie to a local bar, she’s usually in the mood to hunt down whoever her next fuck-buddy will be. She has a steady rotation of them; they last about a week before she’s bored and ready to move on. When she sets eyes on someone she likes, she turns to me and asks what his vibes are. I give her my honest opinion, which prompts her to either go home with him or keep looking.
“Not killed, but hurt or taken advantage of,” I agree. My phone buzzes in my pocket. Seeing that it’s a text from Dorian, I sigh. “Dorian’s acting a bit protective. He’s sort of shadowing me for a bit.”
“Sounds like a stalker,” Valerie says. “You sure it wasn’t him chasing you in the woods?”
I have to choke down a laugh and fightreallyhard to keep myself from grimacing. “Positive. He can’t be in two places at once.”
“Stalker or no, he’s hot as fuck,” Cara chips in. “I wouldn’t mind getting stalked by him.”
I feel my lips thin. “Once I’m out of his hair, I’ll send him in your direction. I need to pack a bag and grab my school shit, I’ll see you guys later.”
“Be safe,” Valerie says, gaze lingering on me. “Seriously. If something’s wrong, you can tell me. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” I agree. Idoknow that. I know I could tell them anything and it’d stay here, I just don’t want to burden them. I make quick work of packing a bunch of my clothes into a duffle bag, grabmy backpack, and head downstairs. Dorian waits in his BMW; I inhale a deep breath before getting in.
“I don’t like the fact that I have to stay with you,” I say as I close the door. “Seriously. I’m not going to say anything. I’m good at keeping my lips sealed.”
“Your roommates believed you?” Dorian queries, ignoring my complaint.
“Relatively, yeah. They won’t ask questions. You have a reputation around campus.”
He shifts the car into gear. “That I do.”
I sigh as he peels out of the dorm parking lot. “Look, you have my phone bugged. You can keep an eye on me from afar.”
