The six of us, actually, because when I join my classmates on my bed, Aurora props her computer up on hers and turns the screen my way, revealing Foxe’s beaming face.
It’s a little surprising that she’s interacting with him in front of us, but I don’t question it.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my favorite cousin.” Foxe grins easily, seeming more like himself than the last time we talked, and I almost let that soothe the disrupted parts of my soul.
Almost.
“I’m telling Asher you said that.” I settle against the headboard, tossing Meg a fruit snack pack from the stash I keep under my pillow.
Percy pouts as he settles next to me. I tear open another package and dump the gummies into his hand, then pluck out the orange and blue ones for myself, leaving the gross red ones behind.
“Dammit, you’re still a bad secret keeper, huh?” Foxe says.
“I don’t know, I think she’s pretty good at it,” Lexington replies, pulling a copy ofOthellofrom his messenger bag. He cracks the spine and opens to a random page, fanning himself with it. “She’s definitely hiding something.”
“Lots of things, if I had to guess,” Meg adds.
My eyes narrow. “Et tu, Brute?”
“If you’re fucking the professor, I think we all deserve to know,” Percy says.
I choke on a fruit snack. “What?”
Aurora’s eyebrows shoot up. “The professor?”
“Dupont,” Meg tells her. “Total babe if you’re into the stuffy, awkward type. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure he’d know how to satisfy you, Elle.”
Lexington grunts. “Is this where you offer your services instead?”
“Why, aren’t you just waiting to offer yours?”
Percy sits up, his mouth full of red gummies. “Wait, you guys are trying to fuck Elle? I didn’t know that. Give me a minute. I can probably switch my preferences from blonds to brunettes.”
“There’s a perfect solution to this, you know,” Foxe offers, reclining on the sofa in his apartment. His foot kicks a plant on the coffee table, and I just know Aunt Violet put it there to discourage him from putting his legs up. “Orgies. Everyone fucks Elle.”
“I’m going to pretend you’re not selling out your own flesh and blood right now,” I mutter, flipping him off.
“But it’s a solution!” he cries.
Aurora cocks an eyebrow at me. “No wonder you didn’t want to study in the library. You guys arenotquiet.”
“I’m also not trying to fuck Elle,” Meg says, her cheeks darkening slightly. “I was justsayingthe professor might not be up to the task. I’ve never seen him date anyone.” She looks at Lexington. “Have you? I mean, you’ve known him the longest, and your parents are friends.”
“Our parents are associates,” Lexington replies. “I wouldn’t call any of them friends. Even among the married folks, I don’t think there’s much love between the founding bloodlines. It’s mostly just a game of chess, each of them playing to keep as much power in Fury Hill as they can.”
“Blah blah,” Percy says. “Answer the important question: Does Dupont fuck or not?”
On the laptop, Foxe lets out a low laugh. One I haven’t heard in ages. “Where the hell were you all last semester when I was drowning in boredom?”
“Attending classes, probably.” Meg shrugs.
We all look expectantly at Lexington, who drapes his arms over his knees. He meets my gaze, hesitating, and I feel a familiar pinch of jealousy in my chest.
Do I want to know who Sutton has been with before me?
Not particularly. It doesn’t matter, and it’s not like I’m a virgin. But the masochist buried somewhere deep within me is a bit curious, so I just lean back, waiting for Lexington’s response.
He rolls his eyes. “Again, I’ve never seen Sutton date anyone. Man, woman, nonbinary—doesn’t matter. Does that mean hedoesn’tdate? No. But you all know how Pythia and Avernia are. I wouldn’t want to drag anyone into that scrutiny either.”
