“Wait,” she moved in closer, “did he hurt you?”
She was speaking too softly. He needed to be sure Bay overheard all of this.
“He hit me a couple of times,” he admitted, keeping his voice light but loud enough. He shook his head. “It’s fine. We broke up so I don’t have to deal with August ever again. But it’s still tough, you know? I’ve never been treated that poorly before.”
“August?” She made a face. “August Bril?”
He was a sport major at Vail, popular enough that most people even at Gift, the arts school Arlet attended, knew him. Sila had made out with the guy a couple of times last week in the middle of the club, Fornication, though the two of them had never been an item and August hadn’t even come close to hitting him.
He’d hit his past lovers though, Sila knew for a fact. Had selected August to be this particular experiment’s guinea pig for that very reason. The best lies were the ones most closely rooted in truth.
August also happened to be a member of the Shepards, a ridiculously small gang that for some reason believed they were more important than they were or would ever be. Recently, Sila had made another discovery about Bay and he wanted to test a theory using one of those gang members.
An alarm beeped then and both Sila and Arlet turned to find Bay scrambling to shut it off.
The professor swore and fiddled with his multistate, cheeks staining an adorable shade of pink, and then he glanced at them, adjusted his glasses and sped off. He’d disappeared around the side of the cafeteria within seconds, but that was all right.
He’d heard everything Sila had wanted him to hear.
“Wow,” Arlet was also staring in the direction he’d just vanished, “was that Professor Delmar? The rumors about him are true. He’s so hot.”
Bay was popular on campus—no doubt why he went to such extreme lengths to keep his helmet on and left his bike behind for someone else to drive off the docks for him. Students swooned over his looks and his cool demeanor, gushing over how firm with them and how uninterested in their attention he seemed to be.
If only they knew. Sila wondered what would be said about him if it was leaked he was obsessing over one of his male students.
“Are you taking one of his classes?” Arlet asked.
And that was more than enough of that.
“You know what, I remember you saying you were ready for a serious relationship. Have you considered Rabbit Trace?” Though he was annoyed at the way she’d practically drooled over Bay, Sila had to admit Arlet was helping to tie up all sorts of loose ends for him without even knowing it.
That certainly deserved a reward.
After he was finished with her, of course.
“Rabbit?” A dreamy look entered her eyes. “We’ve sadly never met. He’s impossible to get in touch with since he never comes to any of the parties or the bars.”
“Why don’t you ask your dad to set you two up?” Sila suggested. “He’s got to know Rabbit’s mom, right? Your parents will probably love the idea of the two of you together.”
Rabbit most likely wouldn’t, but he’d go along with it if his mother told him to. On some level, Sila felt a little bad about using that against his friend, but Trace wasn’t the only one who’d no doubt find this pairing upsetting.
Baikal Void needed a push? Sila would oblige.
And if the Brumal Prince didn’t take the bait? Arlet was a sweet girl. If she and Rabbit did end up dating for real she’d probably be able to pull him out of his shell too. Win win.
“Maybe I should,” Arlet considered. “Do you really think that’d be okay? Involving our parents?”
“These are different times,” Sila said. “If the two of you meet and Rabbit ends up not feeling it, he can always opt out no matter what your parents have arranged. Same goes. You might meet him and change your mind. Besides, between you and me, his mom keeps him on a tight schedule. Setting this up with her so she allows it and gives him a break will be doing him a favor. He’ll already be grateful and open to getting to know you after that, trust me.”
“Still…Aren’t the two of you friends?” she asked.
Knowing she was about to suggest he introduce them instead, Sila held up his multi-slate and tapped it. “Shit, I’ve got to go or I’ll be late for class on the first day. Let me know how things go when you talk to your father. Later!”
He turned on his heel and bounded up the steps two at a time, practically racing around the cafeteria building, heading the same way Bay would have gone a few minutes ago. He’d held things off just long enough that he’d be exactly two minutes late to class as planned and slowed as soon as he’d entered the science building.
Intro to Criminal Psychology was being held on the top floor and he took his time getting there, pausing outside of the closed door to count to five before he sucked in a breath and burst through the door.
He heaved and pretended he’d just run here, hanging onto the door knob as the full class went quiet, all eyes turning to him.
