"Yeah." I nod. "Only a few more months and one hell of a capstone project..."
"Are you worried?"
I scoff. "Nah, it'll be cake." Now I'm the one who is lying.
"I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors. How's your GPA?"
"Still going strong..."
Her eyes twinkle a bit as she looks up at me, a sense of admiration in her stare. "Just hang on a bit longer and that 4.0 will be all yours."
Sometimes I question if she even notices me, but then she remembers things like my weird obsession with graduating with a 4.0, and I realize that maybe she pays more attention than I think she does.
"I hope so."
"I don't doubt you'll pull it off. Neither should you." Cora adjusts my jacket over her shoulders, and I take a mental picture to keep forever, along with the feeling of her believing in me.
A throat clears as footsteps approach me from behind. "What's going on out here?"
My heart drops but I maintain my composure, turning to find Simon fucking Beckett standing a foot away from me.
Cora steps around me, putting herself between me and Simon. "Alec saw me get caught in the rain and was being a gentleman." She slides my jacket off and holds it out toward me, her gaze still on Simon. "You could learn a thing or two, pretty boy." Cora pats his chest, and I hold back a laugh at how she treats him. Doesn't she realize how powerful he really is?
There's the very real reality that she doesn't though, because June and the guys do what they can to keep her in the dark about what really goes on in their lives. Cora probably assumes they're influential men of some capacity, but not that they basically control this entire town, including all the illegal, and quite a bit of the legal activities.
Hell, even I don't know the full scope of what they're capable of. And part of me doesn't want to know. The less I'm pulled into that world, the better, because I don't plan to stay in it very long, and there's no telling what they would do to me if I found out too much.
For now, I'll take their cash and drive them around, not questioning the weapons tucked in their waistbands or blood speckling their cheeks when I pick them up at all hours of the day and night.
Maybe when I leave this world I can convince Cora to come with me, to get her away from the danger and potential threat that being friends with them poses. I would never ask her to walk away from them, but if she knew the truth about the situation, maybe she'd do it on her own free will. Maybe then I could tell her how I really feel about her. Maybe then I could protect her.
But until then, I'll do what I can from afar and savor these fleeting moments I do get with her.
"I'll see you later, Alec," Cora says on her way past Simon. "Thanks for saving me." She winks and it's everything I can do to remain upright. How in the fuck is it possible she has this much control over me?
Simon waits until Cora is inside Bram's Diner before he speaks. He clears his throat again, this time a bit exaggerated. He latches onto my shoulder, digging his fingers in and focusing his mildly terrifying stare right at me. "I don't care if you get your dick wet. You can fuck whoever you want." He shifts his focus between my eyes. "But if you even think about touching Cora, you know I'll have to kill you, right?"
I wait for a smile or a laugh to tell me that he's joking yet it never comes. No, Simon isn't joking. There's not a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He's dead ass serious.
And if he only knew the thoughts that ran through my head, I'd already be a dead man.
4
CORA
It's been twelve minutes since Alec hugged me, and I can still feel his arms wrapped around my body. I cling to the comfort and safety and use it to pretend that everything is okay.
Everything isnotokay.
"Hey, Cor, sorry." June slides into the booth across from me. "Busy shift today. What's going on?"
I plop my chin onto my hand and rest my elbow on the table. "Just wanted to come see you, is all." What I really wanted was to come here and tell her that my life is falling apart, and I don't really know what to do, but those aren't the words that come out of my mouth, and no matter how much I'm internally screaming for someone to help me, I keep my problems tucked deep inside to deal with on my own.
It's fucked up, I'm aware.
"Uh-huh, sure." June tucks her jet-black hair behind her ear and glances toward the kitchen as the chef shoves a plate through the opening. "Hang on, babe. I'll be right back." She darts out of the booth in a flash, making her way around patrons to snatch the plate and drop it off in front of its rightful owner. "Refill?" June asks the old man she passes, already on her journey to snatch the coffee pot to bring it back to him like she read his mind.
She really is a damn good waitress, even if she is a bitch most of the time.
