And what is thatsmell? Some kind of medicated antiperspirant? Who’d use that and not cover it up with cologne?
Only other explanation is that he works in a morgue. Nowhere near the corpses, of course, because he’ddo thingsto them.
“Someone get hurt?” he says, eyes now glued to the first aid kit. There’s such an intense gleam in his eyes that the hackles on the back of my neck give him a standing ovation.
“You, if you don’t get out of my way,” I say, trying not to breathe through my nose, really not wanting to breathe through my mouth. Smelling is one thing, but tasting?
Fuck this. I’m outta here.
I twist, sidling past him and brushing up against way too much of his body. But at least I’m free.
Don’t know why, but I keep expecting him to grab me as I stagger down the hall, my injured foot propped up on its heel, arms pistoning for balance.
I shudder when I glance back over my shoulder and he’s still standing there, watching me.
Why did I leave Kai’s room wearing so little clothing? I tug at the hem of the jersey he gave me last night as I open his door and slip inside. I stand there for a few seconds, listening intently.
Like I could actually hear footsteps on that thick carpet.
Dropping the first aid kit on the corner of the bed, I give sleeping Kai a quick glare. Could he not have picked a less creepy guy to trail me? I didnotneed to be on that guy’s radar.
I want nothing more than to climb back into bed. It was warm and safe in there. Maybe I could even catch some more zzz’s before the alarm. But my stiff body is begging for movement, so I hobble around Kai’s room, trying to stretch out while avoiding stepping on my bandaged foot.
How the hell am I supposed to spend all day on my feet with an injury like this? The alternative, of course, is calling Milo hours before my first shift to tell him I can’t make it.
Not gonna happen.
I’ll just take the painkillers Melissa gave me for my cramps. One should be enough to take the edge off without tranquilizing me like it did the other day. Hopefully, it’s still on my nightstand—I can collect it when I go back to GAZ this morning to get dressed for my shift.
The view out Kai’s window is gorgeous. The top of the campus building peeks out between the trees, framed by the distant hills that border Agony Hollow.
But pretty soon I’m bored with the view, so I do another circuit of his spacious room.
His bookshelf catches my eye. It’s got a handful of sports medals and trophies on it. Some textbooks. A few non-fictiontitles with douchey names like Zero to One, The Game, and Forty-Eight Laws of Power.
I purse my lips when I spot the Lucifer Effect he took from me that day in the library.
Hope you get a late fine, asshole.
But what makes me pause is the odd-thing-out.
More specifically, anenvelope-shaped thing.
Easily recognizable, because it’s the same stationery Kai used when we wrote letters to each other.
I should have stopped myself. Going through a frat house’s bathroom cabinet is one thing. Rifling through your ex-best-friend-turned-enemy-turned-fuck-buddy’s mail is on another level.
Lizard brain doth not give a fuck.
It needs an answer the instant I spot that envelope. Because even from here, frozen in the middle of Kai’s room, I can see it’s closed, but not sealed. That there’s something inside. Like a letter inside that was never sent.
I’m practically salivating by the time I reach it. I open it and slide out the letter without thinking.
Same handwriting along the top. Same greeting he always wrote at the start of his letters. Just a big fat ‘hi’ with way too many exclamation marks. God, he had serious golden retriever energy back then.
HI!!!
NEXT WEEK’S THE BIG DAY!
