“Jaks would cover that for you,” Braed commented as he rudely peeked at Quentin’s phone.
He probably hoped to catch Quentin texting a lover.
“It’s for my class.I can get reimbursed.”For only half of the amount, but this was important information his students needed to know.
“He’s very wealthy.”
“Is he?”Until now, Quentin had been careful not to think too hard about his lover’s deep pockets.Sure, Jaks lived in a mansion, but so did all the other vampires.He thought of it more as a communal property than belonging to one person.
Their conversation quickly died out, with neither of them interested in continuing with idle chatter.Glenn’s humming in the front seat was the only noise.Unfortunately, Braed sat beside him in the back, not leaving his protection to chance.Probably so Quentin couldn’t complain to Jaks about slack guard duty.
Not that he would.
When Quentin was ready to scream just to make some noise, Glenn pulled up in front of Hafrey’s house.A small brown box sat on the porch at the top of the steps.
“I’ll go grab it.”Glenn opened the driver’s door and bounded out of the car.Within seconds, he’d returned to Quentin’s side of the vehicle.He opened the door and handed it over.“Here you go, Q.”
“That should be Consort Heart,” Braed corrected.
“Yeah, I’m not doing that.”Glenn nodded to Quentin before slamming the car door shut.Glenn got back into the driver’s seat and headed to the campus.“Which side of campus is your classroom on?”
Quentin grabbed his phone and checked out his new room assignment.“If you park in the south lot, I should be able to reach it easily.”
“Will do,” Glenn replied cheerily, starting the car in motion again.
The smell of fresh herbs, combined with a faint brimstone scent, only heightened his concerns.“Do you know what Hafrey is experimenting with?”he asked Glenn.
“Nope.We don’t talk a lot.I think you chat with him more than I do.You know how he’s always Dr.Frankensteining plants.It could be anything.”
“True.”Still, the fragrance was troubling.He would need to meet with Hafrey in person soon.
No one spoke during the twenty minutes it took to get to campus.
“We might get a ticket without a parking pass,” Quentin suddenly remembered, the minor detail of permit parking.
“Don’t worry.If we get a ticket, we’ll pay it,” Braed said with the casual indifference of someone who never worried about money and possibly thought it grew on trees.Braed had the casual elegance of born wealth.The kind that rich people stamped on their babies’ souls and never let them forget they were better than everyone else.How he bonded with Trina Heart’s working-class ethics boggled Quentin’s mind.Maybe opposites really did attract?
“Where did you grow up?”Quentin asked.He might pretend it was to get to know his mother’s new boyfriend.When, really, it was to prove his theory right.
Braed smirked.“All over.My parents were extremely wealthy and liked to travel.”
Quentin nodded as if impressed while giving his inner self a high-five.“Sounds exciting.”
“It was.”
Conversation ended.Yep, that was fun.If his mother was keeping him, it wasn’t for his conversation skills.The sex must be spectacular.He quickly shoved that thought into a dark, dank corner of his mind with bright yellow caution tape.
Denial was his new best friend.
Glenn pulled into a parking space as if he were channeling the spirit of a long-dead chauffeur named Albert or George.After throwing the parking brake, he came around and opened Quentin’s door with a low bow and a wink.He elbowed Glenn in the stomach as he passed, getting him a laugh.
“I’ll meet you over there when your class is over.”He pointed to a bench by a tree.Waving a paperback book in his hand, he sauntered over to the shady spot.
“Don’t eat anyone,” Quentin called out.
Glenn turned and pressed a hand to his chest.“I would never!Besides, I’ve got a drink.He waved a thermos Quentin hadn’t noticed him holding.“I’ve brought refreshments and everything.”
“Good.”
