Besides, what are the chances of Cyrus also being gay or bi?
Slim to none.
Notimpossible, though.
Now I’m recalling how Nikoinsistedthat Cyrus is queer at the camp, and my eye twitches.
He stares at me harder when I don’t reply to his question.
“What I do to Yulian is up to me,” I say calmly. “Whether I indulge him, use him, or ruin him completely is not something that you or anyone else can stop.”
“You’re baiting him.” He narrows his eyes. “You might think it’s just harmless fun or mindless sex, but for him, it has an entirely different meaning, especially since…”
He trails off, and it’s my turn to frown. “Especially since what?”
“I know exactly what you’re doing.” He ignores my question. “You’re using him for your sexual awakening or experimental phase or whatever, but then you’ll leave, exactly like you’ve been doing all this time, and maybe you think he’s your booty call or sex doll, but have you thought of why he approached you again after four whole years?”
I can recognize a mental warfare tactic when I see one, and Cyrus is definitely indulging in that at the moment. Ever since he came into the room, he’s been provoking me, hoping for what? A reaction?
Why?
I suppose he probably despises me as much as I do him, but still, there’s no need for him to be this defensive.
“If you intended to tell me, you would’ve already.” I raise a brow. “I suppose that was only meant to keep me guessing?”
“Do you believe it was a coincidence that Yulian was in that New York restaurant, at the same time you were, in a city he has absolutely no links to?”
My jaw clenches. “I suppose not.”
“You suppose right. You see”—he slides a hand in his pocket and sounds detached—“Yulian only joined thisuniversity because Jeremy, Killian, and Gareth did, so he assumed you’d follow once it was time for college. Only, you didn’t, probably because he was here.”
I narrow my eyes.
“What? I know you were avoiding him as much as he was searching for the merest hint of you.” He pauses, raising a brow. “At any rate, he planned the whole restaurant thing, including sleeping with your girlfriend, not only to get rid of her, fully aware of your aversion to disloyalty, but also to provoke you, so you’d have a grudge against him and come to this college to fix it.”
“And?” I say, sounding unimpressed. “I’m conscious of his attempts. Is there a point you’re trying to reach?”
“He had a reason for doing all of that.”
“Which is…”
“Revenge.”
“Revenge for what?”
“You betrayed him once, Vaughn, and he never forgot about it.”
“Betrayedhim?” I repeat incredulously. “Me?”
He says nothing.
“What the hell are you talking about, Cyrus? When on earth did I betray him?”
“You’ll have to figure that out yourself.” He points down the hall. “Exit’s that way. And for the love of God, don’t ever show up here again. That is, if you don’t want him to be killed by his father. Though I don’t believe you care about the prospect.”
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
Cyrus is baiting me, it seems, or just doing everything under the sun to piss me off.
