“Sure.” I agreed without thinking because since that talk with him and Phelan about hunters, Rawling and I had sort of avoided one another. And I hated that. I loved him like a brother, but he had a mate and a baby on the way, plus his studies, and we didn’t see much of one another. I missed the days when we shared a room.
We met up in Rawling and Phelan’s quarters, as I called it. He nudged me when I said that ‘cause it was pretty basic, but they were the only ones in the school with access to a kitchen, they didn’t share a bathroom, and they had a living area and bedroom. I tried to picture it when the baby came, with toysstrewn around and Rawling and Phelan with shadows under their eyes from lack of sleep.
I came from a large family, but I so wanted to be a good auntie to my bestie’s little one.
“Rawlins loved astronomy.”
“Like most kids, I suspect, I used to dream about visiting other planets.”
“Seeing as I had no idea I lived amongst shifters and my godfather was one, something that would have been fantasy before I made the discovery, I now believe life on other planets is more likely.”
We discussed how we’d approach the astronomy topic, and I typed while Rawling brainstormed. As we tossed ideas back and forth, the hint of tension that had been present since the beginning of semester thawed a little.
“I’ve missed this.” He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Being friends with me is a lot right now, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Jack.”
He sniffed and tears scrolled down his cheek. And that made me cry. I jumped up and stood behind Rawling, wrapping my arms around him. It was so good to be physically close to him and hear those words.
“Love you.”
“Love you right back.” He grabbed a tissue and offered me the box.
But now that we’d removed some of the tension, I had to be honest with him about Bardoul because my roommate was never going to tell my former roommate the truth of why he was avoiding him.
“I’ve been talking to Bardoul.”
Rawling hunched his shoulders just a tad because he was preparing himself for what was irking our friend.
“What’s with him and his shitty attitude? Whenever I try to talk to him, he blanks me and runs away.”
“He knows you’re human.” I relayed how he’d discovered it last semester when he was bringing Rawling food.
“Shit.” He got up, and I was worried he was going to tip over. I hoped he wasn’t carrying twins because one baby was enough when you were still at college.
“While he didn’t say it in so many words, I’m certain he wants me to stay away from you.”
Rawling yelped, and I berated myself for piling on so much bad news at once.
“Does he loathe humans so much? I never sensed that when he spoke of non-shifters.”
He plonked himself back on the chair, and it almost toppled over. He grabbed the table, and I got hold of the chair and righted it. Gods, the world was like a challenging survival game when you were a pregnant human.
“It can’t be that, can it?” Blood drained from his face, and I put a hand over his. I’d started this and now I didn’t know any way out except straight ahead. He leaned toward me with one hand on his burgeoning belly. “Does he sense somehow that I’m a hunter?”
The fear in his eyes was something I’d never witnessed, and he rubbed his bump and mulled how he loved the baby. Phelan should’ve been here to comfort him, but if he were, he’d be kicking my ass for upsetting his mate. Hey, I could do that all by myself because I regretted causing my friend so much pain.
“He’s never said that.” That was a weak-ass response, and Rawling’s expression of narrowed eyes told me he was calling BS.
“Don’t do that. This is me.”
If we’d been in one of the rooms, I’d have told him to lower his voice, but we were insulated here in the infirmary.
“Maybe. Yeah, but that’s only because you put the idea of hunters into my head by thinking you were one.”
He called me on my shit again, reminding me how we’d spent the previous semester trying to find information about hunters and if one or more had killed Sasha and Mika.
“I’m putting the baby and Phelan in danger by staying here. If Bardoul raises the alarm, the entire college could come for me and my mate would try to protect me.”
Phelan would be collateral damage was what he was saying, and then Rawling and the baby would be disposed of.
