I grimaced. “Well, the program requires you all to pass with a B average at a minimum,” I explained.
Noah snorted. “Well, you can’t hide that,” he said with scorn. “I mean, I’ve had a few finals where I was sure I was going to flunk and got a C,barely, but a B? I’ve never thought I’d flunked and then got a B.”
“Yeah, that’s harder to sell,” I spoke softly. “I think it’s likely they would know.”
“Fuck.” Dante paced. “This is such a shit show. Do we just assume everyone is guilty?”
“I thought we were keeping our heads down,” Dustin asked him carefully.
Dante chewed the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, but...”
“You’re not that good of an actor,” I told him dryly. “If you know who they are, you will take their heads off with your helmet.” I gestured to the other two. “They know it too, we all saw you with Coach Sutherland the other day.”
“It’s the Italian in me,” he muttered.
I rolled my eyes at Noah and Dustin. “Sure it is.”
We chatted for a little bit longer, the atmosphere lightening a little, and we all decided to keep doing what we were doing, but remain watchful. I didn’t like it, but it was about so much more than how I felt.
“Come on, Nancy,” Dante said, tugging me to my feet. “Let me walk you home.”
“Nancy?”
“Nancy Drew,” Noah said as he crunched his way through an apple.
I waved my goodbyes, and Dante had no problem leading me downstairs, holding my hand. Guess we weren’t hiding. I was okay with that.
“Do I leave you here?” he asked at the back door to my dorm.
“I really like Bev,” I told him honestly. “But I can’t do the revelation about you with her tonight. Do you mind?”
“Nope.” He leaned forward and kissed me. Slow and gentle, no pressure for it to be more. “You’re so amazingly brave,” he whispered against my lips. “Thank you for risking that for us.”
I looked up at him. “Of course.”
He shook his head slightly. “Of course, she says,” he mumbled, dropping another light kiss on my lips. “Like it’s nothing, when it’s everything.”
I reached up and kissed him, not soft, not gentle. He responded by deepening the kiss until I was panting and wishing he would come upstairs.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said, hugging me close. “I’ll see you tomorrow. You can show me the windmill thing.”
“You’ve seen the windfeature,” I told him.
“Yeah, but I want you totellme about it.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Okay?”
My giddy smile was his answer, and once he saw me inside with the door locked, he waved and walked back to his dorm.
I raced up the stairs and burst into my apartment, deciding to tell Bev everything anyway, but I came to a sudden halt when I saw my dad sitting on my couch.
“Dad?” I looked at Bev, who mumbled an excuse, and then ran to her room, her door firmly shutting behind her. “Why are you here?”
“Where have you been?” My father’s voice was not raised but sharp enough to pin me in place. He was still in his suit, tie loosened just enough to look like he hadn’t done it himself.
I licked my lips. “Out.”
“With him?”
He sat there judging me.
