Julian’s eyes swept the room with the kind of thoroughness that made my skin prickle. Then his gaze landed on the wall opposite my bed—the one where the message had been written in blood last Friday night.
Once again, I wondered… was he the one who wrote it? Even if he didn’t, did he know the person who did? Did he condone their behavior as long as it kept my mouth shut?
“It’s cozy in here,” he finally said, returning his gaze to me.
“Is that a polite way of saying small?” I asked, forcing a weak laugh.
I’d actually thought this dorm was huge when I first saw it, especially given that it was a single with a private bathroom. But somehow, it felt smaller with Julian standing in it. The air felt heavier too; charged with something electric and dangerous.
He cocked his head, one brow lifting. “Do I look like a polite guy?”
“Um…”
I didn’t really know how to respond to that. Technically, he’d been very polite tonight, aside from the part where he knocked out a guy in a parking lot. Polite tome, I should say.
But to answer his exact question, he certainly didn’tlookpolite in the stereotypical sense. Not with all those tattoos trailing up his forearm and neck, or the perpetual slight smirk on his lips. Or that unforgettably handsome face that could probably ruin a woman’s life just by looking in her direction.
“I said it’s cozy because it’s cozy,” he said. “It suits you.”
I still wasn’t quite sure if he was complimenting me or not. I ducked my head, heat crawling up my neck, and gestured to the bathroom. “Sorry, just give me one second.”
I didn’t actually need to use the bathroom. I just wanted to splash my face with cold water so I could tamp down the rush of heat that was affecting me after spending more than five seconds standing close to Julian.
“Sorry about that,” I said when I came out again, feeling a weird urge to explain myself. “I suddenly felt like I needed to wash my hands.”
“Yeah, that’ll happen after you spend more than thirty minutes in the company of a Sigma Chi,” Julian said in a sardonic tone. He cocked his head. “What were you doing out with Kane, anyway?”
“It wasn’t a date,” I blurted out before I could stop myself, suddenly needing him to know I was single.
Oh my god, Violet,I silently chided myself.What the hell is wrong with you?
Julian’s brow lifted, and an amused glimmer appeared in his eyes.
“I met up with him because he said he knew my sister. She used to be a student here,” I went on, dropping my head to avoid his gaze. “I wanted to get some old photos of her, or hear some funny stories. Stuff like that.”
Obviously, I knew that Julian was already aware of Calista—he had to be, given his brother’s connection to her—but I didn’t want him to know just how much I already knew about all of that. If he found out, he’d realize that I was asking people the wrong sort of questions about my sister’s time here at BHU. Questions that led right back to Roman and the Dionysus Club.
Questions that could lead to another bloody warning on my wall.
Still, I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him outright, because something told me he could spot a liar from ten feet away. So I’d gone with the safest option: a half-truth wrapped in grief.
“I’m guessing it didn’t go well,” he said, brows furrowing.
“No.” I let out a derisive sniff. “Turns out he lied about knowing my sister. He was just trying to sleep with me. Then he got really pissed when I rejected him, and that’s pretty much the moment you arrived.”
Julian’s jaw tightened. “That guy’s always been a dick, but still, that’s a whole new low for him.”
“So you know him?” I asked, brows rising.
“We had a couple of classes together in freshman and sophomore year.”
“Oh, right.” My brows dipped in a frown. “Now that I’m thinking about it… are you sure it’s okay that we didn’t call 911? I mean, he was really out of it, and someone else might find him there. They could—”
Julian cut me off. “Violet, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” he said. “There’s no cameras outside Revs, so you’re not going to get in trouble over what happened. And you didn’t even do anything wrong.”
“But if someone else finds Kane and takes him to the hospital, he could tell them it was you,” I said, frowning. “Or…us.”
He smiled faintly. “Trust me, hardly anyone leaves that place before eleven, and it’s only eight-thirty now. So I highly doubt anybody’s gonna stumble on him in a dark corner of the parking lot before I get back there,” he said. “And believe me, he won’t say a single word about you to anyone else after I’ve had a chat with him. Or me. So we’re in the clear. No need to get cops involved.”
