“Oh my god, are you serious?”
“Yup,” I said grimly.
“What a fucking prick,” she said. “But I guess that explains why I’d never heard of him before. I mean, I knew Calista had some friends from classes that I’d never met before, but still… I usually heard their names, at least.”
“Yeah, total dead end there,” I muttered.
“I’m guessing you left pretty fast once you found out?”
“Sure did.”
“Sorry for the third degree. It’s just… I heard something kinda weird a few minutes ago.”
I straightened my shoulders, heart suddenly racing. “What was it?”
“I was at The Grind for my coffee, and while I was standing in line, I overheard this table of Sigma Chi guys talking,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but most of those guys are pretty loud.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I said, rolling my eyes as I recalled the group I met in Revs last night.
“I heard one of them say something like, ‘I can’t believe Sutherland didn’t show up. He’s never missed a single run.’. That made my ears prick up because I knew you were going out with a guy called Kane Sutherland last night. So I moved a little closer to listen in, because… well, you know how nosy I can be.”
“Uh-huh,” I murmured, waiting for her to continue.
“They were telling a pledge about some running club that Kane started as a group fitness thing for the Sigma Chis. Apparently they meet at eight every Thursday morning,” she said. “Anyway, they said Kane never showed up this morning, and apparently, he never came home last night either. Then I heard another one of them say, ‘I saw him on a date with a hot brunette at Revs last night. Maybe he went home with her’. At that point, Iknewthey were definitely talking about you. So I assumed you guys really hit it off, and you took him back to your dorm for some action.”
“Nope, definitely not,” I said stiffly.
“Huh. I wonder where he went, then. It’s pretty weird that he never made it home.”
Never made it home.
I could only assume Julian had driven Kane to the nearest emergency room and left him there last night. That had to be what he meant when he said he’d ‘take care of him’.
But even as I thought that, a sliver of doubt crept in, sharp and cold. I’d heard the stories about Dionysus men from myfriends. Heard about their ruthlessness and brutality. It was enough to give anyone pause, but still… surely Julian wouldn’tkilla guy over what happened last night.
Right?
I should’ve been beyond horrified at the thought, but instead, a dark, traitorous thrill began to curl low in my stomach. The idea of a man killing to protect me was weirdly intoxicating.
Oh my god.What the hell was wrong with me?
“Do you have any idea where he might’ve gone?” Cherry went on, breaking me out of my twisted trance.
I bit my bottom lip as I mulled over my response. For some strange reason, I felt the need to keep what Julian had done from everyone else. Maybe I just felt compelled to help him because he'd helped me, or maybe it was something deeper; something that I didn't want to examine too closely. Either way, I knew I had to keep my mouth shut.
“Maybe he met another girl at the bar after I stormed out,” I finally said, affecting a nonchalant tone. “He seemed pretty eager to get laid.”
Cherry snorted. “That’d make sense. Those Sigma guys are such man-whores.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said before taking a swig of my coffee.
“Anyway, the other thing I wanted to ask you: are you still up for this road trip to see Jennifer Albright this afternoon?”
“Definitely. You said our appointment is at four o’clock, right?”
“Yup. It’ll take around forty-five minutes to get there, so we’ll leave at a quarter past three,” she said. “But can you come to my dorm around two so we can get ready?”
“My last lecture today ends at half past two, so I can come then. Is that okay?” I replied.
