Page 8 of Lessons in Cruelty

Professor Rooke glances over at Kai, then dismisses him with an unreadable expression in his brown eyes.

But instead of sitting with me and the rest of the students, Kai climbs onto the podium and flops down into the chair behind the desk, eyes still glued to his phone screen. So I stare at him, confused, until he shoves his phone in the pocket of his joggers and looks up.

Straight at me.

And God, does he send a smug fucking smirk my way.

An electric shock jolts through my body.

He’s the teacher’s assistant?

I quickly turn back to the professor, who’s still looking for a student to answer his question.

Someone really brave says, “Hurting someone on purpose is cruel.”

Professor Rooke focuses on him with laser precision. “Is a surgeon being cruel when he slices into his patient to perform life-saving open-heart surgery?”

The student stammers, “N-no, but⁠—”

Professor Rooke points at him with one of the fingers holding his coffee cup. “Precisely. Intent plays a crucial role. What other factors should you consider when defining cruelty?”

I stick the end of my pen in my mouth, obliterating the cap as I keep my eyes intentionally fixed on the professor as he ambles up and down the raised platform, one hand wrapped around his cup, the other tucked behind his back.

I swear I can feel Kai’s eyes burning a hole in me.

Fuck him. I won’t give him the satisfaction of looking his way.

Also, I’m kinda too scared to even consider it.

I can still feel his fingers around my throat. The hand between my shoulders.

“Power?” a student in a red rock-band t-shirt ventures uneasily.

“Power…as in authority?” Rooke’s thumb caresses the side of his coffee cup, his pinkie finger keeping it balanced in his grip.

“Yeah, like…if you have power over someone else, they don’t always have a choice about stuff, and that’s cruel.”

I’m getting a crick in my neck looking back and forth between them, so I keep my eyes on Rooke and try to keep my mind on college work.

Not Kai.

Not if Professor Rooke is this passionate about other things in life. Like eating, drinking…

Sex.

Because, damn, this guy knows how to work a room.

Kai stretches out his legs, bumping the desk, and it makes me glance over at him.

Shit. He is staring.

Heat blooms on my cheeks, and I quickly flip open my pink STFU notepad so I don’t have to look at my teacher or Kai anymore.

CRUELTY =

INTENT + POWER?

My pen hovers, because I’ve only known Professor Rooke for a few minutes, but I can tell there’s more. This is all leading up to something big.