“He who?And why is your professor calling you beautiful?” Ryan’s face goes white again. “So what are we going to do?”
“He wants to meet tonight at seven, at The Beach House. I—”
“No. You’re not going. I can’t let you go.” Ryan begins to pace, his hand moving from his clean-shaven face and down again. He’s angry. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him like this before. “I’ll go see the dean with you in the morning and we’ll sort this whole thing out.”
I suck in a deep breath. “I’m going to see him tonight. I have to know what he’s talking about. I keep trying to convince myself that it’s all in my head, but it has to be connected somehow, right?”
“And what do you expect to find?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, but I know I won’t be okay until I hear whatever he has to say.”
Ryan flings open the top to the pizza box and pulls a slice free, sinking his teeth into a folded wedge like his life depends on the sustenance. “Did you tell Lucy what’s going on?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. I know she wouldn’t want me going either. Haven’t you ever needed to do something, even though it didn’t make sense?”
He shakes his head and runs his hand through his dark hair before adjusting his glasses. “No. Never. I’d give it a weighted average. If the outcome isn’t as high as the risk, I don’t do it. And this juice, Everleigh, isn’t worth the squeeze. It’s unsafe.”
I pull a slice of my own and sit next to him at the bar. His broad shoulders sit hunched over the counter and I begin to feel the same guilt I’d felt before. The one where I ruin his life with my drama.
“If you have to go,” he says, “I’m coming with you.”
“Coming with me?”
“You’re not doing this alone.”
“What if he doesn’t talk because you’re there?”
“Then I’ll go incognito. I’ll follow behind you, and I’ll sit a few tables away. It’s the only way I’ll feel good about any of this.”
“I’m not putting you in harm’s way to get some—”
“So you agree you’re in harm’s way?”
I sigh. “I agree that I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. But it’s a public place and—”
“Then I can go with you.”
I bite into my slice of pizza, ripping the basil leaves in half as they slide to the side. He’s not going to take no for an answer, which only makes me love him more.
He reaches over and grips my hand in his. “I love you, Everleigh. You’re not doing this alone.”
My heart races and fills with gratitude for Ryan. I just hope this isn’t the part where my crazy eats him alive.
Chapter Six
Everleigh
Viktor is already sitting at the front bar when Ryan and I arrive. He’s in the corner looking outward so his gaze can twist between the waves rolling and the crowd coming in, like an owl surveying the room.
I walk into the space slowly, staring him down as intently as he’s staring toward me. His frame is wide and his eyes are hot. There’s no denying how gorgeous he is. Sure, he looks like Max, but Viktor is different somehow. He’s wider, more built, rougher, and then there are the tattoos. I should study them closer tonight and see if I can tell what kind of guy he really is. I mean, a dude with skull tattoos is one thing, a guy with mutilated animals is another.
Ryan stays a few steps behind me. I begged him to sit on the opposite side of the room and to walk in separately so Viktor wouldn’t think we were connected. I don’t want Viktor to know I have a backup plan. I need answers.
I step forward, expecting him to move, to stand, to greet me, but he doesn’t. He stays perfectly still, his gaze searching, interrogating as I sit beside him at the bar. I allow my stare to focus on the water. I don’t want Viktor to know I’m intimidated by him, but I am. My whole body is shaking from the inside out, my hands unsteady as I tuck them beneath the bar.
“You look great,” he says. I feel his gaze hot as it moves up and down over my frame. “That color suits you.”
That color suits you?Who the hell is this guy? Who says that?
