Page 37 of Legacy Wolf: Semester One (Legacy Wolf #1)
RAWLING
Today was the first day I’d entered the dining hall and not searched for Phelan. Instead, I took quick glances while I was eating my cereal.
“This too will pass,” Jack advised me when I asked if I’d feel better soon.
She didn’t bother taking a peek at Atticus. Instead, the Big A as she’d labeled him couldn’t take his eyes off my roommate. Both Atticus and Phelan had bags under their eyes, and more than once I caught Phelan looking in my direction.
Jack had taken an interest in an upperclassman, Knox.
I’d met him at board game night, and unlike me, he hadn’t accepted the Sable Hounds pledge.
Smart guy. He seemed really into Jack and vice versa as she tipped her head back and giggled at something he said.
He couldn’t be worse than Atticus, so he had to be an improvement from that asshat alpha.
The pair left the dining hall ahead of me, and it didn’t escape my attention that they brushed against one another. I sighed at the subtle sign of intimacy. While Phelan and I had never had a proper relationship, I missed him.
Stop , I told myself. He was an ass; not an asshat like Atticus, but an ass nevertheless.
He had a really nice ass, though, and a really big cock.
I headed into Math and made sure to sit on the opposite side of the room to where Phelan usually sat because I wouldn’t concentrate on the class with him and his big dick being so close.
When my last class ended, I headed to Professor Shaw’s office.
It had become a habit for us to meet once a week.
He’d offer me tea and cake and we’d chat about my godfather and Sombertooth.
I’d gotten used to tea, not that I liked it, and I was confident about what to do with the tiny slice of lemon.
“Come in,” he bellowed as I knocked on the door.
After taking a slice of marble cake and sipping my tea, the professor asked if I’d met his teaching assistant. I’d seen the guy around but never spoken to him.
“He’ll be joining us later. I told him about our meet-ups and he was eager to make your acquaintance.”
That was a curious way of putting it, but the professor did seem as though he belonged in an eighteenth-century novel sometimes rather than the twenty-first century.
“He also mentioned you were having a hard time at Sombertooth lately.”
Was he referring to the hazing incident or had someone blabbed about me and Phelan?
Only three people other than me and Phelan were aware of us having sex, so I guessed it was the former.
Maybe the professor had been in the Sable Hounds and had inside knowledge of the goings-on, but I was in no mood to talk about that, just thankful I’d gotten out when I did.
“Oh, it’s not so bad. I’ve developed a close group of friends and life is improving.”
“Glad to hear it.” He poured more tea and told me to eat another slice of cake.
My mouth was full when someone knocked on the door. The professor yelled, “Come in,” and grabbed another cup, saucer, and plate. Holden appeared, his mop of blond hair a contrast to Phelan’s darker hair. Shit, I had to stop doing that.
The professor introduced us, and Holden took a seat beside me. We made small talk as Holden took a bite of cake and stirred the sugar in his tea. I’d never had sugar in mine. Maybe I should try it.
“I hear you’re an excellent archer.” Holden grinned, and I noted the dimples in his cheeks. He was kinda cute, and he was paying me plenty of attention. I could get used to that.
I tried to downplay my reputation as a skillful archer, when really I was just faking it. “There are others on the team who are just as good, if not better than me.”
“Oh, you mean Atticus.” He rolled his eyes.
Professor Shaw cleared his throat. “Atticus’s uncle was a first-class archer.”
“I’ve heard Phelan is quite good,” Holden noted.
Sweat trickled down my back as two sets of eyes studied me. Were they testing me to see if any rumors were true?
“Yes, he’s quite good as well.” In bed as well as the archery range.
Right about now I wished I had a beast inside me who’d tell me to stop thinking about Phelan when the sexy TA was engrossed in everything I said. I gulped my tea, hoping neither of them noted my discomfort.
The professor checked his watch. “I must attend a faculty meeting but please carry on. Holden, lock the office when you leave.” He grabbed a bunch of papers and stuffed them in his old briefcase, and the door slammed behind him.
“The professor tells me he went to school with your godfather. You must miss him terribly. Tell me about him.”
I launched into the story of how he became my guardian after my parents’ deaths and how he came to school plays when I was tree number three and always turned up at sports days.
Holden listened intently. Jack was aware of my history but it had come out in bits and bobs, not like now with words spilling out of me.
Holden wanted to know this stuff, and I got the warm fuzzies as his blue eyes were fixed on me and he leaned on the professor’s desk.
“I wish I could have met him. The professor talks so highly of him.”
Holden washed the cups, plates, and saucers in Professor Shaw’s tiny sink, and I dried them and put them away.
“It’s time for dinner. Are you still hungry after two slices of cake?”
I admitted I was, and we walked to the dining hall together. And just like the first time I’d entered, all eyes turned to us. I refused to look in Phelan’s direction and was pleased he hadn’t interrupted my thoughts for over an hour. That had to be a record.
Holden and I sat together and ate soup with crusty bread. Jack was at a table with Knox, and they were seated very close together. She gave me a thumbs-up. She was being ridiculous. Holden was a nice guy. I wasn’t about to replace Phelan with the sexy TA. Was I?
For a second my eyes darted to his crotch as he got up to speak to another TA.
Nice. When he returned to our table, he rewarded me with a wide smile.
I could get used to this. And as we were leaving, Atticus and Phelan approached the door at the same time.
The asshat shoved me aside in an effort to reach the exit first.
Holden snarled, and Atticus stepped back. Was that because he was a TA and a step above Atticus in the hierarchy or because he was older, or was it something to do with his beast?
Wolves had the most power at the college, followed by the bears, but I recalled Professor Stanton growling at Atticus.
As a faculty member, he definitely had more power than the asshat.
But he was a tiger and so was Holden. I’d sussed out Holden’s beast when we were having tea, and I gave a mental high-five to Jack for teaching me how to determine a shifter’s beast.
“Sorry about that,” Holden said as he ignored Atticus and Phelan and put a hand on the small of my back. That was new, and I relished his touch.
“It’s nothing. Atticus is a pain in the behind, but he thinks he’s more clever than he is. I can handle him.” That wasn’t strictly true, but since the hazing incident and Jack refusing to sleep with him again, Atticus’s presence wasn’t as intimidating as previously.
“Let me know if he becomes a problem and I’ll speak to Professor Shaw.” We were at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Phoenix House dorms, but the TAs were housed in another wing of the building.
“That’s sweet of you.”
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.” He was standing so close, if I moved slightly I’d brush against his crotch.
“I’d like that.”
Racing up the stairs and into our room, I ignored the closed door opposite ours and fell onto my bed.
“A TA? And a tiger. I’m impressed.” Jack insisted I give her all the details.
“There’s nothing to tell.” I changed the direction of the conversation, not ready to divulge details about Holden, not that there was much to tell, as I knew so little about him. “And what about you and Knox?”
“He’s really nice.” She sighed. “Probably too nice. I do have a thing for bad boys. But we’ll see how it goes.”
As I stood in the shower, my hand gripped my cock, wishing it was someone else’s hand.
Holden’s, perhaps. But as I went over us meeting, our subsequent conversation, and eating dinner together, I wondered if the guy was too good to be true.
But I shrugged off my doubts and jerked off while imagining Holden giving me a blow job.