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thirty-seven

It’s the last few hours of peace before Wednesday class, and I don’t want to leave Ryan. After making him breakfast and snuggling up to his warm body, I doze off again. I’m not sure I can peel myself from his side after he was gone for two days.

His woodsy scent stirs me awake.

“Do you never sleep?” I ask.

He clumsily taps on his laptop keyboard with his three good fingers and stares at the screen with a narrowed gaze. “Sometimes when you do.”

“You’re supposed to be getting rest. What are you doing? Homework?”

“No. Look at this…”

Lazily, I peek one eye open, then the other. It’s a news article pulled up about a photographer named Devon Hall who committed suicide about twenty-five years ago.

“Okay. I’m looking.”

“I know this has to do with you. I can’t figure out the connection, though.”

My eyebrows scrunch. “I have no idea who that is. What would it have to do with me?”

“That’s what I don’t understand…” He places a brief kiss on the top of my head and readjusts me higher up on his body. “This was Amanda Hall’s father.”

“But I’ve never heard of him.”

“Buried on an old student forum, there was discussion that Devon Hall didn’t commit suicide because of a divorce…

He did it after several students came forward with rape allegations.

One said there were even videos from inside his office and studio as proof, but those disappeared.

” With a click, he flips to the next open tab on his browser.

“This person said they found his body inside his home with his dick cut off.”

“What? Really?” I sit up and scroll down farther to read what else is written.

“I mean, that’s a rumor, but if it’s true…”

“What does it mean?”

“Murder for revenge.”

“So someone must have cut off his-his penis, then killed him and made it look like suicide.”

Ryan grows extremely quiet, his normally boisterous persona hidden behind a dark cloud. “Yeah.”

“Do you know who did it?”

“I’m not sure.”

I face him, sitting with my legs crossed. “You look like you’re sure.”

“No, I need to figure things out. Until then, I think you should stay here.”

“Here? At home?”

“Yes.” He shuts the laptop and shoves it aside. “I’m feeling better and want to pay you back for last night.” The sheet is pulled away dramatically as he leans over me.

My hands press against his chest. “Nope. Rest, remember?”

“I was never good at following orders.”

With my most seductive eyes, I tell him, “How about you wait and fuck me hard when you’re well again?”

His cock thickens against my bare leg. “Hmm, trying to bargain with me, pink cheeks?”

“Yes.”

“Will you let me tie you up completely and fuck the shit out of you while you scream?”

The thought makes my belly flip. “Yes,” I say with anticipation.

“What about if I want to turn that little rosy asshole inside out while I have you bound and gagged like my fuck pet? Make it a dumpster for my cum, along with your mouth, your pussy, your face…” The heat from his breath travels lower on my body, all the way between my legs, where I pulse with need.

I nearly whimper. “Stop…”

“Stop?” His hand slides over my stomach toward my pussy, but a growl of frustration rumbles from his chest. “Damn it. I can’t even finger-fuck you. Where’s your toy?”

My neck strains as I lean up and kiss him gently on the lips, easing some of his desperation. And mine. “I need to get to class, anyway.”

He blinks and widens his blue eyes. “Are you kidding? I just told you to stay home. Amanda Hall has it out for you. There’s no way you should go near her.”

Sighing, I confess my deep embarrassment.

“I absolutely hate giving up. Admitting that she beat me. So, now that you’re back, I need to get to the admin building and drop Criminology.

” Irritation at my admittance grows, and I squeeze my eyes closed.

“I hate it. But I have to do it. There’s no way she’s going to let me pass, she told me. ”

“She told you to drop it?”

“Yeah.”

He sits up and settles me on his lap, so we face each other. “You should’ve let me know that.”

“You were a bit tortured.”

With a tiny chuckle, he breathes heavily and winces. My hand strokes his cheek to comfort him. “Fair. Let me get dressed. I’ll walk you over there.”

“Nonsense.” I poke at one of his ribs, and he yelps. “You’re not going anywhere. I can take care of myself, Cardell. Besides, I’m sure Henry would escort me if I asked him to.”

“Grab my phone, and I’ll ask.”

As he texts his brother, I get dressed for the day, then set up a tray for Ryan.

His hand slaps across my wrist as I set it on my half of the bed. “What’s all this?”

“Lots of water, a couple of sandwiches for later, trail mix, clean bandages… Oh. And this.” I place my stuffed rabbit on top. “Velveeta.”

“You named it after a cheese?”

“I couldn’t say Velveteen as a kid. Thought it was a spokesperson for the cheese product, yes.”

He laughs, then promptly rubs his ribs. “How long are you planning to be gone?”

Narrowing my eyes, I perch a hand on my hip. “Are you getting needy without me?”

The lightness of his eyes becomes a faraway look, as if he’s thinking of something from the past. A heavy sigh leaves his smiling lips. “Yeah. I am. I don’t like it.”

Something in me warms at that until I remember why I fell in love with him. Leaning across the bed, I tap a kiss on his forehead, and he settles back on the pillows. “I’ll hurry back to you. I love you.”

“ Please don’t leave me alone too long. I love you, too.”

Henry is playing with his phone out in the hall when I open the door. He flips around his baseball cap and gives me a broad smile, then shoves his hands in his pockets along with his device.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Yep.”

We stroll across the street toward campus, the sun shining brightly on a crisp autumn day, highlighting the colorful trees with the last of their leaves.

A stiff wind cuts through the buildings as we do, aiming for the center, where the three stone towers of administration stand. A clock tower chimes ten between them.

Along the way, it seems every freshman girl ogles my escort. Scratch that… All the women. And he flashes them that star-winning smile I’ve seen on Ryan so many times.

“How many hearts are you breaking, Henry?”

The tip of his tongue escapes as he licks his bottom lip, trying to contain a grin. “Maybe I’m getting mine stomped on, you don’t know.”

“Are you?”

He shrugs. “Nah.”

“There’s plenty of time, I suppose.”

He tosses his muscular arm over my shoulders. He’s almost taller than Ryan, and leaner. Built like the second baseman he is for the Nighthawks.

“It also helps having you next to me. Girls want what they can’t have.”

“So do boys,” I say, glancing up at his jovial face.

“Very true.”

“So is there someone you want that you can’t have?”

He sighs. “Not yet. But I’m hoping!”

As we approach the main building, my chest tightens. “I feel guilty,” I confess.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve never given up on a class.”

“Meh, there will be other ones. I’d drop all of mine if I could and still play ball.”

“What about Theta obligations?”

“Well, those, too.”

One tiny blonde eyes Henry carefully, her face flushing bright red. Henry’s eyes lock onto hers as she passes by us, ducking her head into the Bursar’s office.

“Okay. Well, we’re here. You don’t have to walk me around. I have English this afternoon.”

But he’s not paying me any more attention. “Yeah, okay…” As he wanders next door to where the little woman went, I giggle to myself.

As soon as I finish up, a lightness comes over me. Sure, I can’t eradicate it from my transcripts, but hopefully, I can still graduate in Criminal Justice. If Ryan has to be CEO and we’re staying here, I could work on justice reform locally.

If there’s a chance we aren’t staying, that broadens my prospects tremendously.

I could do whatever I wanted, basically.

The pure blue of the sky opens my eyes in a way I never thought of before.

Maybe there’s a way out of here for both of us, though I would miss my family too much to stay away for long.

I’m not sure what the future holds, but I hope Ryan and I can find our way to freedom.

Strolling across the paths, I take a shortcut behind the Fornley Fine Arts building, which edges the golf course and woods behind Fraternity Row. In the darkened alley between buildings, I stumble as a looming shadow crawls down the pavement toward me. When I glance up, I see a familiar face.

“ Adalantea! Where have you been?” I huff out rapid breaths in a panic.

Mitch’s head is covered in a dark hoodie, and he ambles toward me with a limp. There’s a white bandage underneath one eye and dark bruises crawling up his neck. When he reaches me, he almost collapses onto my shoulders, gripping me tightly to him.

“ Fuck , Pip. I-I can’t tell you… I got away.” He sobs into my neck and whispers, “You have to help me.”

“What happened?”

“The Thetas… The Cardells , Pip. I can’t tell you here. They’ll see me.”

My pulse races with the mention of Ryan’s family name, of his fraternity. Is this something TRZ would do?

Yes.

Did Aiden order his liege to take care of Mitch? Likely.

But would Ryan? No way.

“We can go to my room at Sigma ? —”

“No! I’m serious, Pip. They’ll fucking kill me. Come on.”

Should I go to find out what he has to say? Maybe he can tell me something about Gwen and the cloaked man… If he tries something, I’ll add to his injuries.

When he holds out his hand for me, I glance behind me in the alley.

Just like in our dances, I take it without any more hesitation, following him wherever he leads.