Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Ah, um…that sucks.”
“Totally. But that was kind of fun running through the house with you, spraying the cats.”
Another giggle escaped Annod. “It was fun.”
“But now I’m beat. Would you mind helping me up the stairs? I need to grab a shower so I can get some sleep.”
“Sure. Sure.”
Annod took one of his arms and helped him shuffle over to the stairs, where he picked up the backpack he’d dropped there. They giggled their way up to the second floor and along the hall to the entrance to Luke’s attic. Just getting off the first floor made it easier to breathe. He blinked a few times, but Annod remained blurry to him. He could make out a figure with what appeared to be blond hair and a wide smile.
“See you around the house.”
“See you.”
Luke stumbled up the stairs, exhausted but feeling better than he had after his chat with Harper. His life wasn’t all work and school. His roommates were proving to be entertaining, at least.
Now, he had to find a way to keep the spiders and cats out of the house.
Chapter 6
Death by Embarrassment
LUKE
The fall air was crisp with a hint of wood smoke and dried leaves. Hoodie weather. Curl up with a book and a steaming cup of hot tea weather.
Luke had finished his classes for the day, and he was waiting for Harper to get out of her final class so they could walk across the quad to her car. As much as he wanted to head home and curl up in the library with a book and tea, he had to get to his evening job. Harper had offered to drive him so they could catch up. Life had gotten busy, both of them tightening their focus on their master’s theses. They weren’t finding a lot of opportunities to hang out and shoot the shit.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Harper’s high-pitched voice rang out across the campus. Luke lifted his head from where he’d been feeding the crows some unsalted trail mix to see the woman in bright colors holding her bag by the strap in the air with one hand while waving books at him in the other hand. He wasn’t the only student to stop and gawk at the spectacle, but everyone soon shrugged and returned to their own business.
As she reached the bench, she flopped down, so that she was a millimeter away from sitting in his lap. She leaned on him, panting. “Oh, my fucking gawd. The professor just kept droning on and on and on, even after the class had ended. Students were creeping along the floor like cockroaches so they could sneak out the side door of the lecture hall. I gave the man another ten minutes and then I said fuck this shit and walked the hell out of there. I had places to be, and this man was disrespecting my time.”
“First one out the door at the front of the room, weren’t you?”
She snapped her fingers near the tip of his nose and smirked. “You fucking know it. And a shit-ton of people followed behind me.”
“Not afraid of missing something important?”
“Nah. This professor loves to repeat himself. I know my parents are paying big money to get what’s in this guy’s head into my head, but you gotta respect other people, too.” She shifted from leaning on Luke to slumping against the back of the bench, her books in her lap and the messenger bag at her feet. Her eyes found the crows, who’d been watching the conversation with bright, attentive expressions, as if they understood everything she was saying and agreed with her. “So, have you begun naming them yet?”
“That is Atticus there,” he said, pointing at the largest bird perched on the rim of a nearby trash can. He shifted his finger to point at the two crows on the sidewalk. “These are Banks and Dante. And Caspian is sitting up in that tree across from us.” He dropped his hand into his lap and grinned. They were nice company. Not that he didn’t enjoy hanging out with Harper. It was just that they didn’t seem to notice when stupid or embarrassing things came out of his mouth.
“How do you even tell them apart?”
“Easy. Atticus is the largest and bossiest. The others follow his lead. Banks is missing the tip of his beak, and sometimes he has trouble prying things open. Dante always hangs close and helps. And Caspian is usually in the tree or higher perch as a lookout.”
There was no reason to go into the fact that he could recognize them on sight or by the sound of their caws. He was sure Harper would think he was crazy, and that was not something he needed.
“Have they brought you anything else interesting since they found that apartment for you? You know, a better-paying job listing, a treasure map, a boyfriend?”