Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 178117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 712(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 712(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
I take a final whiff and chuck the smoke away.
A tasty afternoon snack.
Just like her.
My phone suddenly buzzes and pulls me from my thoughts.
“What’s that?” Alistair asks.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath.
“Oh, that fucker?”
I ignore Alistair and head straight for the biggest building on the campus. The place I abhor and rarely enter unless necessary for classes … or to visit my goddamn father.
The thought of having to visit him makes me want to fucking punch a hole in the wall. But if I damage even a single inch of his property, there will be hell to pay.
I clutch the banister and head up the old wooden stairs to floor three, where the rooms are inaccessible to the rest of the students and even me when not summoned.
Grinding my teeth, I knock on the third door.
“Come in.”
I open the door and stare at him while leaning against the wall. “You called?”
“Texted,” he replies, only glaring up at me briefly before returning to the mountain of papers on his desk.
“It’s a metaphor,” I reply, folding my arms.
“I don’t have time for duplicity. Sit.” He points at the chair in front of his desk.
“Can you at least ask?” I retort, raising a brow.
“No.”
He can’t even look at me.
My nostrils twitch, but I still bite my tongue and march over to the chair, scooting it back loudly before plopping my ass down. For good measure, I throw my boots on his desk.
“Don’t do that,” he says.
“Why not? It’s comfy,” I reply.
His eyes lift from his work again and finally connect with mine.
“Do you like the boots you wear?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“The food you eat?”
I narrow my eyes. Where is this going?
“The frat house you live in?”
“What about it?”
“Who do you think pays for all that?”
I roll my eyes. Here we go again.
“Oh, don’t tell me …” I put my finger in front of my mouth. “You.”
“Exactly,” he replies. “Now are you going to be respectful, or do I have to force it out of you?”
The way he looks at me makes me grind my teeth, but eventually, I put my feet down.
“Good boy.”
“Don’t,” I growl.
If he speaks to me again like I’m a dog, I’m going to bite like one.
“You’d better be grateful,” he retorts.
“Oh, like you?” I quip.
“I am grateful.” He looks me dead in the eye. “For this job.”
Not for his son.
“And I’m not about to lose it thanks to you.”
I shrug. “You literally run the campus. Who’s going to fire you?”
“Did you forget about the board?”
Grinding my teeth, I look away, annoyed. “Felix can talk with his dad.”
“Felix and you need to shut the hell up, sit down, and do your fucking work,” he growls.
Now he’s got my attention.
That kind of aggression … it flows through my veins too.
He slams a stamp onto a paper and pushes it into his folder. “Do you understand?”
“Is that why you brought me up here? To lecture me?”
He licks his finger and grabs the next paper. “It took me fucking days to solve all the mess you boys left this summer. I’m not about to let you fuck it all up again.” He points at me. “Behave.”
“Or else?”
He tilts his head, and he grabs the box cutter, clutching it too tightly. “Don’t test me, Dylan.”
“Whatever,” I say, sighing. “I can’t stop being me.” I get up.
“No, you’re too much like your father,” he growls back, still sifting through his papers without even looking at me. “Now go and fucking study like an actual college student.”
He waves me off without even looking at me, so I saunter off with my hands tucked in my pocket and kick open the door.
The moment I cross the threshold, a peculiar set of eyes stares back at me from below the staircase. They widen in shock and immediately turn away, hiding behind the pillar next to the stairs.
But I know she’s there.
Her footsteps as she bolts bring a grin to my face.
I’ll never resist a chase.
I rush down the stairs and see her run through the hallway, heading straight for the emergency staircase in the back instead of the one below mine. But I know this place like the back of my hand, so there’s no way she can outrun me.
And I’m not letting her get away after catching her snooping on me.
Halfway across the hall, Felix comes up the staircase behind me, and yells, “Dylan, what the fuck? You here too?”
“Dad’s interrogating us. Doesn’t matter,” I say, shaking off my annoyance. “It’s her, the girl, she eavesdropped.”
His eyes turn murderous as I point at the emergency staircase, and he nods and runs right back down the stairs.
I open the door leading to the emergency staircase and head inside. “Oh, Penelope … where are you?” I murmur, looking up and down the stairwell. It’s quiet. Too quiet. “I know you’re in here … there’s no point in hiding.” I lick my lips. “I will find you, and when I do, you’d better pray for mercy.”