Graduating (Covenant College Book 5) (7 page)

Even though we weren’t teenagers anymore, it certainly seemed like we were in our house over the next few weeks.

You could cut the tension with a knife.

No, seriously. I know that’s a cliché, but it was like there was a curtain of hostility following some members of our unhappy household around the campus. It was like we were all taking a course in High School Drama 101 – and we were all failing miserably.

For her part, Kate had taken to wearing “Re-elect Governor Reagan” shirts every chance she got. She had a cute figure, but even she couldn’t make one of those shirts attractive.

She’d spent weeks trying to get everyone else in the house to join the campaign. Tally and Kristy had no idea we even had a governor in Michigan. No, I’m not joking. Paris was a diehard liberal – and took every chance she got to inform Heather of just that.

Kelsey, even though she was a fan of Reagan’s party, couldn’t get over the plural marriage thing. Instead of telling Kelsey why she wasn’t a fan, she opted to feign indifference. I could tell it was killing her.

Kate had stopped approaching me when I’d finally snapped and yelled at her. We’d made up, but things were far from comfortable.

The ambiance between Heather and Paris was an entirely different story. When Paris had stumbled down the stairs to find Mark sitting at our breakfast table – the evidence of a long night with Heather obvious – she’d initially pretended she didn’t care.

I knew she was faking, but I didn’t know how to broach the topic with her. She’d dated Mark for a few months. The buildup to the relationship had been longer than the actual relationship. Then, after they’d broken up, she’d found Seth almost immediately.

And, yes, Seth is never going to be one of the great thinkers of our time. The man is smoking hot, though. He’s like a Greek god. He could honestly give Aric a run for his money. In fact, I’d like to see the two of them in a flex off. Still, Paris was acting as if she was losing interest in Seth now – and I couldn’t quite figure out why.

Since it was just the two of us watching an old
Halloween
movie marathon on AMC tonight, I figured now was my chance to question her.

“So, how is Seth?”

“He’s fine,” Paris said, her voice flat. “He’s working tonight.”

“He still likes his job?”

“He’s a bouncer. What’s not to like?”

She wasn’t giving me much to work with here. “He hasn’t been around as much.”

“I’ve had some projects to work on.” Paris was an art major. And, while she often had numerous projects going at the same time, all in varying degrees of completion, she’d never used her work as an excuse to escape from Seth before.

“Is everything okay?”

Paris finally turned away from the television and focused on me. “Why would you ask that?”

It’s always a hint when someone answers a question with another question. “You just haven’t been the same since Heather started dating Mark.”

Paris scowled. “Why would I care about that? I dumped him, remember?”

“I remember. You said that you didn’t like that he was so boring.”

“I didn’t say he was boring,” Paris countered. “I said that he was always so agreeable, and it bugged me.”

“Seth is agreeable, too.”

“Yeah, but he always distracts me because he’s so hot,” Paris admitted. “Every time I think he’s too agreeable he takes his shirt off and I forget what I was thinking about.”

As someone who saw Aric Winters naked on a regular basis, I got that. “Still … you seem off.”

“I’m not off.”

“Well, you’re certainly not on either.”

“Whatever.”

I pressed the mute button on the remote control and leaned forward. “Hey, do you want to talk about this?”

“What? There’s nothing to talk about.”

“You seem like you’re all … weirded out. At first I thought it was the Mark thing. Now, I’m not so sure. Are you rethinking your decision to break up with Mark?”

“No,” Paris said. “Only an ass decides that breaking up with someone was a bad idea after someone else shows interest in them.”

I pursed my lips. “I decided that breaking up with Aric was a mistake.”

“That was different,” Paris said. “You thought he betrayed you. He was acting strange. You were all depressed. You guys had a lot of stuff going on.”

“You know, if you want Mark back, I think you could probably steal him away from Heather,” I said. “It will make living here a complete and total nightmare, but if you want him, I’ll stand with you.”

“I don’t want him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Can you just turn up the volume?”

I did as she asked, focusing on the movie for the next half hour. The silence in the room was only broken when the front door opened to allow Aric entrance. “Hey,” I greeted him. “You’re late tonight.”

Aric threw himself onto the couch dramatically. “I had a horrible day.”

I patted the floor in front of me. “Do you want me to rub your shoulders? I can listen to your day and rub you at the same time.”

Aric glanced over at Paris, picking up on the tension in the room. “You guys are a barrel of laughs over here these days. I’m not going to say no to a massage, though.”

Once he was settled between my legs, and my hands were busy on his tight muscles, Aric unloaded. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for this. When I pictured working for my dad’s lumber company, I thought I would be surfing the net and occasionally handling inter-office fights.”

“When I heard you were going to work for your dad I pictured you shirtless and cutting down trees in the woods,” I admitted.

Aric snorted. “That would be more fun.”

“What happened?”

“One of the lumberyard workers is fighting with another worker because the dude slept with his wife,” Aric said. “I found them fighting outside today. The one guy threw a punch.”

“What did you do?”

“I had no choice. I had to fire him.”

“Really?”

“We could be sued,” Aric said. “Trust me. I argued with my dad about it. I agreed with the guy who got cheated on, but there’s nothing I can do. It’s just a mess. I hate being a bureaucrat.”

“Oh, my poor baby,” I cooed, zealously digging in to the hollow between his shoulder blades with my thumbs.

“Oh, that feels good,” Aric murmured, leaning his head back.

“I have to take care of my working man,” I teased.

“I know you’re messing with me, but I can’t help but wish that we could stay here, just the two … three … of us, for the rest of the week.”

I rested my chin on the top of Aric’s head. “You might want to rethink that strategy.”

Aric glanced over at Paris, who was steadfastly ignoring the both of us. “Is something going on?”

“No,” I said. “We’re just watching a movie.”

Aric wasn’t convinced. “I don’t suppose I can talk you into going for a walk with me, can I?”

“You want to go for a walk?” That didn’t sound like fun to me, but I was wondering if he had something he wanted to talk to me about in private.

“The full moon is in three days,” Aric said. “The nights are still nice. We’re going to lose those for four months in a few weeks. I just want to enjoy it.”

I cocked my head to the side. He didn’t talk about the wolf part of himself very often. If he wanted to take a walk, if he’d given voice to his needs, I had no choice but to give him what he sought. He deserved it. I brushed a quick kiss against his temple. “Let me get a coat.”

“SO, DO
you want to tell me what’s going on with Paris?”

Aric and I had left the house ten minutes before, but we hadn’t said a word to each other since. Aric seemed to be basking in the night air, his nose lifted high so he could inhale the life percolating around us. I’d been happy to follow him, our hands joined together, and just enjoy the delight rolling off of him.

“She’s going to break up with Seth,” I said.

“Why?”

“She didn’t say she was going to break up with him,” I cautioned. “She’s just acting weird.”

“That’s too bad,” Aric said. “I like Seth. He’s easy to talk to, and he doesn’t try to pry too much. Of course, I don’t like the way you drool over him but, in general, he’s a good guy.”

“I don’t drool over him,” I countered.

“Oh, don’t lie, you think he’s hot.”

“I think you’re hotter,” I said.

Aric pulled me close, sharing a sweet kiss with me before letting me go again. “You better. I’d hate to have to kill Seth.”

“I’m worried she’s going to try and get back with Mark again,” I admitted.

Aric paused. “You don’t think she really would, do you?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “This all started when she found Heather and Mark at breakfast together.”

“Listen, I don’t want to tell Paris her business, but I don’t trust Mark,” Aric said. “I know he told you he’s done with the Academy, but I can’t help but be worried. I’d like to believe that he’s seen the light, but I can’t be sure.”

“I’d like to be sure, too,” I said. “I can’t make Paris change the way she feels. That’s not fair. She didn’t try to make me change the way I felt about you. In fact, she was the one who spent eight months last year telling me that trying to push you away was wrong.”

Aric sighed. “See, now I think I should buy her some flowers or something,” he said. “I just think she’s better than Mark.”

“Well, as hot as he is, I think she’s better than Seth, too.”

“Don’t call him hot,” Aric said. “It bugs me.”

“Fine.” I blew out an exaggerated sigh. “He’s adequate. In fact, when he smiles, I swear I see bugs in his teeth.”

“Better.”

“I just don’t know what she’s looking for,” I said.

Aric brought my hand, still clasped in his own, to his lips. “She’s looking for her match, baby. She hasn’t found it yet.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s Mark,” I said. “I don’t think it’s Seth either.”

“You can’t fix this for her,” Aric said. “She’s got to fix it for herself.”

“I know.”

“Do you really? Because it looks to me like you’re going to try and meddle.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” I said, my outrage completely manufactured.

“You know I’m right,” he said. “Just … let her be.”

“Fine.”

We walked for a few more minutes, Aric reveling in the crisp night air. At a certain point, the sound of far-off footsteps echoed through the dark. Aric pulled me in front of him, stilling as he tipped his head to the side and listened.

“What is it?”

“Someone is coming.”

“Even I can hear that,” I said. “Some wolf.”

Aric ignored me. “I … .”

I saw our new visitor’s face before Aric had a chance to finish his sentence.

I hadn’t see Matilda since the previous semester. She’d lived with Kelsey and me in the dorms before joining a witch sorority that ultimately tried to kill me at the end of our sophomore year. While I thought Matilda was mostly a pawn in that scenario, things would never the same.

They could never be the same. Still … .

We’d had an English class together the previous semester, some of our scarred feelings being healed during brief interactions and shared dislike of another classmate, but I hadn’t seen her in months.

“Zoe?” Matilda pulled up short when she saw us.

“Hey,” I said. “You scared us.”

“Sorry. I was just walking home.”

I glanced at Aric. His jaw was set, his eyes dark. He didn’t trust Matilda – for obvious reasons – but he hadn’t jumped on her and tried to rip her throat out. That was a good sign.

“Where are you living these days?” I asked.

“I live over at Kensington Court apartments,” she said. “I was just coming home from the library. My car is in the shop. Otherwise I wouldn’t be out walking. I know it’s not safe.”

“You’re not living at the sorority house?”

“I’m not really interested in being in a sorority,” she replied. “I just … I kind of just want to be me.”

“That’s good.”

“So, um, how are you?” Matilda was nervous. Part of me felt bad for her.

“I’m good,” I said. “How are you?”

“Good.” Matilda glanced around, clearly unsure of how to proceed. “I see you and Aric are back together. I’m glad for you. I couldn’t stand that Caitlyn girl.”

“Yeah, she was a real bitch,” I agreed. There was no way I was going to tell Matilda what Caitlyn’s fate had been. I mean, really, how do you tell someone you burned someone alive with your hands? That’s just not a normal topic of conversation, even at Covenant College.

“Well, I should get going,” Matilda said. “I don’t want to be out here any later than I have to be.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m … I’m glad you’re okay.”

Matilda smiled. It was an alien expression, like it didn’t quite belong on her face. For a second, she reminded me of myself the previous year. “You, too,” she said.