Page 57 of Lessons in Cruelty

Haven looks at me, wide-eyed. “You’d buy a book for me?”

I chuckle at her audacity. “I’d be lending you the copy I have at home.” My voice drops lower, firmer. “Had you mentioned you needed one, I’d have brought it to class for you. Pride comes before a fall.”

She quickly looks away, cheeks flushing ever so slightly. “I didn’t think you’d⁠—”

“Care? Because teachers are all closeted narcissistic sadists?”

“No. I mean, not all of them. Definitely not you. But Mr. Santiago back in elementary school? Ask Kai. We thought he was an undercover CIA operative.” She laughs and then cuts off the sound.

She speaks about elementary school like it was just the other day. I suppose it still feels like that, to her.

Christ, I was grinding through grad school when she was learning her ABCs.

“You and Mr. Jordan were in school together?”

“Uh…kind of.” She shrugs, fidgets with her bag.

I can tell I’m losing her to something unpleasant. Perhaps Kai’s callous remarks back there.

“Then it’s settled. If we hurry, you can make the afternoon shuttle back here in time for your class.”

“Wh…wait…” She throws me a frantic look as she realizes what I’m implying, a blush creeping up her throat. “You want me to go with you to your house? Can’t you just bring me the book?”

I huff out a breath through my nose, shaking my head as we turn to head down the stairs into the foyer. “Yes, I could bring you the book, Miss Lee, but this was my last class, and I have no intention of coming back here until Tuesday morning.”

She’s silent, but still sticking to my side like a burr.

There’s a touch of coldness in my voice when I say, “The whole point of this exercise, me taking time out of my day to do you a favor, is so you can catch up over the weekend.”

Haven darts me an uneasy look, her shorter legs struggling to keep up with mine as I walk faster. “I appreciate that, Professor, I do, but⁠—”

“Let me guess,” I say dryly. “You had other plans.”

We’re almost back where we started earlier today, my Tesla rearing up ahead like an ergonomic, matte-black boulder. I take out my phone to unlock the car.

I turn to her so suddenly, Haven skids in the gravel so as not to run into me.

“If getting drunk with your friends, or bingeing your way through a Netflix show takes priority over your studies, then maybe I underestimated what a waste it would be if you failed.”

Her mouth falls open.

I unlock my Tesla’s trunk, lay my laptop bag inside, and shut it, silent and focused only on what’s in front of me.

I’m about to close the driver’s side door when Haven darts forward, hesitantly putting out a hand to stop it. “I don’t want you going out of your way for me,” she says.

I drape my wrist over the steering wheel, turning to give her a long-suffering stare.

“No more classes until Tuesday, Miss Lee, remember? I was going home anyway.” I narrow my eyes at her, shifting my weight on the Tesla’s crimson leather. “This has nothing to do with pride, does it? You’re scared of being alone with me. Why is that, Miss Lee?”

“What? No.” I might have believed her if her blue eyes hadn’t grown to the size of saucers.

“This isn’t a kidnapping,” I tell her dryly. “I wouldn’t risk my reputation at Agony Hollow just to have my way with an unwilling student.”

She releases the car door, glances over at the passenger side. Hesitates.

I soften my voice, letting genuine concern bleed through. “Haven.” I see how it affects her when I use her first name, the way she licks her lips and shifts her weight. “I’m not going to hurt you. Some of us do want to see you succeed.”

Come on, Haven. Just a little closer.