“I don’t go to Whitehall anymore; I won’t exactly be a primary suspect. Just let me handle this.”
He takes off out the bathroom door and disappears into the hallway as Chasm and I exchange a look.
“I told you he was weird,” he explains, eyes flicking toward the door. “Maxx is a fucking wildcard.”
Chasm grabs my hand, and then pauses, as if he’s just realized what he’s doing.
His eyes lift up from our joined hands to my face.
“Let’s get you into bed. You could use some rest.”
“There’s no time for rest, Chas,” I start, but the look he gives me is cutting.
“Work smarter, not harder. You have me and Maxx now. Use us.”
He yanks me into the bedroom and encourages me to climb under the covers, covering me up and sitting on the edge of the bed. I fully intend on placating him for a minute before snatching my phone and trying to work beneath the covers, but I’m out before I even get the chance.
In my dreams, all I see are sunflowers spattered with blood.
Tess gives me the option to stay home the next day, but there’s no way in hell I can do that. I already feel guilty for the amount of time I wasted sleeping last night.
Chasm ends up taking me and Kimber to school since Tess is already gone by the time we get up. As soon as we step out of his car and into the parking garage, I turn to Chasm and wait for Kimber to give us some space. She keeps looking at me in the strangest of ways, but I don’t know how to interpret her stares, so I choose to ignore them. I’ve got enough other shit to worry about.
“When we’re at school, ignore me,” I tell him, but Chasm’s already shaking his head.
“No.”
I slap him in the chest, and he lifts a brow, teasing one of his lip rings with his tongue.
“Like I said before, we might need your reputation. We can’t both be outcasts, Chas.”
He gives me a look.
“Dakota, on what planet do you think I would ever be an outcast?” He lifts his gaze up, looking past me down the length of the parking garage. “Half the girls at this school owe me favors.” He gives me a look, hooking a sharp smile that has my skin prickling with goose bumps. It’s a reaction that I can’t control but that makes me feel guilty anyway.
I cannot be crushing on Chasm while Parrish is missing.
“I was saving those favors for the bedroom, but if I have to pull strings to keep you safe, that’s what I’m going to do. Besides, do you think Parrish rules this school by himself?”
“I know that he doesn’t,” I agree, retrieving Chasm’s tie from his pocket. His entire body stiffens up as I hook it around his neck, tying it the way my grandfather taught me when I was little. “I’ve been calling him The Prince of Sloths in my head, and you his trusty Knight.”
“His knight, huh?” Chasm asks, letting me tuck his tie beneath his blazer. I run my palm down the length of it to smooth it out and he catches my wrist in his fingers. “It’s not that I don’t like you touching me,” he starts, and I draw my hand back.
“Sorry,” I murmur, but he’s already shaking his head, reaching out to touch the side of my face in a way that gives me chills. I lift my gaze up to meet his.
“I do like it, Little Sister. Too much. You can’t keep touching me casually like that; I can’t take it.”
I almost smile at that, but there’s too much weight pulling down on my mouth, making me frown.
“You never did admit what you and Parrish talked about in Korean that day,” I continue, and Chasm grits his teeth like he’d forgotten that he teased me with that information.
“Maybe it’s better if you don’t know?” he offers up, but I’m already shaking my head. I have to know. Somehow, it seems important. Chasm sighs and reaches up to rub at his forehead. “As soon as I saw you, I knew you’d be trouble,” he admits, and this time, I can’t help it. I do smile a little. He drops his hand and looks down at me. “I told him that I really liked you.”
I swallow hard past a sudden lump in my throat, remembering the expression on both of the boy’s faces as they stared at each other over my head.
“That he better be sure you were what he wanted, because there isn’t much that could come between us. But this,” Chasm gestures between me and him with a single finger, “if he fucked this up, I was going to kick his ass.” Chas reaches out and puts a hand on the top of my head. “I’ll stay away from you if that’s what you want, but I won’t put up with anymore violence. Lumen is lucky that we’re close to summer break; I’ll wait to kick her ass then.”
