The Sinners - Ruby Vincent Page 0,38

then turned to Clay. “So, why did I have to dress warm? Are we going outside?”

“We are.”

“Hmm. What’s a date with Clay Walker like?”

I left the dorm tucked under his arm.

“Haven’t been on enough to form a pattern,” he said, chuckling. “I don’t really date. I stick to hooking up.”

“Why?”

“You see our lives. Cas and I don’t have time between doing our schoolwork and everyone else’s. We’ve got the poker game. We’ve got the SATs. We’ve got Rio. Few women are willing to put up with it, and they shouldn’t have to. They— You deserve a guy who will be there for you one hundred percent.”

It was my turn to kiss his hand. Clay was so damn sweet sometimes; I’d forget he was the same guy who burned my underwear.

I like my new ones much better anyway. I held his hand between my breasts and the black lace bra he’d be seeing shortly.

“I’ve got three of you,” I said. “If you think about it, each of you only has to be there for me thirty-three percent and I’m covered.”

I wasn’t sure how my joke would go over, so for Clay to throw his head back howling was a win. “You’re going to get a lot more than thirty-three percent out of me.”

Happiness flooded me and curled my toes. I could get three percent of Clay and feel like I won the lottery. Life was busy, chaotic, messy, and short. My parents taught me the hard lesson of cherishing the moments you had because too soon, they would be gone.

Together Clay and I ambled past the tennis courts. Looming near the millennium garden stood the pavilion. A shaded area for students to sit outside and enjoy their studying with a side of fresh air. I slowed down, assuming this was our stop, but Clay tugged me on.

“Not here.”

We kept walking and walking. Past the basketball court. Past the soccer field. Past the open area where Coach Sutton liked to have her obstacle courses.

Clay led me to the edge of the academy’s property where a single fence separated us from endless forest. This part of the grounds was cloaked in shadows. I barely made out Clay as he moved to the fence.

“Do you have your phone?” His voice reached me through the darkness. “The flashlight is enough.” Clay’s flicked on at the end of his sentence. “There’s a break in the fence here. I’ve been sneaking through it since I was a freshman.”

“Wow.” Clay held it open for me to pass. “Does everyone know about this? Is this how Hiro gets product in?”

“No. Hiro’s secret is actually much simpler than that. You’d be surprised.”

“You could end my curiosity right now.”

Ducking through, Clay pecked between my brows. “You’d have to get him to tell you. Good luck,” he joked.

“Nice.”

“As for this way out, I bet other people know, but I’ve never seen anyone else out here.”

“This is your place to get away. Chill. Think.” My light beam swept the undulating branches and the soft earthen blanket of dirt, flowers, and fallen leaves. “A beautiful place.”

“Wait until we get there,” Clay said, reclaiming my hand. “You’ll see beautiful.”

Clay was sure-footed, ushering me over felled trees and sneaky roots without a break in his step.

“How are you?” I asked. “This morning in the cafeteria was... bad.”

In the dim light, the line of his shoulders went taut. “We’re not stupid. The cops say there isn’t enough evidence, but if an OB kid was accused of the same thing, they’d be expelled. Hart says she is doing everything she can. It’s not enough.”

“Are you going to do more? I thought you guys decided to handle things peacefully when you didn’t go after Nolan.”

“Ives is still breathing because Cas and I will be the first ones they look at when he goes down. My sister has gone through enough without throwing the two of us getting kicked out of school on top. We’ll get him when the time is right.”

“Will you hurt him?” I said Eli got his bluntness from me.

“Should I?” His reply was light and easy. “What does a man deserve for leaving a girl stranded in the forest for not sleeping with him and laughing while drunk shits drug his girlfriend?”

I swallowed hard. “Deserves worse than whatever you’re planning, I’d say.”

Clay twisted, meeting my eyes in the dark. Something passed between us that we did not voice and I didn’t consciously understand.

“It’s just through there,” he said.

Clay guided me over a small mound. The forest