Page 17 of Lady Killer

Everest stiffened. “It won’t come to that.”

I snorted dismissively, making my way toward the main campus artery. He maintained his position at my side, as if we were just a normal couple going for a stroll across campus.

“You seem awfully certain about things you can’t control.”

“Not particularly.” Everest's eyes darted to and fro as he inspected the growing crowds of students around us. “Though I am certain you’ll die in my arms, it just won’t be anytime soon,” he added with a roguish wink.

“I feel so much better now.”

“Excellent,” he said, clapping his hands.

We lapsed into surprisingly companionable silence, and I found myself both drawn to and repelled by the warmth in his presence.

His body language somehow made it clear that I was with him, despite him never touching me.

Maybe it was simply his nearness, or the way he angled his shoulders toward mine. The maniacal smile he gave to anyone who got too close to the pair of us certainly contributed to others keeping their distance.

But despite his self-proclaimed violent tendencies, Everest had shown restraint around me, a respect for physical boundaries that the twins had never bothered with. It made me feel something that I hadn’t experienced since Mami.

Safe.

Before I knew it, we were in front of Granger Hall, with five respectable minutes to spare.

“Well, thanks for the company,” I said, moving to head for the doors into the building.

“My pleasure,” he replied, stepping forward to open the door for me, clearly not taking the hint.

“This is my class,” I said, pointing inside. “I know you’re looking out for me or stalking me or whatever, but the lecture hall is right there. It’s fine, I’m safe.”

“My darling,” he said smoothly, ushering me through the glass doors, “I think you know that a morsel as delicious as yourself is never really safe in a world like ours, but that’s besides the point . . .”

“I’m not sure it is,” I said, trying to step in front of him.

Everest dodged me effortlessly, striding toward the classroom without a care in the world. “You’ll come to understand that I am the total-package kind of stalker. It’s my job to keep you safe from all threats, not just the life-threatening physical ones.” He paused outside the lecture hall doors and turned back to face me.

The implication of his words was obvious, and it didn’t bode well for my afternoon.

“I don’t need you to protect me from Locke,” I said a bit too loudly, drawing the attention of some of the other students making their way into the room. The last thing I wanted was to create a scene on the first day of classes. Again.

“Maybe I’ll protect Locke from you then,” Everest replied with a waggle of his eyebrows before spinning around me and strolling into the lecture hall.

Sucking on my teeth, I had no other choice but to follow in his wake. I kept my head down and averted my eyes from the front of the classroom, opting to avoid Locke’s reaction for as long as possible.

“So where do we sit, Starbright?” he asked, surveying the space around with a cheery grin.

When Everest had stepped through the doorway, he’d somehow transformed himself. With his hands tucked in his pockets and his shoulders hunched forward, he gave off an aw-shucks energy as opposed to his usual maniac malevolence. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve assumed he was another professor or grad student.

Unfortunately, I did know better.

“Wedon’t sit anywhere,” I hissed at him as I clenched my jaw tightly, still avoiding Locke.

Everest simply shrugged, keeping his head low and causing his platinum hair to fall farther over his eyes before shuffling closer to me.

Shaking my head in exasperation, I turned and trudged up the steps of the hall.

I was tempted, sorely, to wedge myself between two other students in an attempt to force him to sit somewhere else, but I knew that somehow, he would still find a way next to me.

As he continued to demonstrate, Everest was nothing if not persistent.

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