Page 47 of Lady Killer

On the one hand, no one should be forced out of the closet before they were ready. But that wasn’t really the case with my friend, was it? If it weren’t for her parents, it sounded like Autumn would have been out and proud of her relationship with Simone. If her parentswere gone . . .

Murder isn’t the solution to every problem, but it certainly solves some of them.

The cold smelled like ozone as I crossed the quad, and I could feel the hairs inside my nose freeze as the subzero air hit the condensation on them.

An extreme weather warning had been issued, and most classes were being held virtually today, or were canceled, with one exception.

ECON202.

I’d spent the twenty minutes before I had to leave for class on the student portal refreshing my messages over and over, waiting for a message from Locke that class would be online.

It never came.

Which was why I was huffing and puffing my way to Granger Hall, wearing enough layers that I could do a fairly reasonable Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man impression.

Mami loved that movie.

Shaking my head, I pulled my gloves from my hands that still felt like ice cubes and swung the door open viciously.

When I stepped into the lecture hall, an unusual silence enveloped me, and it took my brain a second to process what was wrong.

The room was empty.

“Ahh, sorry, Luz, but what are you doing here?”

I turned toward the familiar voice behind me.

“Dominic . . .”

He looked at me with pity in his expression, and I already knew exactly what he was going to say.

“In-person class is canceled due to the extreme cold. Didn’t you check the student portal before class?”

I gritted my teeth.

“Oh, I did, but I didn’t see any messages before I left. Did you send one out?”

Dominic made his way to the lectern and started preparing for class. “Uh, no,” he said, unwrapping his scarf. “Professor Blackwell sent out a message to the whole class letting them know he was stuck in DC, and that with the cold snap, they should stay inside and stream today’s lecture. You sure you didn’t get it?”

I was certain I did not, and I knew exactly who to blame.

“I’ll double-check,” I lied with a pinched smile.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay, although it's going to be weird lecturing to one person.”

I usually liked Dominic, but today, he was really starting to wear on me.

“Thanks so much, I appreciate it,” I said, sliding intoa seat.

He grumbled something but continued to set up, and eventually, class started. He seemed to forget I was there, and the weird energy in the room abated.

My anger at Locke, however, grew with every tick of the clock.

There was no doubt in my mind that I had been left off the class message on purpose.

Not that I could tell Dominic, who I doubted could even fathom our esteemed professor of economics being anything less than perfect.

Bâtard.

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