Page 37 of Fault Line

“Oh.” My shoulders droop, and I feel foolish for the accusation. If I’m being honest with myself, I have no reason to care either way. “Okay, then.”

His eyes soften at my obvious discomfort. “Kaia, I’m serious. I just have a team meeting, and I need to go. It’s early. I thought you could use the rest.”

“Alright. Well, um, have a good day, then?”

“Yeah, that didn’t come out as sincere as you were hoping for,” he says with a slight chuckle. “We’re in the same boat, Karras. But it was just one night, right? No need to let it make things awkward.”

“Yeah, one night,” I agree, feeling a little more at ease. “It’s all good.”

He walks toward my door, and just before he leaves, he tosses back, “So, I’ll see you in class tomorrow?”

I give him a small wave, then, “Yeah. Later, Beck.”

* * *

Monday’s Calcclass comes to an end, and I quickly stuff my notebook and pen into my bag, flinging it over one shoulder. Elio does the same, and we move toward the exit of the lecture hall. But in my peripheral, I catch Holden’s gaze lingering on me, sending a wave of heat through my body.

We’re halfway through the quad when he calls out behind us, shouting for us to wait up.

Elio shoots me a puzzled look. “What the hell does he want?”

My pulse quickens, but I don’t have time to respond. “Karras,” Holden says once he’s in earshot. “Can we talk for a minute?”

I raise a surprised brow. “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to check in after yesterday morning, make sure everything’s good,” he says, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead.

My stomach drops, and I pinch my eyes shut, muttering under my breath, “I’d rather not do this right now.”

“Funny.” Holden gives me a humorless snort. “That’s not what you were saying the other night.”

Heat rises in my cheeks, and my chest tightens with embarrassment. Elio’s still standing next to me, and the last thing I want is for him to know about what happened this weekend.

“Can we not talk about this here?” I plead.

Elio watches us, his gaze darting from my face to Holden’s, eyes narrowing as he connects the dots. “Oh wow, please tell me you didn’t,” he finally accuses.

I wince. “I may have.”

Elio shudders. “Oh, gross, Kai.”

There’s a flicker of hurt in Holden’s expression, but his tone quickly turns defensive. “You know, that’s pretty rich coming from you,” he snaps.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Elio asks.

“Considering what you do for a living, I don’t think you have any room to judge Kaia’s decisions.”

Elio falls silent, head shaking, the weight of confrontation visibly bearing down on him. It’s not that he’s afraid of it, but he doesn’t have the capacity—nor the desire—to argue with Holden. Eventually, he turns on his heel and walks away, leaving the two of us here alone.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I turn to him and ask, “Why’d you have to go there?”

He grumbles, looking down at his feet. “He started it.”

“He was just joking around. Besides, how do you even know about that?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

“It’s not like it’s a secret.” He cracks his knuckles, resumes his bored expression. “Half the campus knows.”

“Really?” I balk. I honestly had no clue that Elio’s profession was common knowledge. We’re so caught up in our own little bubble that the thought never even crossed my mind.

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