Page 2 of Dark Things
His usual flirty tone doesn’t do anything for me right now. All I can see is Colt smiling like he’s got nothing to worry about.
He’s free. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be caged.
The further I get away from the courtyard, the easier it is to breathe. I stop and turn to face him. “It’s all good, my love. I just need to get to class. We’ll meet after and get coffee. I need a minute to process. I'm going to be riding a million dollar horse. One I’ll be responsible for.” I grab his hand and pull him closer to me, resting my head on his chest. I can’t let him know about the guys yet; he’d destroy them and then there would be nothing left for me.
“Reb,” he sighs. “Gioia mia, if I could get us out of racing him I would. I’ll help, promise. Just don’t do anything stupid. I know Stan is up our asses with this mission, but we’ll be fine. Caviar is a monster on the track; this should be easy.”
“Yeah if he doesn’t throw me and stomp on my head like he did the last jockey. Not sure I want to go out with a crushed skull.”
His smile fades and eyebrows pinch together. “That’s not going to happen. Sampson was an idiot and thought he could put his helmet on after he mounted. You’re smarter than that.”
I raise up on my tiptoes and tug him down for a kiss. His lips are pillow soft, and he has just enough scruff for my fingertips to play with. Haunt has always been a beautiful man, but the way he takes care of me makes me feel like the darkness hasn’t seeped all the way in.
Haunt is my everything. The one person I can trust with my whole heart. He pulled me up when I was drowning, and he’s kept me tethered so I don’t drift off into the abyss.
“You’re right. Once I get into class this’ll be forgotten. No need to stress now,” I say.
“I’ll buy you a coffee after class to make up for it. You’re going to do amazing.” He puts his big palms on either side of my head, brushing the hair away from my face.
Leaning into his hands, I inhale his spicy wintergreen scent and rise up on my tiptoes, giving him a quick peck before racing up the stairs. I need to get out of here before I do something stupid.
Like stab a boy I used to love.
My boots squeakdown the marble hall while I look over at the numbers on the doors. Fucking Colter Shultz. I can’t believe he’s here, at the one fucking place that was supposed to not remind me of the last five years of my fucked up life. I’ve been lookingforward to this lecture since I found out I’d be coming to Skyton, even if it wasn’t the school of my choice, and now he’s ruined it.
He’s good at that. Ruining everything. Including my life. I sigh, making my way up the aisle to snag a seat.
“Welcome to Equine Anatomy and Physiology. I’m Doctor Saunders. I’ll give everyone five minutes to get settled, and then we can begin,” the professor says once I find my seat at the back of the class. It’s a lecture type room with stadium seating, all with tiny desks to place the essentials on.
I pull my notebook and iPad out of my backpack and get settled. A hand comes down on the desk next to me and I look up to see a girl with a cheery smile and blonde hair tied into a braid.
“Hi,” the girl says. “I’m Aslyn. You’re new.” She holds out her hand, and it takes me a couple of seconds before I realize she wants me to shake it. Peopling isn’t something I’m used to anymore. I’ve been at the compound for years, long enough that I’m out of the practice of dealing with new people or pleasantries. They kept me away from all that.
“Hey, I’m Reb.” I say grasping her tiny hand in mine. If there was any awkwardness on my part, she doesn’t catch on.
“Oh! Reb Vischer?” she asks.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my heart races. How the hell does this girl know who Iam? No one is supposed to know who I am here. Not like this.
“Umm, yeah. Do I know you?”
“Not yet but, I’m the captain of the equestrian team. I was the one who approved your slot on the team. I’ve been watching your videos all week. I have to say what you did in the finals in Florida was amazing. I mean that last trick jump was a thing of beauty.”
The air whooshes out of my lungs, and this time my smile is genuine. “You saw that? I didn’t think they’d be showing anyone those. I thought it was just for the coach.”
“Well, Coach James is the one who makes the final decision, but he leans on me for an opinion. And, can I say how fucking psyched I am that you’re here? We need all the help we can get after last year's regionals.”
She finally sits and puts her books down on the desk, slipping a bubble gum pink laptop out of her backpack. It has rainbows and little animals on it. We could not be any more different.
“Since we don’t have practice until later in the week, do you want to get coffee and discuss some things? I mean it’s not a requirement or anything, I just like to get to know my fellow teammates,” she asks.
Coffee. Seems simple enough for any other twenty-one year old, but for me it’s a complicated mess. I haven’t been out with anyone except for Haunt in years. And we’ve never had the time or permission to get a casual coffee.
“Give me your number and I’ll let you know. My family is still settling into the area, and there’s a lot to do at the ranch. My horses haven’t even arrived yet,” I reply, hoping she won’t ask too many more questions. I wasn’t prepared for conversations like this. I usually just kill people who are nosy.
She writes her number on a pink post-it note and hands it over with another one of those smiles. I slip it into my pocket just as Dr. Saunders starts her lecture. She mainly goes over the syllabus, but the topics have me excited for the rest of the semester.
Even though I’m a senior, I’ve never actually beento a lecture. My studies were all done online behind the compound walls, where I couldn’t escape or see outside people. Three years of hell, and now with a taste of what my old life would have been, I’m going to relish every part of it.
