Page 48 of Sinner
“Are you sure it was Dew and Beck?” There had been no mention of Beck on Dew’s devices, and Nix had searched since he recalled Beck saying Dew had a crush on him.
Had the crush actually gone both ways?
Or had Beck simply been using Dew?
The latter seemed like the more obvious answer, considering how Beck felt about West. His feelings for the Demon were clear, but Nix hadn’t said anything because he wasn’t overly concerned about it. He trusted West, and if Beck hadn’t made a move yet, what were the odds he’d bother doing so now, now that West had already placed a claiming mark on Nix’s neck?
“It was definitely them. It was after hours, so they weren’t expecting anybody, but it’d forgotten a textbook. They didn’t see me, obviously, but I got a good look at their faces,” Grady insisted. “Why? What aren’t you tell me, Nix?”
Could this be the piece of the puzzle they’d been missing?
Maybe he could let on just a little bit more…
“Dew gave Juri a King account,” Nix explained. “It was the account that had contact with my cousin.”
“What?” His eyes went wide.
“Yeah, that was my reaction as well. Anyway, we couldn’t figure out where Dew had gotten the account.”
“There’s no way he leveled up to that tier on his own,” Grady stated, voicing the exact thing Nix believed. “So, now you think Beck gave it to him?”
“It kind of makes the most sense.”
“That Professor Bardin gave his boyfriend access to a tier that would have let him sleep with anyone he wanted to on campus?”
“What if they weren’t exclusive?” Nix asked. “Hell, what if they weren’t even dating?”
“It’s possible. I did see Dew hook up with a lot of random Freshmen and Sophomores this semester. I just sort of figured whatever happened between him and Professor Bardin had ended.”
Was this not as big a deal as Nix was making it out to be? Maybe he was just primed for drama after everything, seeking out monsters and evil connections that weren’t really there.
Really, so what if Beck had secretly dated Dew? From the sounds of it, that was last semester, before Nix had arrived. Even if he was the one who’d gifted the Serendipity account, it’d been Dew who’d passed it off to Juri. There were chat logs that backed that up, it wasn’t just a theory.
And if Beck had known the account was being used by someone other than Dew, he would have shut it down, right?
Or, at the very least, he would have said something when Nix and the rest were so desperately searching for whoever Branwen had been involved with—
Except no, no, he wouldn’t have, because Nix had never confided in him about that.
But Beck was in love with West. The moment he’d thrown himself at the boxer after West had been shot made that clear. He couldn’t have developed feelings like that overnight, so why would he have risked his career and reputation by sleeping with Dew if he didn’t even like the guy?
Had he liked the guy, too?
He’d liked them both?
Nix liked three people at once, so it wasn’t like he could judge but…
Something about this wasn’t feeling right.
“I need to go.” Nix took a step toward the door, but Grady stopped him before he could get far.
“Hey. Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but…Can we…Let’s give each other some space for a while, okay?”
It hurt, but he couldn’t blame him. A part of Nix had been thinking of asking for the same thing even. After being betrayed by Juri and Dew, he was wary about friendships outside of the Demons. It was unhealthy, but something he planned onworking through and dealing with at a later date. For now, space from Grady was probably what was best for both of them.
“I completely understand,” he said.
“Thanks. It’s nothing personal.”
