Page 64 of Alive and Kicking
I roll my eyes and head all the way down to the first floor. As I walk through the door a dark shape darts into the room, and I glare at Psycho as he rushes under my bed. The little fucker has been getting slightly more bearable, though for some reason he enjoys hiding under my bed. I even caught the asshole sleeping on top of my computer tower one afternoon after I took a breakfrom work. Dehairing my machine is something I would like to avoid repeating every other day.
Sitting down at my computer, I find my way into the proper search engines. Looking up the guy’s pompous as fuck name shows… absolutely fucking nothing. He’s clean. Well as clean as a guy living on Daddy’s money can be. He’s got a bunch of speeding and parking tickets. But other than that he’s never been in major trouble. Not involved in anything sketchy.
It’s not until I have his drivers license pulled up that I notice something. He looks enough like the guy in the video, but it’s not quite right. The shape of the eyes, while similar, is slightly off. His hair is a few shades darker and his mouth just slightly narrower.
Side by side, you can really tell the difference. How the fuck had Cain not realized that this stranger had taken the place of one of his students? For a man who had a job that depended on his perception, he’s sure not using it now. My fist clenches as I send him the guys drivers license.
Not even ten seconds later, he barges through my door. “It’s not the same guy!”
The look I give him should wither his balls into raisins, but he continues to stare at me like he’s broken the case wide open. “Yes. Thanks for the info, captain obvious. How the hell did you not notice someone taking over the life of your top student?”
He frowns and looks toward the window. “I… I don’t know.”
“So now he’s taken over someone’s life to get close to you. Or was this a ploy to get close to Viv? Either way we still don’t understand his motives.” I look at the image on the screen in front of me like it’s going to give me answers.
“Obviously he’s a plant. It’s got to have something to do with Viv. He only messed with her grades,” Cain says.
Looking back, I see him leaning against the doorframe with his brow creased. “Or he was after you and did this because heknows about your connection with Viv. Messing with the grades of a student you have an inappropriate relationship with is a fireable offense. You have enemies too, remember.”
He frowns deeply at that. “You’re right. There’s no way for us to know exactly who he was trying to target. Viv and I both need to be careful. Either way, I’ve already reported this to the dean and department chair.”
My lips turn down. “Both men who have had issues with Viv this past semester.”
Cain runs a hand through his hair. “Viv’s got the department chair in her pocket. Maybe you should look into the dean just so we have him on a leash as well.”
I smirk. “Taking a play out of Viv’s book hmm?” I look him up and down. He’s still shirtless and wearing Sloan’s sweats. “Looks like you took one out of Zane’s too.”
When he looks at me confused, I just shake my head and turn back to the computer. He wasn’t there last year, when Z came home wearing Viv’s clothes after their first encounter of the sexual kind. Cain was at least lucky enough to get a pair of men’s pants. He would have looked ridiculous in a pair of Viv’s sweats.
“I’m going to get to work and see if I can figure out who this guy is. I’ll let you know when I know something.” I tell him dismissively.
I may love the guy like a brother, but sometimes I’m tempted to break his fucking neck. This never would have happened if he had noticed his student was suddenly a different guy. If Viv wasn’t obsessed with him, I might actually punch him right now. But instead, I roll my eyes and dive back into the investigation.
Viviana
Not even a full twenty-four hours after I saw my posted grade, I receive an email from the dean with a sincere apology and a promise to take care of the situation. Nox pouted because he was looking forward to Cain using some dirt he found on the dean to make sure this went smoothly. But he didn’t even need to. I think the dean is still scared that I might try to sue since I already made that threat once.
Unfortunately, Cain no longer has a TA, on the bright side though, the guy has been suspended pending an academic review. They’re trying to figure out if he’s going to be expelled or just put on academic suspension. I don’t care what happens either way as long as he stays away from me and Cain. Nox explained his theory that the guy could have been going after Cain, and that makes sense. I’m actually kind of pissed at myself because I hadn’t considered it. I was so stuck in my head that obviously any opposition would be directed at me, but my enemies would most likely kill me, not mess with my grades. I could see some vengeful criminal thinking it would be great revenge to ruin Cain professionally though.
None of that matters right now, because today is Sloane’s big game. If they win this they go to Regionals. “I don’t get why this is necessary?” Nox complains while sitting on my toilet.
I point the brush I have in his face. “We’re going to support Sloane. School spirit shows support. Now stop moving around so I can finish.”
The guys had refused to let me put Sloane’s number on their cheeks like I had done for myself, so instead they both got an ’S’ on their right cheek and a ‘U’ on their left. On mine, the right side says ‘SU’ while the other side has a twenty-three. It took me a lot of trial and error to get the maroon and black bubble letters to look just right, and I for one don’t care what people will think when they see Sloane’s number on my cheek. The guys are just being weird about it.
I pull the brush away from Nox’s cheek with a grin, finally satisfied with how it turned out. “All done.”
He frowns at me but doesn’t complain anymore about me painting his face. He just stands up as I clean off the brush. “We’re twinzies!” Zane says happily when Nox leaves the bathroom.
I grin at myself in the mirror as I make sure I haven’t accidentally smudged any of the paint on my own face. Satisfied, I nod my head and walk into the living room to find Zane and Nox are ready to go already. All I need now are my shoes and we’re ready to go. I slip on my favorite boots and turn to the guys with a slight bounce in my step, worrying my bottom lip with my teeth.
I’m excited for the game, but I’m also anxious that something will go wrong. This year is Sloane’s last chance to make it to Nationals. He’s a senior, and while I know he doesn’t want to play professionally after college, I also know he loves Hockey. I just really want this for him and I’m afraid my shit is going toget in the way of it. He’s been so focused this year, but I know everything going on with me must be taking a toll on him.
“Come on! Let’s go.” Zane bounces on his toes.
Nox shakes his head but doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s smiling. His eyes find mine and he holds something out to me that he was hiding behind his back. “I got this for you. I thought it might help after what happened at the last game.”
I accept the hat and frown at it. It’s not cute or stylish in the least. It’s in the same maroon color as the school colors, but it still looks like a free hat you get with a purchase at a flea market. “Couldn’t I have just worn a hat I have?”
