Page 30 of Origins
“But there is something,” he said pensively, “I can’t place my finger on it, and it should be impossible. But there is definitely something.”
Miles shifted, and I tore my eyes from Damen. Miles had a strange look on his face, and I wondered if Damen’s flirting had made him uncomfortable.
I knew thatIfelt weird about it, in any case.
However, Miles only seemed confused—no hint of annoyance or embarrassment. “Me too,” he added. That’s strange. It’s familiar, but not.”
I blinked at the two of them.What were they going on about?
Miles shook his head, then looked back to me. “We should exchange numbers. Since we are friends and everything.”
“Oh.” I glanced at my lap, ashamed again.
“It’ll be more convenient to be able to contact you. And since you live on campus usually, you’ll be seeing a lot of me,” Miles grinned. “I might be a senior, but I live close to the library.”
That was interesting. I figured that he lived here, with Damen.
He nodded knowingly. “It’s too far to commute with my classes and study schedule. So it made more sense for me to have an apartment there. Otherwise, I do have a secondary room here at Damen’s. Julian and Titus do as well, actually.”
“In any case,” Miles pulled out his phone. “You’re stalling. What’s your number? If you don’t feel comfortable, you can—”
“That’s not it.” I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. But it was embarrassing…
“This isn’t exactly my phone…” I felt like such a loser. “It’s Finn’s phone. He has access to my calls and texts too. I know that he reads them, so he’d see… They said it’s for security; I wasn’t allowed to get a phone before he helped me.”
You could have heard a pin drop during the following silence.
“I’m sorry,” I continued to watch my fingers touching. “I’ve been trying to save up my own money—for living expenses next year, and so that I could buy my own phone. But there’s only certain kinds of work that I can do…”
“What do you mean by that?” Damen interjected. “Don’t worry about the phone. But just in case… Miles, you turned it off. Right?”
Miles nodded, his face carefully blank.
Why would he have needed to shut off the phone? I didn’t have a chance to ask before Damen stood up and returned to his spot by the fireplace. “You’re eighteen, right? Your parents shouldn’t need to give you permission to do anything.”
“I don’t have my driver’s license. Also, I don’t have a copy of my birth certificate or social security card. No one at the university office will give me a copy. They said that it’s against school policy. And my parents don’t trust me with that information,” I explained. “Brosnan isn’t my given name. Honestly, I don’t know what it is, and I have no idea where to start looking.”
Damen was scowling as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. Miles wore a similar expression. He pulled out his phone and began typing without a word.
What was—
“Does Finn know that you have no identification?” Damen asked, his tone passive. “How did you even enroll in college? There’s no way that they aren’t involved then…” he muttered—probably not expecting me to hear that last part.
They were getting tired of me already. After all, thiswaspretty pathetic.
“Finn knows,” I told him. “He said that it’s normal to be protective of girls, especially considering my history. I know that the paperwork exists, but Finn and my parents took care of my enrollment here. I only had to choose a major.”
Damen rubbed his hand down his face, and my breath caught.
They were going to turn me away. I was too complicated.
Miles’ phone vibrated, catching our attention. He checked it briefly before glancing up at Damen. “He says he’s free for a late lunch.”
Who washe? But instead of elaborating, Miles only put away his phone and turned toward me. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this—and your ghost, too. In the meantime, if you can’t use that phone to contact us, then we’ll just get you another.”
“But,” my eyes widened in shock, “you can’t just—”
“Shush.” Miles put a finger to my lips, silencing me. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but—like Finn—we’re rich.”
