Page 50 of Fembot
“I’m not graduating.” Lucky could barely get the words out past the lump in his throat. Swallowing around it made his throat feel like it was on fire. Like a rock of lava had lodged itself in his windpipe.
“What?”
Winston’s disbelief was a shot in the heart.
“I’m failing, Winnie. I’m failing shit, and I can’t catch up, and I’m not going to graduate with you. Well, I am, because my dad paid the dean. But he’s pissed, because that’s his standard setting. I’ll have to work for him forever, and I hate that I can’t find a way out of it. I don’t know what to do.”
Winston shifted around, and Lucky found himself suddenly pillowed in Winston’s lap. He carded his fingers through Lucky’s hair.
“You don’t have to know what to do right now. Right now, you can rest.” Winston stroked his fingers down Lucky’s cheek. “Rest. Everything will look better after you’ve gotten some sleep.”
“Winnie, I know I let you down. I’m sorry.”
“Shh. Listen to me, Lucky. You haven’t disappointed me. And you can’t. Because I love you even when you struggle. I love you even when you’re not sleeping worth a shit. And I’ll still love you when you wake up. So sleep. Okay?”
Winston loved him. Lucky had told him he was failing and wouldn’t graduate and that his dad was pissed, and Winston’s response had been to declare his love and use it to manipulate him into taking a nap.
On another day, Lucky might have celebrated the love declaration by pinning Winston to the bed and fucking him blind. But today, he gave in and let the soothing motion of Winston’s fingers combing through the strands of his hair lull him to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT_
EUREKA
Yarek Danvers tossedhis headphones on the desk, jotted down the information he’d discovered, and pounded up the stairs to Henry’s bedroom. Henry had told him to sleep hours ago, but Yarek had been so close he could feel it.
His footsteps thundered in the quiet house as he raced to Henry’s room and flung the door open.
“Henry.” Yarek shook his shoulder. He hated disturbing him so late… or early, but he’d been told to tell him as soon as he knew something.
“Henry, wake up,” Yarek whispered again.
When Henry groaned and his eyes popped open, Yarek grinned down at him and flapped the piece of paper he’d written on.
“I found it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE_
WE CAN FIX IT
“What am I going to do?”Lucky asked. When he’d fallen asleep in Winston’s lap a couple hours ago, Winston hadn’t the heart to wake him. Calvin had handed him a book and curled up beside them.
“What do you want to do?” Winston asked. “You were never really in love with this place or the degree program you entered. You can do something else.”
“I can’t.”
Lucky’s voice was brittle, fragile. He was close to breaking. How long had he been like this? How long had Lucky been suffering in silence? Part of Winston wanted to be hurt that Lucky hadn’t confided in him sooner, but that wouldn’t help. It would only make things worse.
“What did your father say?”
Lucky scoffed and hid his face. “Nothing good.”
Winston frowned. “Your father is a piece of shit, Lucky.”
“He called the dean and greased some palms to make sure I’d graduate. I’ll have to work for him, and that will be a nightmare because I couldn’t even make it through the coursework a lot of the time. I’ve been drowning for years, Winnie.” Lucky sniffled. “I hate him.”
“What if you turned him in? Him and the dean? Surely there are laws against what he did.”
Lucky’s whole body tensed up like he was preparing to be attacked. “No.”
