Page 71 of The Cruelty of Thorns

“Ron is not usually a rude guy,” she pressed.

“Well guess what? He is now. Looks like he fooled you, too.”

I pulled back the covers and climbed into bed before reaching over and switching off my lamp as a message that this conversation was over.

She flopped down on her own bed and picked up the book she had been reading, making a point of sighing every time she flipped a page. I turned over on my side facing the wall and tried to block her out. Sometimes I missed the privacy of my room at our old house. A closed door there had meant no one bothered me without first knocking. Now there was no private room and no more home. I’d sold it to afford to come here. Not for the first time, I wondered if it was worth it.

Unlike most people my age, I enjoyed my own company. Since I’d arrived at Whitfield, I’d hardly had a single moment when I was truly alone. Even when I went for a walk around campus there were always people around. It made me wonder how anyone could have found the privacy to rape and murder someone in this place. I was in no way condoning what the killer had done, but I had to offer him a grudging respect for finding what I could not.

I pushed that twisted thought from my mind and forced it to more pleasant subjects. Like Julianus. I could still feel the dampness between my legs from our earlier coupling, and part of me wanted to touch myself there, to remind me of our encounter. I squeezed my thighs together and let my hands wander over my breasts under the covers, teasing my nipples to hard round points.

Was he thinking about me? Was he remembering how it felt to touch me? I imagined it was his fingers that rolled my nipples. His voice that breathed against my ear. What was it he called me? Cuore mio. I wondered what it meant and determined I would look it up in the morning.

I realized I was getting myself excited all over again and clamped my mouth shut to keep from moaning out loud. I didn’t need to give Kristin any more ammunition to use against me. She’d probably think I was dreaming about Ron again. I slipped one hand down between my legs and lazily fingered my pussy until I felt myself drifting off, imaging it was Julianus’s hand that eased me into sleep.

♦ ♦ ♦

“I’m sorry,” Kristin said when I was getting dressed the next morning.

I looked up at her. “For what?”

“For bringing up Ron. I promise I won’t say another word about him. Us girls got to stick together, right?” I nodded hesitantly. “Are we friends again?”

I sighed. “Of course we’re friends. It’s just…you can be a little pushy.”

“I can’t help it, it’s who I am. Besides, you need a little push now and then. You wouldn’t have that awesome dress if it weren’t for me.”

I grinned, looking down at the green sweater dress she had convinced me to buy. I had worn it in anticipation of my date with Julianus later. Well, if it could be called a date. He had just said he’d meet me here tonight.

“Come on,” she said, slipping her arm through mine. “We have time to grab a muffin in the cafeteria before our first class.”

“I never say no to a muffin,” I laughed. Though I did last night, and look where that got me. I smiled to myself at the thought.

“So are you going to tell me about this new friend of yours?” Kristin asked as we made our way out of the dorm.

My reply was guarded; the last thing I wanted to do was talk about Julianus with her. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, for starters, where did you meet him? You hardly go anywhere.”

“We met at the coffee shop in town.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. That was where I’d first spoken to him.

“What does he do? Is he older, younger? Good looking?”

I rolled my eyes. “Enough with the twenty questions. I just met the guy. We’re in the feeling out phase.” Feeling out was an accurate way of describing him. It was difficult to think about Julianus without squirming. The man was sex on a stick, not that I would share that with her.

She snorted. “You just don’t want to talk about him.”

“You’re right, I don’t. I’m taking it slow.”

“Fine. But as your roommate I expect the first introduction.”

“If and when I ever introduce him to anyone, you’ll be the first to know.”

When we entered the cafeteria, Carly and Renee were already there. They called out to us, motioning us over to their table. We each grabbed a muffin and a cup of coffee then headed over to where they were bent over Renee’s phone.

“Did you hear about it?” Carly asked as we sat down.

“What?” Kristin replied.

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