Page 57 of Perfect Sin

“I thought Tessa is his stepsister,” the girl next to Ford says, confusion written all over her face.

“Wow, we’ve joined the MENSA club here,” I mutter under my breath.

The professor walks over. “I hate to break up your discussion, but would you mind if I start my class?”

My cheeks flame. I’ve never been reprimanded by a teacher before. I nod and struggle to take notes.

“Raven,” the professor addresses me, “May I speak to you after class?”

This earns a chuckle from the bitch while I just nod my head again.

I don’t recall a word said during the lecture. Mercifully, he never calls on me during the discussion. Ford knocks his knuckles on the corner of my desk. “I’ll wait for you outside the doors.”

I shake my head. “That’s not necessary.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with the vultures. Not just because Sin would have my ass. I’ll wait.”

I approach the professor and stand awkwardly as he gathers his things.

“Thank you for staying after. I am trying to be sensitive to the predicament you are in, but I can’t have your private life interfering with my course. If you can’t leave the drama outside I’m going to have to ask you to drop the class.”

My entire life I’ve been rather meek. I’ve followed orders, not rebelled, until the moment I ran away with Sin and my brother. That woke something in me, and it can’t be shoved back down.

I lean forward, the look on my face I’m sure reflecting the icy anger coursing through me. “I sat at my desk and waited for class. I can’t be held responsible for a bunch of entitled assholes thinking they have a right to know the details of my life.”

“I understand that, but the fact is, this issue revolves around you. If you aren’t in class, it disappears. Now, I ask again, can you control it or not?”

I smile at him, images of arrows and knives playing in my mind. “It’ll be handled.”

My temper simmers until I make it to the door. Once I’m clear of the room I kick over a trash can and storm out of the building. Ford will either follow me or he won’t.

“Slow down,” he shouts after me. “What happened?”

“Dr. Dick in there said if I can’t control the drama surrounding me, I’d have to drop his class.”

“I’m pretty sure his name is Dr. Richards—”

I shoot him an irritated look and he holds his hands up. “Yeah, Dr. Dick sounds right. Anyway, I don’t think he can really ask you to do that.”

“Well he did. I told him I’d handle it.”

“How do you expect to do that?” He studies me for a second. “You can’t kill them.”

“What about maim?”

He shakes his head. “You and Sin really are made for each other.”

17

Rumors

Sin

The momentthe professor ends my last class I’m out of my seat and heading for the door. All day I’ve endured hearing whispers. Maybe if I hadn’t already lived through seeing Raven with Ford I’d be able to brush aside the doubts creeping in, but I can’t deny there’s something between them. I’d soothed this jealousy, or I thought I had, but it’s hard to believe I deserve her.

That message is driven home when I near the student union building and find my wife clinging to Ford.

“This along with that fucking picture might explain the rumors spreading around the school,” I snap when I get next to them.

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