Page 39 of Lessons with the Mothman

Victoria

I tried notto scramble around the table as Elias packed up his things.

"I should head for the bar," he said, and it was the first thing he'd said in the two hours he'd been camped at the far end of the table.

"I'll walk with you," I rushed out, too determined to care how desperate I sounded.

Elias paused, holding the door open for me, and I inched just out of Stanton's reach, his hand raised out of the corner of my eye.

"I was hoping we'd take the time to discuss—" he started, eyebrows raised.

"We do meet tomorrow," I reminded him, barely looking over my shoulder. "And I need to get to my library shift."

For a moment, it seemed like he might push the issue, but I continued on my path to Elias, sure that he was holding my stare. Even with those bottomless black eyes of his, his gaze felt like a beacon to aim toward. The safe call of a lighthouse in the dark.

"Very well. Tomorrow then."

I might pay for that tomorrow. Phillip had been a bit of a pest during the interview, notquiteundermining me but coming close. That, or he had a very inconvenient sore throat, because he kept clearing it meaningfully as I asked questions.

Elias was silent as I reached him, and we slid out into the flow of traffic in the hall together, our sides not quite touching. We reached the stairs, a crowd of students rising up against us, and someone jostled me into Elias. The back of my hand brushed his and I twisted my palm, clasping his hand in mine, my chest tight until he wove our fingers together.

"Why does he make you uncomfortable?" Elias murmured, ducking his head just enough to keep his voice low.

We shouldn't have been holding hands. There wasn't any justifiable reason for it, except that I wanted the touch. I'd never even really liked holding hands before. And even now, with Elias, it was slightly awkward. But the truth was that what I really wanted was to be wrapped around him somewhere private, and if I couldn't havethat, then I wantedthis,clammy and unfamiliar as it was.

"The affair," I answered, my eyes squinting as we stepped outside into the glaring sun as it lowered itself into the trees.

"Oh.Oh. That is…" Elias made a strange sound at the back of his throat as he led us down the steps. "Awkward…considering…"

I laughed, and my vision eased enough to see Elias's antennae curving down, his shoulders creeping up. I interpreted it as sheepish.

"Yes," I agreed, finding myself grinning. "I nearly refused you."

He coughed, but I had a feeling it was covering up a laugh. With the crowds dispersing around us, our hands unlinked slowly, and we turned to face one another, safely out of the wayon a patch of green lawn. In another few weeks, the grass would be thinned out from all the student traffic.

"It wasn't remotely the same," I said softly, wondering why I was trying to reassure Elias.

He nodded and shrugged. "All the same…we'll try something different next time. Unless you want?—"

I shook my head quickly. "It was perfect, but not for that reason," I said, grimacing and looking around us.

We were talking in half confessions, and it wasn't really making anything clearer. But there was no one familiar around, and certainly no one listening.

"The most arousing part was how much thought you put into it, and how much you listened to what I asked you for," I admitted.

Elias was generally too hard to read, but I caught his surprise, the bright lift of his antennae, and the way we leaned into one another slightly. His hands wrapped around my wrists, gentle but commanding too, and warmth rushed through me, my eyelids growing heavy with the weight of heat in my core.

"I can't wait for next weekend. I need you to tell me when you're free next. Email it. I'll take care of the rest," Elias said, his voice low.

I can't wait…

My breathing was labored as I nodded, strangely dizzy and hot. There was a tree behind me, and if Elias had told me he was going to fuck me against it in that moment, I would've said, "yes, sir."

"Now. You can tell me this is none of my business, but I'm going to ask anyway," Elias continued, his tone clipped tightly enough to rouse me from my stupor of lust. "Is Stanton harassing you at all currently?"

I sucked in a breath, a refusal sharp on my tongue, and then forced myself to relax and think. "No. There's tension, but Ithink it has more to do with us ignoring our history, or trying to work around it."

Elias's stare was hard on my face, but he considered my answer for a long moment. "I couldn't tell if he was being exacting or obnoxiously disruptive."

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