Page 133 of Cruel Legacy

“This is a surprise.” I keep my tone neutral and my face devoid of any emotion, since I don’t know if he’s here on legacy business, regular business, or simply as a former student and my grandfather. Either way, I can’t give him anything he could use against me.

“I thought we’d have lunch.”

There’s a place all alumni like to eat at just outside of campus. “Very well. I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”

He holds out his cane. He doesn’t need it. It’s a prop and a weapon. I’ve been on the receiving end of his love taps before and learned not to flinch.

“I thought we’d eat here. In the dining hall.”

This is bad. Like really fucking awful. He’s not here to see his grandson. He wants to see how well we’re running things. He knows our schedules, so it’s not like I can sneak away or send an alert to the guys to stay away. I have no choice but to follow him down the path, and pray to whatever entity is listening that everyone is on their best behavior.

Chapter57

Thea

There’s a weird type of heaviness in the air when I walk into the dining hall. It’s like everyone’s on edge. Out of habit, my gaze darts to the off limit area.

The Coxsuckers are in their seats like always, but today they have a guest. I ask LJ, “Did someone finally end up with a parole officer?” I do nothing to hide the giddy look on my face.

She looks over at the table. “Uh, no. That’s Malcolm Cox, Senior. We just call him Mr. Malcolm. He’s Pax’s grandfather, and easily one of the biggest alumni and donors to the school. I heard a rumor that he employs like thirty percent of Canyon Falls. ”

“Is that right?” I catalog his face and tuck that information away for later. “I guess I should go say hello.”

She snags my arm before I can. “I wouldn’t.”

“Why not? If he employs so many people, he might be my boss one day.” Mostly, I just wanna get a closer look at the old man, and the way The Trium are actively avoiding looking my way just screams, come over and fuck with us.

“I don’t know, Thea. The few times I’ve been around him, he didn’t give off the nicest vibes.”

“So he’s basically an asshole. A real life image of what Pax is gonna be like when he grows up to be a bitter old man.”

I look over at the table again. “You sure you don’t wanna go over there? It’s like time travel without all the quantum entanglement stuff getting in the way.”

She ducks her head. “Shit. They’re looking at us.”

“That’s never worried you before.”

“Well, it worries me today. Look around, Thea. Do you notice anything different?”

“You mean besides the pussy brigade not doing their strut walk back and forth in front of the table, you acting weird, and grandpa Pax being over there?”

“Uh. Yeah. That’s exactly what I mean. The fan girls aren’t over there today.”

“For those of us who are new, wanna explain why that’s significant? After that whole production at the beginning of the year, I kinda figured this was another instance when other folks get called up off the bench, or they finally grew some brain cells and are now firmly on team, fuck those dudes.”

She shakes her head like I’m too much for her sometimes. It’s fair. I am.

“The only person saying ‘fuck those dudes’ is you. Everyone else wants a piece of The Trium. But, with Mr. Malcolm here, only the top tier girls will approach the guys. Not even the idiots who are usually bitching about Vale Tower’s morning lingerie show are saying anything.”

I snort at the lingerie show comment. A bunch of chicks walking back and forth in their underwear for those jokers is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Like landing a man while you’re just in your panties is such a great achievement.

I take my time to really look around the room and shrug. “There’s nothingtosay. Seems to me that for however long this mood lasts, the second and third strings get what they want. Ass by the handfuls.”

Slinging my arm over her shoulder and pulling her towards the line, I say, “I can see you’re on edge. I don’t understand why, but I see it, so I won’t go offer my customary fuck you to the dastardly dudes of Canyon Falls.”

She relaxes into me. “Thank you.”

We get our food and go to our usual table. Things over here haven’t changed. Nobody new wants to sit with us. No sooner than I add ketchup to my fries, a shadow passes and settles on my right. The smell of Axe body wash and mint lets me know who it is.

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