Page 102 of Devilry

“What the fuck?” Aiden shouts.

My hackles rise at his tone, and I'm about to tell him to fuck right off when Elijah steps in.

“Aiden,” he tries calmly. “This isn't the time or the place.”

“You think?” he hisses. “You were just sucking face with your fucking professor. In public. Don’t try and tell me about time and place.”

Shame washes over Elijah, and I’ll be damned if I let anyone ever make him feel like that, especially not in my presence.

“You better lower your voice and watch your tone with him,” I warn.

“Or what?” he taunts. “You’ll hit me? And what will they do when I tell them I caught you kissing a student and you retaliated, huh?”

Aiden momentarily drops his macho act and shifts his focus back to Elijah. “Do you know what you're risking? Everything you've worked for, Eli. Everything,” he annunciates. “If anyone finds out you're going to lose your scholarship.”

He voices every single one of our fears, and I hate him for it. I hate him for making them real, and I hate him even more for making the consequences a possibility.

Surprising me, Elijah gets right up in Aiden’s face. “Are you going to be the one to tell them?”

Aiden’s gaze flicks between me and Elijah. “I can’t believe you’re withhim.”

It’s the recognition of hurt in Aiden’s voice that tips me off. Pieces the puzzle together. “You mean, you can’t believe he’s with me, and notyou.”

“What the fuck have you told him?” Aiden says accusingly.

Elijah gives me a look that says he isn’t fucking pleased, and I shrug. I’m not sorry. I’m not going to let this little fucker run circles around me, and I'm definitely not going to listen to him bully Elijah into feeling regret about anything we've shared.

“I thought you were smarter than this,” he says to Elijah. “Smarter than to get caught up in what's probably some sick web of bullshit.”

“You know nothing about us,” Elijah defends.

“What’s there to know? He smelled your innocent ass from a mile away,” he sneers.

“How dare you?” I roar. But it’s not my anger that makes Aiden flinch.

“Is that what you think of me?” Elijah’s voice is eerily calm. “That I wouldn’t know the difference between something that’s real and something that wasn’t?”

“That’s not what I said,” Aiden argues.

“That I’m just some weak, naive kid?” Elijah continues, his insecurities rising to the surface. “That I would just play nice with anyone who gave me the time of day?”

“I don’t know.” Aiden shrugs, his face and eyes void of emotion. “Is that what happened?”

I place my hands on Elijah’s shoulders and crane my neck so my mouth is right by his ear. “He’s baiting you, baby. Don’t rise to it.” Then I look straight back at Aiden. “Maybe you should stop talking before you say something you can’t take back, because he’s probably the only guy in the world who will forgive you for some of the shit you spewed tonight.”

Livid, Aiden doesn’t say a word, but rather he pushes the bathroom door with such force it echoes off the wall behind it. Watching him storm inside, I can sense Elijah’s struggle on what to do next.

Unable to meet my gaze, Elijah keeps his head down when he says, “I think I’m going to stay here and wait for Aiden.”

“What? After the way he just spoke to you? I don’t think so.”

“Cole,” he says firmly. “I’m going to wait for my friend.”

“Is this a joke? He was a fucking asshole to you.”

“He was,” he concedes. “And that’s why Ineedto talk to him.”

“What the fuck am I missing here, Elijah? Your friend basically threatened to tell on us, but you want to stay back and comfort him.”

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