Page 41 of Bottoms
I hadn’t smoked since the night at Tanner’s father’s mansion. That had been at least two weeks ago. Every now and then, a craving would hit me, but every time I went to grab one, all I could see was Nik's face.
Fynn had unlocked the door to his office after my night of voyeurism. Every day, I crept into the room and sat in the computer chair to see what the guys were doing. I didn’t even question my voyeurism being wrong anymore, not since I had found so many truths in my observations.
Tanner was only the owner of Tops in name, as Hannah had fully transitioned into the role. She was back in New York City, living in our old apartment. From the messages, I could tell she was still happily dating all five security members, but she hadn’t forgotten about me. Tanner would pass along messages to her whenever they found a new lead on my location. Or at least thought they had a lead. In reality, they weren’t anywhere close. Their text-based banter reminded me of the way siblings would text each other. Hannah seemed to have found a way to get over Tanner, after all.
Colten barely texted anyone, and his responses were short and clipped, even when he received a message. He didn’t seem to agree with Tanner’s decision that they were to go on with their normal lives after seeing that I was alive. Colten had attempted to voice his differing opinion a few days after the party. Tanner responded with a hard no before Colten had finished laying out his arguments.
Tanner did clarify that they were not giving up on me. After seeing my state at the party and Fynn’s reaction towards Nik, Tanner wanted to wait and see when Fynn would decide to show me again.
I smiled into my cup of coffee. Nothing could spoil my mood this morning because the guys hadn’t known that since the night of the party, Fynn and I had been busy making plans. I was going to see them sooner than they thought, and the plan was the perfect way to safely blend into their lives without someone ending up dead.
Fynnbroughtmeintothe city long before I needed to be at class. He had found a wig that looked close enough to my natural cut and color. I didn’t think anyone would notice the difference. The cover story we had crafted would cover me in case anyone did ask about it.
I wanted to be the first one in the classroom. Fynn assured me that Nik mostly taught from the lecture hall since classes resumed after Christmas break. Keeping each session short and strict, and mostly silent. Today’s class would be a lot more entertaining.
My classmates filtered through the doors at varying times, but they all held the same exhausted look. They were ready for class to be over before it even began. Some of them noticed me sitting at the desk in the front row. I had picked the seat on the end like I wanted. And I didn’t give a fuck about who usually sat there. This spot was mine now.
Nik burst through the double doors; several minutes late to class. His head was facing down, looking at a report in his hands rather than watching where he was walking. The familiar feelings of fluttering butterflies washed over me. He looked so fucking good.
His hair was messy, the blond strands longer than they should be if he had kept up with his hairdresser appointments. There was even a patchy beard that had started to grow. But he still dressed in all black. He shut the folder between his hands, tossing it onto the desk before his soft blue eyes looked up to meet his bored but patient class. His gaze slowly passed over the faces of his students until they finally reached mine. At first, his eyes moved past me, then realization dawned on him, and his head whipped back to meet my gaze again. His jaw fell slack, and a look of total confusion was noticeable to everyone in the room. The hour had apparently become much more interesting for my classmates as they watched our exchange.
“Glad to see you back, Ms. Harlow. Hope everything is well now,” he said, attempting but failing to slip on his mask of stern detective professor.
“It’s okay, Nik,” I said, getting up to stand. “The captain said it was alright for me to talk about certain parts of what happened.” I turned to face the rest of my class.
Arizona was looking at me wide-eyed with shock while some of the men were admiring my new form. I hadn’t been subtle when I decided to wear the tight black leggings and a blue button-up shirt. Leaving a few of the buttons undone at the top.
“Over the winter, I was involved in an undercover assignment. It wasn’t planned, and the department wasn’t looking to use someone from our class. It happened to be a unique situation where I met specific parameters. Professor Cage did approach me with a proposition to aid in a case, and I accepted. I can only say that the situation is resolved, and I am glad to be back with everyone.” I gave the room a thin smile, knowing it would help keep people from asking questions. But I already knew my answer to any they could throw my way.
I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to talk about that.
“Thank you, Vanessa,” Nik said, nodding his head. He seemed to approve of the cover story. “For tonight’s, umm, class,” Nik started, clearly still shaken by my sudden appearance.
I raised my eyebrow at him, settling back into the seat. He couldn’t keep his eyes off me.
“Last known place of employment for your sister, sir,” Arizona spoke up.
My gaze abandoned Nik as I whipped my head in her direction to glare at her. Why the fuck had she called him, sir?
“Right,” Nik said, seeming to remember what he had on his syllabus for today. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts as he headed back to his desk to grab the folder. “This is all the information we have on her place of employment and her co-workers at the time of her murder,” Nik said, sliding a sheet of paper onto each of the students' desks.
He stopped in front of me, but his folder was empty.
“You can look through the information. There isn’t much,” he said, turning to face the rest of the class, but he didn’t move away from me. “Go online, look the place up. Try to search through reviews from that time to see if anything catches your eye. Many breakthroughs happen in cases like these because one small detail comes to light.”
The students nodded, a fresh wave of renewed determination. Maybe it was the passion in Nik’s voice when he said it. Or maybe it was just the atmosphere with the excitement of my return. But renewed life flowed back into the class, with it, the excitement to try to find Nik’s sister’s killer.
“Can I have a word with you, Ms. Harlow?” Nik said, bending down to place his hands on the top of my desk when the students started to get to work.
I picked up my pencil from the table, placed the eraser in my mouth, and started to play with the tip. Nik’s eyes watched my tongue as I teased him before biting gently on the end and smiling. I removed the pencil, but his gaze remained on my lips.
“Sure,” I said with a smile, and his eyes darkened. Good, I only had an hour before Fynn would be back to collect me.
I got up from the desk and followed Nik across the room to a door. He unlocked it using a badge from the university. A light shone green before he pushed the lever down and gestured for me to venture into the room. It was dark, and I moved into the small space that was likely meant to be an office. The door clicked shut, and the last of the light was taken with it.
Nik flipped a switch on the wall, illuminating the tiny room void of any windows. We were technically below ground at the bottom of the lecture hall, so a window wouldn’t have done much good. My nerves were still on edge after Arizona’s comment, but Nik only had eyes for me.
The confused look was back on his face; he looked like he wanted to touch me but wasn’t allowed. It must have been a rule Tanner made in person with them when he ordered them not to seek me out. Nik’s feet paced back and forth as he let a little more of his detective side show.
