Page 39 of Sweet Violence
My brows pulled together. “Where are you going?”
His hand left my face. “The Dean’s office.”
My fingers twitched, almost catching his sleeve before I stopped myself.
Don’t.
You don’t have to do this for me.
His hand came back, cupping my cheek again.
“You settle when I touch you,” he whispered, fingers catching my jaw.
“Cancel it.”
His lips were on my skin then, pressing a barely there kiss just above my eyebrow. My stomach kicked up into my throat, and when he walked away, I almost chased him.
9
ARCHIE
By the time we cut across the quad, the lunch rush had thinned just enough to move without weaving around people every two seconds.
Not that it made it quieter.
Voices still carried. Someone had music playing somewhere.
Sun hit the stone hard enough to throw heat back up at us, baking through the soles of my shoes while students moved in loose clusters across the grass.
Rhys kept pace beside me.
His sleeves were pushed up unevenly, sunglasses hooked into the collar of his shirt. The sunlight caught in his hair when he turned his head, pale strands shifting gold for a second before falling back into place.
“They still haven’t fixed that.” He nodded toward the stretch of walkway ahead where the stone dipped slightly in the middle.
“They’re not going to.”
“Unbelievable,” he muttered. “This is why I left.”
I rolled my eyes. “You left because you graduated.”
“Exactly.” He looked over at me like that proved his point. “Which means I can bitch about it. All this money and they can’t fix a fucking stone?”
“You don’t have to come back here every week, you know?”
“Archibald.” He adjusted the strap of his bag, one sleeve already slipping back down his wrist. “Our lunch dates and afternoon walks are the only time I get to see you.”
“We just had dinner last night. In the apartment we share.”
“Babe, you nearly fell asleep in your Pad Thai.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
He nudged my arm with his elbow. “You had a fork in your hand and your eyes were closed.”
“I was blinking.”
“You wereunconscious.”
