I began to think of her as a friend.
Her phone rang. It was always ringing. She ignored it, face tilted upwards. She almost glowed.
“Why don’t you answer for once?”
“It’s just Kaspar. I’m not interested.”
I looked down at my nails. The grass was frozen solid to my ass. “Have you considered maybe going out with him?”
She glanced at me, frowning a little. “You keep calling him a psycho stalker. Now you think I should give him a chance. That’s a pretty big change of heart.”
“At this point, I almost want to reward the guy’s persistence.”
“I don’t. If I give him what he wants, it’ll only reinforce this behavior.”
“He’s not a puppy dog.”
“I don’t know. What’s so different between dogs and men?”
I snorted and waved that off. “Come on, be serious. Kaspar’s hot as fuck. He’s popular, athletic, rich. I bet your family would love it if you had his stupid little babies. Why not just go on a single date and get it over with? Then at least you can say you tried.”
She sighed and sat up straight, folding her legs in crisscross and placed her hands in her lap. She could be so prim sometimes. I felt like a slouching caveman in her presence.
“Do you really think Kaspar would accept a single date?”
“Ask him.”
“Be serious.”
“I am. Ask him. Answer his next call and tell him you’ll give him a single date, and if he doesn’t change your mind, then it’s finished. Make him agree.”
She thought it over. My heart raced. I hated my own stinking guts in that moment for being such a manipulative freak—
But Kaspar might know something. He definitely suspected. If I could win some of his good will for long enough to do my job and get the hell out of here, then I needed to take any risk necessary. Convincing Penny to go out with him might be enough to hold his tongue for a few more weeks.
Until I finally decided what in the world I wanted for myself.
“All right, if you really think that’s a good idea.” She seemed uncertain. God, she was so pretty sometimes. The way she chewed her lip, the way she looked at me with that mix of adoration and naked trust. I didn’t know why she listened to a word I said, but she did, and it was intoxicating.
To have someone like her care about me felt like fresh rain after a long drought.
“Give it a shot. It can’t hurt to try.”
As if on cue, her phone rang again. This time she picked it up, stared at the screen, then accepted the call.
“Hello, Kaspar.” She squinted down then put the phone on speaker.
“—glad you took my call. I’ve been thinking about you.”
“I’ve been thinking too. I want to make a deal.”
“A deal?” He sounded amused. “I’m listening.”
“I propose a trade of sorts. I’ll give you a single date, and in return, you swear that you’ll leave me alone if I decide to never see you again.”
He was silent. Penny rolled her eyes. She thought this was a game.
There was nothing fun about a man like Kaspar. He’d rip her to shreds if that was what he wanted. He was a dangerous wolf, domesticated now, but liable to go feral at any moment. She was playing with a killer, and she had no clue.
“I can accept that,” he said softly. “But I plan the date, and you go along with whatever.”
“Within reason and on campus.”
“Okay, you have a deal.”
“If I say it’s over and we’re not seeing each other again, you’ll leave me alone? You’ll really walk away?”
“I’m a man of my word, Penny.”
“All right then. I’ll go out with you.”
“Friday. I’ll meet you outside of your dorm at six. Plan on staying out late.”
She smiled, genuine and real. “Not too late. Alice wants me home by eleven.”
“Does Alice have a hand in this?”
“It might’ve been her idea.”
“Thank her for me then.”
I shivered and looked away, unable to meet her raised eyebrows.
“I’ll see you Friday.” Penny hung up and tossed the phone into her bag. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“Now all you have to do is go out with the guy.”
“Right, totally. One night of my life. How bad can it be?”
Three days later, Kaspar met Penny outside of our dorm and steered her away toward the middle of campus.
I lingered nearby. I told Penny I had a late-night study thing and promised to be home to decompress with her later. She was nervous—she spent over an hour getting ready, trying on clothes, doing her makeup, changing her mind. In the end, she went with a simple sweater and jeans combination that somehow made her look like a goddess.
I followed from a distance. I couldn’t get too close. Kaspar would spot me too easily, but I couldn’t let them go through this alone.