Chapter 12

I left my bag in Leon’s truck and followed him into the station. Leon was already talking to a deputy at the front desk when I approached. “I assure you, one of our deputies can handle this,” she said, but he was already shaking his head.

“No, we’ll only speak to Sheriff Michaels. No one else.”

Sheriff? That was his friend in the department?

She opened her mouth, and I could just tell she was gearing up to tell him no again when a man entered the room from the back. “It’s alright. I’ve got this,” the man said as he approached, giving me a kind smile.

Based on his appearance, I’d say he was in his early forties, with the barest hints of gray appearing in his dark hair and a few wrinkles creasing his dark skin. The deputy sighed as she sat back in her chair while the Sheriff guided us back to his office, where he directed us to the sofa in the corner and dragged a chair closer so he could sit.

“Hello, my name is Derek Michaels,” he said to me, holding out his hand.

“Rhea Hale.” I took his calloused hand and gave a small shake.

“So, tell me what happened,” he said, getting straight to business as he pulled out his notepad.

Derek didn’t interrupt me once as I spoke. He nodded to himself every once in a while as he scribbled something in his notebook. “Do you know either of these men? Did you see their faces?” He asked once I finished my story.

“The guy who attacked him was someone from one of my classes,” I said, suppressing a shudder.

“Which class?” Leon asked before Derek could ask any more questions, making me frown.

“Ancient Mythology.”

“Is that a day or night class?” He asked, for some reason honing in on this.

“Night class.” I dragged out the words as I continued looking at him in confusion. “Is this relevant?”

“Do you know his name?” Derek cut in before Leon could ask any more dumb questions.

“His first name is Ezra, but that’s all I know,” I said with a shrug, my heart hammering as I silently prayed we’d drop the subject. Even talking about him made me feel anxious.

Derek nodded before asking more in-depth questions about the attack, asking about the guy’s height, hair color, and any details I could remember. He told me the smallest of details could help. When he had me show him my pepper spray, he also mentioned it was good I had it and said I should always carry it with me.

Once he was done with his questions, he told me he would look into it. While I doubted he’d find anything out, it was nice to have someone listen to me and not shame or put the blame on me for being out so late.

As I walked out of the station behind Leon, I ground to a halt when I saw Cassius leaning back against his black Jeep.

These guys seemed to love having black vehicles.

His arms were crossed over his chest, making his biceps bulge and drawing my attention to them. When I finally yanked my gaze from the muscles flexing in his arms, I found his gaze on me. Tension held his body as his gaze swept over my body, stopping on my arm where a bruise was already forming. I already regretted not having a jacket with the way the temperature plummeted, and now I had a whole other reason to need one. A muscle feathered in his jaw from how hard he was clenching it as he continued staring at my arm.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, fighting a shiver when a breeze rustled my hair.

“I’ll take her,” he said to Leon instead of answering me.

“Excuse me?” I spluttered, baffled at how he ignored me and spoke about me like I wasn’t here.

Cassius’ lips twitched, but other than that, he ignored me. Leon wiped his hand across his mouth, fighting to hide his grin as he glanced between us. He opened the passenger door of his truck and grabbed my bag that he handed to Cassius instead of me.

Fucking asshole.

“Seriously?” I crossed my arms, glaring between the two of them, ready to make this as hard as possible for them.

“Good luck with this one,” Leon said with a chuckle as he patted Cassius’ back.

Cassius tossed my bag in the backseat of his Jeep and then circled around to hold open the passenger door, looking at me.

“Do I look like a fucking dog?” I asked incredulously, ignoring Leon’s snort. “I don’t come on command.”

Leon’s snort became a full-blown laugh. What a fucking child, laughing at the unintentional innuendo.

Exasperation broke through the barely-leashed anger shadowing Cassius’ features as he sighed. I held my ground as he approached me, tipping my head back to maintain eye contact, still amazed at how tall he’d grown over the years. “Get your ass in that seat, or I’ll put you there myself.”

I tapped my chin as if I was thinking it over. In all honesty, I shouldn’t have been so difficult. I had only two options for a ride, and pissing one of them off wasn’t smart. But dammit, the way he was acting annoyed the hell out of me. When did he become such an asshole?

“No.”

“Maybe you don’t remember with how wasted you were, but I carried your ass the last time you acted like a brat, and I’ll do it again if need be,” he murmured, dipping his head down so it was closer to mine. His words and threat pissed me off, but at the same time, had my body heating and buzzing at his proximity.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

A slow, sexy smirk curled his lips, and my stomach clenched with a burning need for him. “Wanna bet?”

Before I could say another word or even react, he hauled me over his shoulder, carrying me to his Jeep. I let out an indignant squeak as my gaze shot over to a laughing Leon. “I’ll leave you guys to it. Rhea, I’m glad you’re safe.” He gave me one last look, winking at me before he headed to his truck, leaving me alone with this asshole.

Cassius unceremoniously deposited me in the passenger side of his Jeep. When I went to get out, he placed his hand on the door frame, blocking me with his arm. “I’ll scream,” I threatened, even though Leon was driving away, and I had no other choice than to ride with him.

“Okay, let’s hear it then,” he said, calling my bluff.

Heaving out a loud sigh, I buckled my seatbelt and crossed my arms like a sulking child. “You’re an asshole.”

His light chuckle cut off when he closed my door and went to the driver’s side.

I was silent the first couple of minutes, too annoyed to even think about talking. But even so, my gaze couldn’t remain off of him for long. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and sweats, and I couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you come from?”

“Home.”

“You don’t seem like the type to sit home on a Saturday night.” Unless he had a girl over. Nope, I couldn’t think about that.

“Maybe you don’t know everything about me.” His voice had an undercurrent to it that I couldn’t place.

“Fucking understatement,” I grumbled as I looked out the window.

My focus drifted toward him again, and this time, I paid attention to his body language. I couldn’t see too much with the only lighting coming from the dashboard and the passing streetlights, but I still noticed how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel.

“Are you alright?” I hadn’t meant to ask the question, it sort of just slipped out.

His laugh was strained as he shook his head. “I’m supposed to be asking you that, not the other way around.

“I already told Leon it was no big deal. He barely even touched me.” It was my first instinct to play this off as nothing, both because I didn’t want to piss Cassius off further with the details and I didn’t want to appear weak for being shaken up. Which I was, but more so by Ezra showing up.

I couldn’t seem to shake this guy lately.

Cassius released a low sigh and shook his head again. “You haven’t changed, always trying to downplay everything.”

Even though it was true, I opened my mouth to disagree with him. “The time you sprained your ankle and still ran in the track meet. Or how about the time your finger was smashed from a desk, and you didn’t say anything until the end of class? I’ve got more if you want to hear them.” He glanced over to find me gaping at him.

It wasn’t surprising he knew all these things; we were best friends at the time, and I told him nearly everything, but I just assumed he wouldn’t remember. This was the first time he acknowledged our past, and I was floored. After him not saying anything, I assumed he would pretend it never happened.

I turned away from him, staring out the window again as I attempted to gather my thoughts. Not only had he seemed to remember details from our friendship, but he’d also told Leon about me.

My thoughts abruptly cut off when I realized we weren’t heading back to campus. “Where are you taking me?” I shifted in my seat so I was facing him. He didn’t say anything or give any indication he’d heard me. “Take me back to my dorm, now.” It was a struggle to keep my voice level as my annoyance rose at being ignored once again.

“You were attacked. I’m not leaving you alone.” His voice was threaded with anger in a way I’d never heard from him before.

“I have roommates,” I finally spluttered after staring at him for almost a minute in stunned disbelief.

“Can you guarantee they’re home and sober?”

I wanted to argue and say yes, but that would be a lie. Both of them had gone out tonight, and there was a good chance Sel probably wouldn’t be home until the morning since she was out with Shirtless guy.

“I can handle being alone if that’s the case. This was just a one-off attack,” I finally said.

Cassius pulled into the driveway of a two-story house and parked. “Leon told me you were terrified when you ran—no, sprinted—into him. That doesn’t come from a one-off attack that doesn’t matter,” he said, holding my gaze captive with his.

“He was just some asshole that—”

“Unless of course, he wasn’t the one you’re scared of,” he cut me off, getting scarily close to the truth in just one guess. “You know the guy that saved you, don’t you? How did he just so happen to be there to save you?”

Was he insinuating Ezra had been following me? I wanted to immediately deny that ridiculous thought, not wanting to consider that anyone would be willing to stalk me. But the words refused to come out.

“He’s just some loner from my mythology class. I don’t know why he was out there. I didn’t get the chance to ask.”

“Your night class?”

I rolled my eyes as I groaned and dropped my head back. “What is with you and Leon focusing on that?”

Cassius pursed his lips as he considered me for a long moment. “Has he tried to talk to you?”

I considered telling him it was none of his business and to go fuck himself. But the thought of doing so made me feel like I would be protecting or even choosing Ezra somehow. Yes, I’d told my friends about him, but I hadn’t stressed how much he unsettled me, not wanting to needlessly worry them.

“Yes, a couple of times,” I muttered, shifting in my seat, wishing we could stop talking about him.

“He makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t he?”

“I manage to stay away from him,” I hedged with a casual shrug.

Cassius looked me over, most likely wanting to call me out again for my overly blasé attitude, but instead, he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s get you inside; you must be exhausted.”