20. Camille

Chapter 20

Camille

D ante lifted my hand and kissed it before finally glancing around at the party supplies littering the living room floor. His gaze landed on a box overflowing with black feathers. “Planning on building an army of crows? Either that or you're not just decorating a room for the Halloween party, you're decorating the whole campus?”

I poked my tongue out at him. Sure, I might have gone overboard with the supplies, but at least I was getting into the spirit of it all. The more I got into it, the more excited I got about showing off my space. The competitor in me wanted to do well, even if I didn’t expect to win. I told him about the theme I'd chosen for my room, knowing he wouldn’t leak my secret.

“Can I help you put your space together?”

“I’d love that, but Bianca is already helping. Plus, you're faculty so you probably shouldn’t be involved. I was also thinking…if you do want to continue seeing each other, we should probably start being more careful.”

“Let me guess. You want flavored condoms?” Dante deadpanned.

I rolled my eyes at his lame joke, even though I was reminded that with everything that had happened to me lately, I still hadn’t gone to the doctor for birth control. “Seriously, aren’t you worried about people seeing us together?”

“I’m not your teacher,” he argued.

“No, but you’re still faculty. And you were my counselor. I just don’t want you getting in trouble.”

Dante nodded. “We’ll be more careful, then. Maybe I can hang out with Kage more. We can make it seem like we’re friends.”

“Oh, Kage would love that,” I said with a laugh before my expression turned serious. “And that wouldn’t work anyway since Kage and I are no longer together. Plus, I'm planning on moving out. I need space. From Kage and from Ty."

"Have you talked to Housing about it?"

I shook my head. "I haven't gotten that far yet. I think I'm going to ask Bianca if I can stay with her for a while. If not, maybe Simone will let me crash on her couch."

"I'm sure Bianca would love to have you. But so would I.”

“That would increase our chances of getting caught together.”

“The risk would be well worth it.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

We smiled at each other until Dante’s smile faded. “Speaking of temptation. You and Kage... After he came to the house..."

I flushed hotly. "That was a mistake,” I said, feeling the words carve a hollow space inside me. "I love him, Dante, but if I stay with him until graduation…” I shook my head. “I need to protect myself."

Dante's expression softened, understanding flickering in his eyes. "He’s back on campus and the last time you met, I’m pretty sure he didn’t get the message.”

I thought back to the text he'd sent me--the one I’d finally read.

The more time we're apart, the hungrier I'll be for you, Rebel.

“I’ll make it clear the next time we talk," I said, fighting past images of a hungry Kage pouncing on me and dragging me off to satiate his appetite.

"And Ty? Have you told him you're moving out?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could, Ty walked right through the front door.

"What's this?" Ty’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "Breaking a few more rules, Dante?"

His tone was biting, clearly looking to provoke. I felt the tension spike in the room, but Dante didn’t bite. Instead, he offered Ty a tight-lipped smile.

"Looks like my time here is done." He glanced at me, and the look in Dante’s eyes told me this wasn’t the end of our conversation, just a pause, a step back. For now, he was giving Ty and me space.

I followed Dante to the door, his hand touching mine in a silent goodbye. The cool evening air brushed against my skin as I stepped outside, watching him climb onto his bike and roar off. A lump formed in my throat, tightening as I forced myself to turn back.

Ty hadn’t moved. He was still leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes locked on me with a mix of coldness and indifference. “So, when are we doing this drawing assignment?” His voice was detached, like we were talking about something as mundane as laundry instead of drawing each other nude.

I studied him, the Ty I thought I knew from our time in Italy twisted into someone I could barely recognize anymore. The memory of that boy had faded, and this version of him—angry, closed off, unpredictable—overshadowed our past. It terrified me, the uncertainty of what he would do next, what he wanted from me. I could have called him out, pushed him on his real reason for wanting to do the drawing assignment with me, told him I suspected it was because he was hiding himself, but I knew it wouldn’t make a difference. He would deny it, keeping his walls high and unbreachable.

“I’m going to transfer out of the class,” I said before I even realized I’d made that decision. But it was the only way out. The only way to keep myself from getting pulled deeper into this emotional quicksand.

Ty’s smirk was infuriating, a flicker of amusement in his cold eyes. “Running away, Camille? That’s not like you. Or is it?”

I felt the burn of his words, but I wouldn’t let him see that. I straightened my spine, my voice steady. “You can call me a coward if you want. Between the two of us, we know who the real coward is.”

He took a step closer, that mocking grin still plastered on his face. “Me?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. You’re the guy who broke up with me over text.”

“And you’re obviously still feeling bitter about that.”

I felt my anger boiling over. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stand my ground. “Yeah, Ty. You can say that. You ran away from me. From what we had. And now I don’t know who you are anymore. Now, I don’t even care. I’m moving out, remember? I don’t need any more complications in my life, and something tells me this little drawing assignment will only give you an opportunity to hurt me again. So why would I want to do it?”

“You think I’m a complication?” His voice dipped, low and dangerous. “Everyone is still talking about you and him, you know. About Kage getting hurt because of you.”

I shook my head, trying to keep my voice steady. “I can handle the talk. It’s not the same.”

Ty's gaze hardened, and the room felt smaller, the tension between us suffocating. His eyes bore into mine, like he was searching for something, something buried deep that he couldn’t find. The silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we weren’t saying.

“So, you’re going to keep seeing Kage? Even knowing he’s engaged? How pathetic.”

How did he know Kage was engaged? Had he known it all along? “I never said I was going to keep seeing him. I’m keeping my distance from both of you.”

He scoffed. “Look, I don’t care who you fuck, Camille. What I do care about is making sure I’m not caught up in your bullshit. And maybe if you can fit it in around screwing every guy on campus, we can work on our drawing project. I need to pass this class.”

His words hit me like a slap. “Well, you’ll have to do it without me.”

He stepped forward, his voice quieter but no less cutting. “So, Kage and I are out, and good old Dante is your consolation prize? I have to say, I’m surprised.”

I bristled, fists clenching at my sides. “Because I picked a nice guy for once?” I shot back.

“Because you have no idea what kind of guy Dante really is.”

His words hit their mark, and I felt my chest tighten with doubt. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

I hated that he was getting to me, making me question things I didn’t want to question.

“Did he tell you why he was covered in bruises?”

I didn’t respond, and Ty raked a hand through his hair. He began pacing. For the first time, I saw something flicker across his face, something that wasn’t anger or sarcasm. It looked a little like vulnerability.

“Shit, this is getting us nowhere,” he muttered, his voice strained as he stopped pacing. “What if I asked you not to transfer out of art class? To stay as my partner? What if I gave you something you wanted in return?”

I blinked, caught off guard. “You’d do that just so you can keep torturing me?”

I waited for him to say yes or say no. Because if he said no, he’d have to admit there was another reason for wanting to pair up for the art assignment. Like he wanted to protect himself from the humiliation of exposing his scars to a stranger. Or even maybe that he truly didn’t hate me, after all.

“Forget it,” he finally said. “Transfer out. I don’t need you.”

He turned to leave, and I told myself to let him. But I was an idiot, because the thought of him needing me and me not being there for him, even after all the shit he’d put me through, even if he wasn’t willing to ask me to help him, suddenly made me nauseous. “Wait,” I called.

He froze.

I struggled with myself before asking, “What are you willing to give me in return?”

He slowly faced me. “What do you want?”

My mind scrambled for something. I didn’t want him to know this was about any softness I felt toward him. Make this look like a business deal and it would be much easier to get the assignment done and move on. “Money,” I blurted out.

He cocked a brow and leaned against the wall. “How much money?”

“Ten thousand dollars.”

He smirked. “You want me to give you ten thousand dollars so you’ll do a nude drawing assignment with me?”

“What’s the matter? You don’t have that kind of money? Barely making ends meet nowadays, Ty?”

He laughed even as his expression darkened. “Swan, I’m fucking filthy rich. Even though the government seized my inheritance after my family was murdered, they had to give it back to me after my conviction was overturned.”

Shit. “Oh.” I shook my head. “You know what, never mind?—”

“No.” He straightened. “That’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. Ten thousand dollars. But if we’re going to do this, you can’t ask me about my family, the accident, prison, or anything from the past. Those are the rules.”

He was hiding it, but even his brief mention of his dead family had changed things. He was literally backing away from me, putting distance between us so he wouldn’t risk exposing any more of his pain.

How had we gotten from him taunting me to me agreeing to do the art assignment with him to me wanting to cry and hold him in my arms while I encouraged him to cry for all he’d lost?

This was how it was always going to be between us. Any interaction would be full of confusion, painful memories and seeing who could draw first blood and still stay standing.

“Okay, Ty,” I said. “You have a deal. But I have a condition of my own.”

“I thought your condition was ten grand?”

“We both know the money means nothing. What I want is to get this project done and then you forget I exist. If you see me on campus, you avoid me. If you think I need saving, you stay away. I don’t want to ever talk to you again. Are you willing to give me that?”

Instead of answering me, he turned on his heel. I stood there, staring after him as he headed to the front door and reached for the doorknob. There, he paused, then turned back to me. “You got it. After the art project is over, we cease to exist for one another.”