So that night, I’d just told Zephyr I needed time to myself, which happened to be the truth. He was fuming as I left his room, bound for my own, but I didn’t care. I really, truly didn’t have time to care about that. I needed to clear my head. Since I wasn’t allowed off campus anymore, I decided the best thing to do was to try soothing myself with a steaming hot shower.
It felt like the exact inverse of my luxurious, self-pleasuring baths in Zeph’s bathtub. There was nothing sexy about this. I just flung off my clothes, turned on the water as hot as it would get, and plunged myself under. I did everything I could to block out my thoughts and let the cascade of water ease me into a place of relative peace.
Fat fucking chance.
When standing under the spray didn’t work, I sat on the gritty old tile. When that didn’t work, I laid down and tried to meditate on something, anything, to distract myself: sunsets and waves crashing and snatches of dull Enlightenment poetry. It was hopeless. If I wasn’t thinking about Gail’s corpse or that needling detective, I was remembering the sensation of a knife to my throat, how close I’d gotten to meeting the same grim fate as my late friend.
Eventually, I gave up. The shower was a bust. I killed the water and sat pathetically on the floor, pressing my palms into my tight shoulders.
The bathroom was filled with fog. It showed no signs of dissipating. After all, Stormcloud’s manor was centuries old. It’s not like there was a vent fan I could turn on. On the other hand, I didn’t have anywhere to be. The night was young, and I had a date with my bed. I might spend the whole night tossing and turning, but if I managed to fall asleep, at least it would be at a reasonable hour for once.
The only things left to do were to brush my teeth and find a fresh pair of undies for bed. Half-blinded by the steam, I grabbed my toothbrush and squeezed a tiny bit of toothpaste on. Ever the multitasker, I decided to search my baggage for panties while I brushed.
Imagine my shock then to find Arvo Hurley reclined on my bed as I stepped out of the bathroom, naked as the day I was born.
He caught my attention with a wolf whistle. I nearly leaped out of my skin.
“Fucking shit, Arvo!” I shrieked, retreating back into the bath to grab a towel.
He was cracking up as I covered myself.
“Come on, Quinn! Don’t be such a prude. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
That was true, but it didn’t make a difference. Whatever I might have done with Arvo Hurley in the past, I didn’t want him sneaking in on me while I was in the shower.
“How did you get in here?” I demanded after wrapping myself in a beach towel—the only towel I had in the room.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I will worry about it, man. I have enough messed up shit in my life right now without your creepy ass breaking into my room.”
Arvo wore the biggest shit-eating grin, which annoyed me twofold. First, I wanted him to take this violation seriously, and second, that smile brought out his boyish dimples. Those somehow made him cute, even when he was being awful.
“I’m sort of amazed Zephyr lets you sleep here.”
“He doesn’t let me do anything, Arvo. I sleep where I want to.”
“Very liberated,” he answered with mock admiration.
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“That’s because I’m not gonna.”
“Then get the fuck out,” I barked back. This discussion had gone on long enough.
“Not doing that either, Biba.”
Maybe I should have been scared at that moment, but I was too tired and stressed even to register the ominousness of his refusal. I was wet and naked and just wanted to get into bed.
Besides, I figured Arvo couldn’t try anything too untoward—not with Zephyr Williams’ girl.
“Arvo, I’m done talking,” I groaned. “I need to get dressed and get some sleep. If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”
He sighed in a show of exaggerated annoyance.
“You are not being very nice to me, Biba. It hurts my feelings.”
“Why should I be nice to you?”