She was relying exclusively on scholarships and grants to fund her impending graduate studies. Repaying student loans for the rest of her life was not an option.
The only reason she was at the private, prestigious Ponderosa was because she’d studied with every spare minute she had in high school, not to mention the help of an exceptionally kind career counselor, who sent her application off when her parents refused.
Her eyes scanned each line of text with precision, pausing only to highlight key terms and phrases.
Social behavior is goal-oriented.
That phrase sent Kenna down a rabbit hole. Her spiraling thoughts claimed center stage, making her forget where she was and what she was doing. On the tail end of her digression clung an undeniable thought about Dr. Merino. Though he’d been forced into this social situation with her, he most certainly had a goal.
Alright, she wasn’t sure, but there was no denying something was off with him and she prayed whatever transpired would be less nefarious than the avenues her mind had explored over the last couple of weeks.
“Hey, Kenna.”
She jumped in her seat at the sound, frightened to near cardiac arrest as her adrenaline spiked like a seismograph during an earthquake. How was Kenna able to share a room with Dr. Merino five days a week if the mere thought of him had such an effect on her?
Closing the book, she regarded the visitor, any residual anxiety tamed upon seeing Liam’s face.
“Hey. Got anything for me to scan?” She waved the black scanner she’d hardly touched all morning.
“Sadly, no, so I guess you have to retire your magic wand for now.” He held up a leather jacket shrouded forearm to shield his eyes, at which point she realized she’d been aiming the blinding red strip at him. Biting the inside of her lip, she returned the scanner to its holster.
He stood there, as if unsure how to proceed, and jerked his head to swish the razor-cut black hair out of his eyes, gaze falling to the floor.
His bad boy exterior contradicted his shy nature, which Kenna found amusing—perhaps a tad alluring.
“Do you need something?” She hated when people, guys especially, played coy.
“There’s this student film festival, not this weekend but the next,” he began, shoving his hands inside the pockets of his dark-wash jeans. “I was wondering if you wanted to go … with me. If you want, but it’s no pressure. I was going to ask you at trivia but then I thought it might be weird with everyone around and—” he sighed. “I’m making a complete ass of myself, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, you are.” Kenna laughed as Liam trailed off in the direction of the exit. “If your film is even half as entertaining as that performance you just gave, I’m sure we’ll have a great time.”
He spun around with a wide grin, pointing at her as he backed toward the double doors. “Wagner Theatre, 7 o’clock on the 15th.”
“Can’t wait.”
She tapped her fingers against her textbook, joy radiating all the way to their tips. She needed to get out of her apartment more often. It remained to be seen if Liam was trustworthy but Kenna took comfort in the fact that they’d be in a theater full of people rather than one-on-one.
No more than twenty seconds after she resumed her study session, a more troublesome voice echoed in passing.
“See you at one, kid.”
A chill ran up her spine, so bitterly cold it may as well have been accompanied by the formation of ice on her bones.
Dr. Merino’s face twisted up, attempting but failing to form a smile. It was like his muscles denied him of the expression, or perhaps he was altogether incapable of it.
Her eyes did not stray from his back until he passed through the exit and the doors shut behind him.
Dayton’s thumb struck his lighter and a flame bloomed from its tip. He inhaled, igniting his blunt, and a plume of smoke escaped his lips. Lurking among the towering shelves of the library had been worth inhaling the stench of rotting books for an hour. Someone else had their eyes set onhislamb.
What he found even more infuriating was Kenna’s lack of protest upon Liam’s proposal. She seemed—dare he say—a bit eager in her acceptance. Her interest in other men simply wouldn’t do. He had to lure her back in and sink his hook, before that boy sailed off with her into the sunset.
He blew a final puff of smoke out the window and with it came clarity as he snuffed out the blunt and discarded it on the brick ledge outside. Dayton knew better than to leave things to chance where his subjects were concerned.
Liam Park had to be dealt with.
As he locked the window, a knock sent his hands into a tingling fit. Kenna.
“It’s open,” he said, flipping on the humidifier.