See No Evil

“When the shit hits the fan, then I’ll take things seriously. Now, are you going to spill, or what? I’m getting more bored by the minute, which may actually force me to start paying attention to this lecture if you don’t talk.” He yawns loudly.

“Oh, dear lord!” exclaims the brunette in front of us, throwing her hands in the air in aggravation before turning over her shoulder. “Will you two ever shut up?!”

Her ponytail, which is tightly bound on her head, and her dark-rimmed glasses poised to the brim of her nose make her look twice her age and just as stern. She’s wearing a light-beige grandma sweater, which is a little bit ridiculous since it’s still late August and eighty degrees outside. If the girl was going for an unflattering and dull look, she hit the nail on the head with her choice of wardrobe and hairdo, which is a shame, since she isn’t that hard on the eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were we too loud for you?” Easton feigns concern with his open palm to his chest. Always with the dramatics this one.

“As a matter of fact, yes, you were. Some people here actually came to learn, not listen to you two bickering like an old married couple,” she scolds, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“Too bad for you, I’m not one of those people.” Easton shrugs unapologetically, back to his dark, who-the-fuck-cares persona.

The black look she throws at him only deepens as she white-knuckles the pen in her hand, pointing toward him in a way that looks like she wants to poke his eye with it.

“Just keep your conversation to yourselves, will you?”

“Why? You were the one eavesdropping on us, not the other way around.”

The girl’s brown eyes become two large saucers, bugging out to the point that not even her glasses could keep them contained on her face.

“I was not eavesdropping! For me to do that, the two of you would need to have a coherent conversation. Not grunt and cackle every few seconds,” she snaps enraged.

“For a girl who says she’s here to study, you sure do pay a lot of attention to strangers’ intimate conversations,” Easton argues, stretching his legs once more onto the empty seat next to her, his boots inches away from the angry girl’s face.

“Just keep it down.” She tries again, ignoring the boots swaying left to right beside her head.

“No promises, your highness. Now be a good girl and turn around. You’re boring me.”

She rolls her eyes before straightening forward, but both Easton and I hear her loud and clear when she mumbles ‘asshole’ beneath her breath.

Damn it. She really shouldn’t have said that.

Easton, never being one to let anyone have the last word, takes his feet off the headrest to lean right into her. Her back is visibly stiffened by his move, which makes his menacing grin split his face in two. He then pulls at her ponytail to bring her head back, making her gasp out sharply, and putting his mouth right next to her ear, he says, “You know, if you ever want to remove the stick up your ass, I could deal with that problem for you. A few orgasms will definitely relax that stiff upper lip.”

“I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on Earth,” she snarls with a hostile stare, leaving no misinterpretation about her thoughts when it comes to my best friend.

“Ah, isn’t that precious. Baby, all I have to do is snap my fingers, and you’d come ru

She lets out a loud scoff as she looks him dead in the eye.

“You wish. Not everyone wants a piece of Easton Price.”

“And yet, you know my name, whereas I have no clue about yours. Nor do I care. I don’t need a name to make you see God, sweetheart. Too bad for you, I don’t fuck uptight bitches.”

“And too bad for you, I don’t screw entitled assholes. Guess we both lucked out,” she rebukes, turning her head away, forcing him to let go of her hair.

“Feisty. Maybe I was wrong.” Easton sinisterly laughs out in amusement. “Maybe you wouldn’t be a lousy fuck after all. As long as you brought those claws with you, we could have a go at it. What do you say? Want to find a janitor’s closet and put it to the test? I’m bored, and you seem like you need a good fuck. Don’t worry. I won’t turn the lights on.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she retorts without missing a beat. “As I said, you’d be the last guy in all of Asheville I’d ever be alone in the dark with.”

Easton’s gunmetal eyes burn an eerie shade of gray, the tug of his upper lip looking pleased with the challenge.

“Will you stop?” I chime in, pulling his shoulder to force him to sit back down, all the while wondering what the hell has gotten into him. Unfortunately, Easton just shrugs me off, ignoring me completely, too wrapped up in his little game of harassing the poor girl.

“Are you afraid of the dark?” he hushes in her ear. “Why? Do the things that lurk in the shadows scare you?”

I see a small shiver ru

“Enough, East,” I warn, not one bit happy with his attitude.

He tilts his head my way, his shark-like grin intact, utterly unaffected by my warning.

“For now. Just one more thing.”

He then turns to the brunette one more time to rasp his last, ruthless, pestering comment in her ear. As hard as she tries to pretend he’s not getting under her skin, her body betrays her the minute his breath touches her skin.

“You just made it on my radar, sweetheart. I hate to tell you, but that’s not a good place to be. I’d be careful if I were you.”

She snaps her neck toward him with burning fury covering her eyes, even though every cell of her body is clearly showing how terrified of him she is.

“You don’t scare me,” she lies.

“Ah,” he coos, gripping her chin so their faces are just inches apart. “But I think I do, don’t I?”

“Mr. Price! Is there anything you want to share with the class?” Professor Donavan asks, confirming we got his attention.

Easton takes a full minute to stare the girl down instead of letting her go. When she finally submits and lowers her eyes from his, Easton releases his grip from her chin and leans back in his seat, looking right as rain.

“Nah, teach. I’m good. What I have to share is only for a selected few, if you catch my drift?”

The few smirks and giggles from the other students invade the classroom, taking Professor Donavan a minute to restore order.

“Please try to refrain from repeating things of that nature, Mr. Price. This is a Philosophy class not Sex Ed.”

Another slew of chuckles ensues, but Professor Donavan is able to keep control and continue with his lecture quickly enough.

“What the hell was that all about?” I interrogate him once we’re no longer the center of attention.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve got other things to focus on.” He pretends to pick off lint from his shoulder, not caring to look me in the eye.

My brows pinch together as I scrutinize my best friend from head to toe. Easton is a cocky asshole, but he isn’t a mean one. That’s Colt’s area of expertise. So, what gives?

I slant my chin toward the brunette, who is now crouching down in her seat, making a serious effort to not gain Easton’s attention again.

“You know her, don’t you?” I whisper, making sure no one else is listening. East offers me a curt nod, confirming my suspicion. “And she just happened to get on your shitlist how, may I ask?”