Griffin
“How did I get talked into doing this?” I grumbled as I strode down the busy corridor full of students. With my packed schedule already bursting at the seams, this was the last place I wanted to be, making the constant chatter all the more annoying.
“The same way you get roped into anything, you don’t read your emails properly before you send a response,” May replied.
Her curt tone was doing little to make me feel better about giving a talk, about myself and my business acumen, at Brighton University.
May stopped mid-step as I snarled at a girl who’d stepped into my path without looking where she was going. She’d been too busy staring at her phone screen to notice my approach, or that I’d had to jump out of the way to avoid bumping into her. While I was avoiding her, I hadn’t seen the guy coming the other way and knocked right into him.
He “hrumphed” loudly as we collided, my hands reaching out to steady him while my gaze was still fixed on the girl already walking away.
“Why don’t they bloody ban phones in school?” I seethed to no one in particular, too ticked off to notice that I was still holding onto the guy I’d walked into.
“What are you, the phone police? And I think you can let go now, mate,” came a voice that instantly caught my attention. The soft Scottish brogue was all too familiar to me as I turned my attention to the man staring at me through dark-framed glasses. His grey-green eyes were quite the sucker punch, shocking me into silence, my tongue feeling too thick for my mouth as he tugged his arms from my slack fingers. His shaggy chestnut-brown hair framed a face with a stunning bone structure. Although, he had a nerdy geek look about him, there was something captivating about him. The tip of his tongue appeared and licked his full, pink lower lip, drawing my gaze.
Why are you staring at his lips?
“You know it’s rude to stare, right?” The guy interrupted my thoughts, his voice taking on a sharp edge. Self-preservation kicked in and I lowered my eyelashes, needing to hide my confusion at the strange reaction I’d had to him, even in the standard university attire of baggy jeans, trainers and a hoodie.
What would his body look like underneath those baggy clothes?
What the fuck! Why would you even be interested in knowing that?
Taking an involuntary step back, I cursed at May’s, more than noticeable, chuckle at my obvious discomfort. The woman was a menace and missed nothing.
The guy, on the other hand, just eyed me like I was a simpleton as my fingernails dug into my palms. “I apologise,” I rasped, working at retaining an aura of calm I definitely didn’t feel. I was pissed at how croaky I sounded, but resigned to it being the best that I could offer right then.
“Yeah, whatever,” the guy muttered as he moved to go past me.
Unsure where the sudden urge to ask his name came from, I clamped my lips together and focused on looking forward.
“Are you quite finished trying to knock people over?” May’s brows rose and disappeared under her dark, blunt fringe.
“Oh, shut up,” I growled as I stomped down the corridor without waiting to see if she’d followed.
The head of the university had given me directions to his office, so I knew where to go as I dodged several more students not paying attention. But a pair of grey-green eyes behind nerdy glasses wouldn’t leave me in peace.
There was something about the guy’s geeky appearance that had felt slightly off, like it was a shield of some sort hiding what lay beneath.
What is it with you? Why are you even thinking about the guy? What difference does it make if he’s hiding a part of himself? You do that all the time.
My teeth ground together as an image of my father escaped the barrier I’d erected to keep my past where it should remain, locked in a vault never to be looked at again. Yeah, like it’s that easy.
This time, my jaw ached with the force of locking my teeth together.
A gentle touch to my arm distracted me and I looked towards May. The pinched expression and anxiety in her eyes forced me to take a deep breath, and then another, as I worked to loosen the rising tension.
“I’m fine,” I ground out sharply before sighing. “Sorry… it’s just…” I trailed off, unsure why my past was suddenly at the forefront of my mind.
“It’s okay, Grif. Just give yourself a minute and take a breath.” Her softly spoken words and the gentle hand rubbing at my tense forearm helped me to do as she’d requested.
As the tension eased, I gave her a smile and hoped it would be enough to stop any questions. There were only two people who knew about my past and May was one of them. The other was, what many people would refer to as my fairy godfather, Alexander McDonald, the multi-billionaire who’d taken it upon himself to rescue me from hell.
The door, several feet away from me, opened and a guy with silver hair and a navy pinstriped suit appeared. Recognising the man, I pushed away the disquiet that had clung to me ever since I’d stared into that pair of grey-green eyes. “Hello William. I’m sorry I’m running a little behind.” I offered my hand as he stepped towards me.
“It’s fine, you’re here now. I was just on my way to the lecture theatre so it’s perfect timing, Griffin.” After pumping my hand enthusiastically several times, he ushered me back up the corridor I’d just come down. It remained busy as we moved through the crowd of students still milling around.
“What are they waiting for?”
“The classes are staggered so that students have enough time to get across campus. If they don’t have classes on opposite sides of the building then students tend to congregate in the halls.”
It was only as William responded that I realised I’d spoken the question aloud.
His narrow shoulders shrugged as he continued to guide me through the throng of conversing students. My gaze skimmed over the young men and women standing around, searching their faces. I swallowed a sigh of disgust when I realised who I was looking for. What are you playing at?
Fuck knows.
The knots that had started to develop in my gut, tightened. Dismissing the urge to rub my abdomen, I turned my attention to what William was saying.
“The class you are about to talk to are all third-year students, who are doing a masters in economics and business management.”
I nodded, not sure what he wanted me to say. I’d never gone to university. I’d had the life of hard knocks to provide all my lessons. That was until Alexander had shown up and decided I needed to change my ways. It had been years before I’d trusted that he only ever had my best interests at heart. The abuse and lack of anything other than hate had been so ingrained that I’d not believed that there could be someone who only wanted the best for me.
Why are you thinking about this now?
It had been years since I’d thought about my past, preferring to keep that shit where it belonged. At a loss for the reason why, a pair of grey-green eyes popped into my head, my stride faltering. I caught May’s eye as she glanced my way, her pencil brows meeting in the middle. I gave her a tight smile and willed away the vivid eyes that somehow had imprinted in my mind.
I breathed a sigh of relief as William stopped at the end of yet another long hallway, apparently oblivious to my inner turmoil. We were stood in front of a broad set of doors which led into a huge lecture theatre. As we stepped into the room, the noise barely dipped.