Bitter Fruits Read Online Free

Dr. Kenyon.
    “ Kenyon . Dr. Kenyon is so smart; Dr. Kenyon said this super funny thing in class. Dr. Kenyon-”
    “First of all, I don’t talk like that. Secondly, I absolutely do not have a crush on my professor. My professor that you happen to be draping yourself over right this very moment.”
    Scarlet looks at me and I shrug. She pouts, her hand not moving from his chest. “Will I be in trouble for this?”
    “I’m not your teacher,” he argues. And with that, my mythology professor and my roommate begin their relationship. I keep my mouth shut, because he has his own apartment and doesn’t want to be seen in the dorm. This is the first time I have been able to sleep in my own bed after Scarlet scores one of her conquests. It’s a good thing, too, because I am restless tonight. I can’t stop thinking about the evening and my intermittent dreams are of a handsome stranger with emerald eyes. I really wish we’d at least had that one moment in the dirt.
     
     
     

 
    2.
     
    It ’s a few days later when I walk out of a study session in the library, at nearly midnight because I truly do not understand statistics, that I hear the voice again. Alec is sitting on the wall bordering the library entrance. I recognize him immediately, but without his mask, I’m disappointed to see that he is even more attractive. I don’t like being drawn to beautiful men who appear and disappear with no effort; relationships with this sort of guy tend to end badly.
    “No ball gown?” His voice is light, joking, but I look down at my ragged jeans and sweatshirt and realize I am out of my league. He isn’t dressed the same, either, but his dark pants and light blue shirt look like they were purchased at one of those stores where clothes don’t have price tags and you get a personal assistant for your shopping. The sort of stores I have never, and likely will never, shop in; I don’t even know people who do.
    “No wolf mask,” I tease back, hoping the attempt at humor covers my doubt. Dressed in a gown, surrounded by candles and incense, I could keep up; here on campus, in clothes I basically planned to wear to bed, Alec intimidates me. It isn’t only his physical beauty; something about him seems to reach me through the autumn night and make me burn for a world I didn’t even know I was missing. The way he looks at me makes me feel like all of the words from all of the stories I’ve ever read have come to life and become flesh. Perfect, sexy, and untouchable flesh.
    “Your hood was black, but I am no less a predator,” he says, warning and sorrow mixed in his tone. “The mask just advised you what you were getting.”
    “What am I getting? Because you certainly disappeared fast enough.”
    “It was best not to be privy to the cries of monster,” he says, reminding me of Chloe. She’s fine now phy sically although she seems lost. Her roommates said that she has taken to sleeping all day and then walking the campus alone at night. We are in a reasonably safe area, but the behavior is still weird. Everyone thinks she might be a little insane. I think she is just sad; she has been quoting Lucy from Dracula , which spells pathetic to me. She took the party too seriously, but being this close to Alec again, I can see how that could happen to a girl. Reality twists into something new when he smiles.
    “Do you know something about her?”
    Alec hops down from the wall and approaches. My body reacts to him again and I try to turn it off. I can’t feel this, not when I don’t even know what his intentions are with me. He made me feel beautiful for one night, but it was one night and bad things happen when a girl assumes one night is the same as a lifetime.
    “Walk with me,” he says and I let him lead me up to the crest of a hill. The moon is full and Alec lies back on the grass, gesturing for me to lie down beside him. It is chilly; the autumn air is growing closer to winter every day, but there is enough warmth between