Page 26 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade
“Really? Is there a mild-mannered professor hiding in the bushes?” I asked with a grunt, clutching my side. With my other hand, I touched the pendant and ring through my shirt. “I think maybe you should go to yourroomand think about how you behaved tonight. Torid, you could have really hurt that professor.”
He stared at me, his eyes flashing to yellow briefly before I heard his voice in my head again.I know.
There was a bit of glee attached to the statement, catching me off guard.
“I cannot believe how you’re behaving,” I snapped. “What has gotten into you?”
He ignored me and began sniffing around the bushes again before quickly moving to the side of the house.
I held off on summoning him back to the pendant—for now. But if he tried to eat any faculty members again, we were going to have words, a serious time-out, and possibly have to hide a body.
Wouldn’t be the first time someone in my family needed to dispose of a corpse. Though the Frankensteins were kind of into recycling when it came to dead bodies, so there was that. Not exactly what environmentalists meant by being green, but no one could say they weren’t working hard to reduce their carbon footprint.
“Waste not, want not,” I mused with a snort. “Come on. Let’s get back inside before Krissy summons the devil.”
Torid didn’t look thrilled, but he listened all the same, marching up the stairs of the back porch and waiting at the door for me.
I opened it and headed back to the living room where I found not much had changed.
Colleen lifted a brow. “Uh, you look flushed. You all right?”
“Had to chase Torid,” I confessed. “Also, I saw Craig and told him what you said to tell him, mostly. I got the quarter and inning thing wrong though.”
She laughed. “Not a shock. Did you offer to kiss him?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Did your dog try to eat anyone?” asked Emily.
I cringed. “Kind of. I stopped him before he could bite a professor.”
Her eyes widened. “A professor?”
I nodded. “Ended up pressed against the man in a really awkward way. I, well, might have kissed him.”
All eyes came to me.
“What?” asked Krissy. “Did you just say you kissed a professor?”
I cringed. “Maybe.”
“Tell me the professor was at least good-looking,” said Colleen. “That one biology teacher is a looker.”
“She only likes him because he’s blond,” said Emily. “And I think it’s hot that Astria made out with a professor.”
Colleen grinned. “Hey, I have a type.”
I glanced between my friends and nodded. “Yes. The Shaggy Professor was very, very handsome.”
“Shaggy Professor?” asked Emily, laughing more. “You made out with a guy you call shaggy?”
I shrugged. “Didn’t catch his name. He has a beard and long hair. Still hot though. I’m not sure I’d call it making out either. We kissed.”
She stared at me, shaking her head. “I feel like I don’t know you at all.”
“Same,” said Stevie as she laughed. “I want to hear more about the kiss.”
“No more talk of guys tonight,” said Krissy as she waggled her brows. “It’s time to get the party started. We can fixate on Astria breaking all the rules later.”
