CHAPTER 23
KAELION
I am already thinkingin terms of logistics.
As I leave Solvi at camp and head to the university, I make a mental list of who already knows about me and Lyn; who needs to know; whoshouldknow; and who absolutely must not know. Full honesty would be ideal, but it's essential that I ensure her research is secure before anyone else is told.
…And I should make sure she actuallywants this, of course.
This being…I'm not sure exactly.
I want her. That is certain.
But…desire is easy. Want is uncomplicated. Those I can catalog, contextualize, file underknown risks. It’s everything attached to them that requires care.
By the time I head into the university, the list has organized itself without my permission, already on the verge of making itself into an agenda. Today, I need to take the time to re-focus, to settle myself, to think of something that isnotLyn so that I can treat Lyn with the utmost respect and decency. Lyn is not supposed to be in the lab today; I will have time to plan.
I need to focus…then I need to speak with Lyn.Then, if she agrees that we want to pursue this, I need to notify the university that I can no longer supervise her project.
They’ll let me remain associated with it, but I cannot be involved with approvals.
It makes sense.
I’m relieved to find the lab empty as expected when I arrive, and I set to work going through my routine; stepping around into my office, hanging up my satchel, my coat. I pull my tablet out of my satchel and turn to sit down at my desk, then?—
The door chimes.
Someone is here.
I scent her a moment later, and my heart stutters.
“Knock knock.”
I turn to look at her, jaw tense. Lyn is leaning against the door to my office, one ankle crossed over the other, her hands shoved into her hoodie pockets. She has an orange scarf wrapped around her curls, pushing them back from her face, her brown eyes bright, her lips…
Again, my heart stutters. My thoughts trip over themselves.
“Walker,” I murmur.
“Rhyss,” she says, those red lips curving into a small smile. “Can we talk?”
I want to snap at her.I just saw you little more than an hour ago. I need time to process all of this. Time to plan.
But I glance over her shoulder and out to the lab…then I gesture her inside. “Close the door behind you,” I say.
I’m unable to ignore the little thrill that goes through her at our close proximity…at the solitude. She comes in, shuts the door, and takes a seat in the chair opposite me at my desk. I sit too, clasping my hands and looking at her.
She clears her throat. “So…” she starts. “How’re things?”
My brow furrows. “Lyn.”
“Sorry, I promise I came in here for a reason.” She exhales a long, slow breath, her shoulders slumping. He fingers twist inher lap, curling and uncurling, tugging apart then back again. “I’m—I don’t know if it’s?—”
“Use your words,” I say.
That seems to rob her of the ability entirely.
Her lips part, jaw going just slightly slack…then she moves her shoulders like a bird shaking rain from its feathers.
