Page 31 of Depraved Boys

I shoved him hard with both hands and shot to my feet. Leopold fell to the ground with a hard thud, with his pants around his knees.

“Who do you think you are?” I stood over him, fists clenched like a heavyweight champion waiting for the referee to complete the countdown. “I wouldn’t touch your diseased prick even if I was a doctor in an STD clinic!”

He cracked his eyes open and squinted up at me through his tears. “I-I knew your tits would be glorious.”

I glanced down. The towel had fallen to the ground, exposing me to Leopold’s crying, leering gaze. With a horrified shriek, I snatched the towel off the floor and readjusted it around my body. “Get out!”

The door opened again, and relief washed through my fevered insides. “Miss Shields, Leopold—”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Sebastian stepped through the door. “I came as quickly as I could.”

Anger surged through my veins. Of all the people to walk through that door, why did it have to be him? The boy who still hadn’t denied playing the pull-a-pig game.

“Get out.”

He dropped a bundle of green on the bench.

“What’s this?”

“A tracksuit,” said Sebastian. “You’ll have to roll up the arms and legs, but it will have to do until you get back to your room.”

All the fury left me in a giant rush. “Thank you.” I glanced down at Leopold, What about…”

He grinned. “I’ll take care of this horny dog.”

With the most careful of movements, I picked up the tracksuit, backed into the shower rooms, and scrambled into the warm, dry clothes with the utmost speed.

After rolling up the arms and legs, I walked back to the changing room to find Sebastian holding a snickering Leopold in a headlock. Leopold wrapped his arms around his friend’s middle and charged them against the wall.

I rolled my eyes. At least Leopold had pulled up his pants.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

They both released each other and straightened. Leopold beamed at me and stared at my breasts. I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around them. He’d already had the visual.

Sebastian walked me out of the changing room and through the empty swimming block.

“I’m sorry about the other day,” he said at the doors.

“What happened?”

“I was already in shock from discovering you were a student here, but when they said you were a scholar, it gave me the creeps.”

“Don’t tell me you’re another Prakash?”

With a frown, Sebastian ran a hand through his chocolate-brown hair. “I won’t tell you that scholars compromise their principles—”

“You already have.” I balled my fists and walked out of the building into the lamp-lit campus. Thankfully, the flagstones were smooth, even if they were a little cold underfoot.

Sebastian scooped me up into his arms and held me to his chest. “I’m not having you freeze your feet off.”

The masculine scent of sandalwood and sweet cedar engulfed my senses, reminding me of the connection I had thought we’d made, and an ache formed across my heart. I don’t know why, because I had never intended to see him again, but having those strong, protective arms around my body gave me a feeling of safety and warmth—at least for the short time it took to walk across the campus.

A few students strolling around the lawn cast us glances, but nobody uttered a word.

“You don’t have to do this.” I leaned my head on his shoulder, enjoying the temporary closeness.

As soon as we crossed the threshold of the main building, he set me on my feet. “There’s nothing wrong with being on the scholarship program. You just reminded me of someone who died.”