Chapter 13
13
DONNIE
Ralph is just as pleasant as always, meaning not at all. I feel Shiloh tense beside me at the tone the guard takes with me, but it’s nothing personal. He is just a grump for everyone. The event he is referencing is something that I brought up three years ago when I first took over for Walt, and it hasn’t been an issue since. Ralph just likes to harp on the past because being security here at Wrenshaw is boring as fuck compared to some of the bigger schools in the city.
“Not why I’m here today, Ralph,” I tell him blandly and grab Shiloh’s hand to give it a squeeze. His tension is starting to make me nervous, and I’ve been around way worse guys than this big marshmallow. “Where’s the kid you guys grabbed from Jupiter Hall? His roommate here needs to know what’s going on for their ride home.”
Shiloh’s hand jerks in my grip, but he doesn’t show any outward sign of his distress. In fact, he seems to have completely shut down in front of Ralph. When I glance up at the guard in question, I see a softness to his expression that I have never seen before.
“You shouldn’t be living with someone with anger issues like that, Shy,” he says gently while the guy next to me flinches. “The offer is still valid, you know.”
I feel the tension in the muscles under my hand, but Shiloh shows only a soft smile on his face. There’s a new chill to his voice when he says, “I’m happy with my living arrangements. Thanks though. Can we see Toby now?”
Ralph snorts and shuffles some papers around on the desk. Pointing us to the room they use as a drunk tank during games, he heads back to the room he had just come out of.
“Why the hell a kid that sweet wants to live with such degenerates is beyond me. He needs Christ in his life, not those damn heathens. God can straighten him out, I’m sure.”
Ralph’s mutterings barely register to me until Shiloh pulls himself away from me to curl up on a bench in the corner of the room we were directed to. Once my brain makes sense of what I just heard, I’m flabbergasted.
Did I seriously just hear the head of campus security say that he thinks he can pray the gay away?
Is Shiloh gay?
Wait.
That’s not the important part right now.
“So how do you know Ralph?” I ask him to break the silence while we wait for Ralph to come back with Toby. “Spend a lot of time down here?”
He shrugs but doesn’t look up at me. I watch as his fingers start tapping out a rhythm against his shins. It seems almost involuntary, like a nervous twitch or stim response. Something about this situation is making him more anxious. Is it being stuck in a room with just me?
“I had to come down here at the beginning of the semester to file paperwork,” he finally says, barely above a whisper. “They needed a copy of the restraining order I have against someone and said an electronic copy wasn’t good enough. That guy was the one who took my paperwork.”
Restraining order? I am going to need more information on that once we get his friend out, but I need more information.
“How does he know who you live with or that they aren’t good Christians?”
Shiloh chuckles darkly before looking at me.
“You haven’t heard about Kink Manor?”