Page 251 of His Hungry Wolf

“There’s one that has gotten into a little hot water for his behavior. And instead of expelling him from school and the football program, the university thought that something like this would be helpful.”

I stared at my professor. Worst idea ever! Not the whole thing. The mentorship part sounded pretty cool. But the part about me being locked in a room with one of those pig-throwing psychopaths was insanity.

Was he looking to get me killed? As soon as the door was closed and we were alone, this guy would dislocate his jaw and swallow me whole. Having devoured me, he would most likely slither his way to Washington D.C. growing in size until, with his tail wrapped around the Washington Monument, he would eat the president turning the United States into a demonic dictatorship… or was I overreacting?

“Yes,” I said before it registered in my brain. “I’ll do it.”

“You will?”

“Apparently.”

“Are you sure?”

“No. But, yes. Look, I want to be a good therapist someday. Hell, I don’t just wanna be good. I wanna be great. I wanna help people. I want kids to not have to go through what I did growing up. And if that means confronting my issue with a certain group of demonic soul suckers, I will.”

Professor Nandan looked at me questioningly.

“I’m kidding… mostly. No, I’m kidding. I can do this. And you’re right. Confronting my issue head-on is the best way to handle this.”

“Then I’ll set it up. Thank you for this. If this works out with you and him, it could lead to a lot of people receiving help for years to come,” he said with a smile.

“In other words, no pressure?”

He laughed. “No pressure. Just be you. It’s not about you being able to provide him with any answers. It’s about being there for him and lending him your ear when he needs it.”

“I could do that.”

“You’ll do great,” he said before promising to email me the details and sending me off.

It was a good thing that no one actually needed sleep to maintain their sanity. If they did, I would have been in a whole lot of trouble. Because lying in bed in the dark, all I could think about was everything Evan Carter and his teammates did to me since I was old enough to pee straight.

I didn’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to do this. Me mentoring a football player was a bad idea, a very bad idea.

That wouldn’t stop me from going through with it, though. Who was I to reject a bad idea?

Walking to the agreed-upon meeting spot, I was sweating through my clothes. I was having a full-on panic attack. We were meeting in the serpent’s den, the football team’s practice facility. But at least my professor was going to be there with me.

“You ready for this?” He asked me as excitedly as I was terrified.

“No, but I’m here. So, let’s do it.”

Professor Nandan put his arm around my shoulder and led me into the room. The beast sat with his back to me. The funny thing was that I recognized his back. It was unmistakable. And when he turned around and I got a glimpse of his to-die-for cheekbones, I thought this was a cruel joke.

“You?” I asked stunned.

“Do you two know each other?” My professor asked.

We stared at one another. I didn’t know how to respond.

“We’ve met,” Nero replied.

“I’m hoping that’s good,” my professor suggested.

Nero looked at me again. “Yeah,” he confirmed allowing my professor to breathe.

“Then perhaps I don’t need to introduce you two. But, Nero Roman, this is Kendall Seers. Kendall, Nero is a very promising football star.”

“I don’t know about all of that,” Nero quickly interjected.