Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
His gaze flicks to mine, a slow, deliberate challenge.
I swallow. Hard. But I don’t answer.
“The right book can consume you. Make you forget to eat, to sleep.” A smirk tugs at his lips again. “Make you ache for just one more page even when you know you shouldn’t.” He leans in, close enough that my breath stutters. “It can be temptation itself.”
I keep eating—not because I’m hungry, but because if I look at him any longer, I might do something reckless. The way he said that… It’s not fair.
“Tell me, Rey,” he murmurs, eyes dark and dangerous. “Have you ever been ruined by a story?”
My throat tightens, and I glance away—only to see Ziva waving at me from the trash cans behind him. She dumps her tray with a flourish, taps her chest, and points at me in the universal gesture for need me to come over?
I hope to every God in the Nine Realms she didn’t hear Aric asking if I had ever been ruined.
Aric glances over his shoulder, his eyebrows shooting down. “Hey, Z,” he says, voice flat and cool. Like he’s already bored with whatever history they share.
“Hey, Douche,” she answers, and I choke on a fry.
If Ziva hadn’t already pronounced us best friends earlier, I’d have gotten on bended knee right then and begged to worship her for life.
Aric ignores both of us and picks up his burger, taking a huge bite.
“Catch you later, Rey.” Ziva tosses me a wink before heading out of the dining hall.
“I see you make friends as well as I do,” I say, breaking the silence.
“Apparently not,” he says. “She likes you.”
I shrug and snag the ketchup bottle from the caddy of condiments. “You’re being nice. Why?”
“Don’t get used to it.” He grins, and this time it’s pure malice. “I don’t want to be anywhere near you. But at the same time, I find myself unable to stay away until I can figure out why you’re really here. I know you don’t give a shit about anything, least of all your education.”
I force a polite smile. “Who says I don’t give a shit?”
“I do.” He makes a fist on the table. “You only learn what he tells you to. Everyone knows it. So what is it? What’s the reason this place suddenly matters to the Stjernes?”
“You’re paranoid.”
“This school is my family’s legacy. The only thing not tainted by your family.” He looks down. “And I won’t let you poison it.”
A shiver runs along my spine, and I reach for another fry. “I can’t tell if you’re trying to intimidate me or seduce me.”
“You’re pretty,” he says, standing. “But the prettiest toys always come with teeth.”
“So I’m both a toy and pretty?” I bat my lashes at him. Jackass.
He raises his arms above his head like he’s frustrated, giving me a view of his abs before he turns and walks away.
I refuse to be affected by muscle. That would be ridiculous and weak. Just because my mouth went completely dry, that’s not my fault. It’s the weather.
So he likes working out.
Maybe hiking.
Hates me but is drawn to me.
I push back my chair and stand. I guess I’m about to find out how well he plays with others.
Chapter Fourteen
Aric
I feel rather than see Rey follow me through the rest of my day. Does she seriously have no pride? I spend hours in my room, failing to focus, sensing her mere inches away on the other side of the wall. When I leave, I hear her door open to follow me before I’m in the stairwell.
I lose her on my second run of the day, as dusk begins to settle like a blanket over the forest. Guess her little black shoes weren’t enough to keep up with me. Into hiking, my ass.
But she’s waiting outside the dorms when I return. Shit. She’s not looking at me, though. She’s shaking her head at the students walking toward the path that leads into the woods and down to the lake, through an ancient archway.
This ritual’s ridiculous, yet people swear by it year after year.
I notice Reeve nearby, leaning against a giant redwood and watching all the freshmen light their candles and walk under the arch. Each time someone passes through and the candle doesn’t go out, they all cheer.
Reeve raises a brow as I approach. “It’s sad what people want to be true. There’s no God up there looking down on them, choosing whose candle stays lit.”
I shrug.
“I suppose it’s good to let them have their fun,” he muses. “Plus, most of them are probably hammered anyway.”
“Most of who are hammered?” Rey. I’d know that voice anywhere. I clench my teeth.
Reeve sighs. “All this talk of God, and Satan’s pet rears her ugly head.” He tosses her a smile over his shoulder that softens his words. “Did you need something, princess?”