Page 104

I entered the Grand Hall, scanning the faces of the students loitering about, but not catching sight of her telltale blue streaks. It was late afternoon, and most classes were over for the day, except for the higher-level courses, but as a new student, she definitely wouldn’t be in any of those.

I doubted she would be in the mer common room, as most of them were assholes to her, too. And there was no way I’d set foot in there anyway, not after the way things had ended with Cora. A shudder ran through my shoulders just thinking about that.

No, I had a hunch she wasn’t in there. I followed that hunch out of the main building onto the lawn.

What if she was with Kendall? They were together when I saw her last, looking way more than friendly. What if she’d decided he was the better choice? She wasn’t wrong, but damn, the thought of the two of them together, kissing, touching—

Stop!

I clenched my fists, stopping right in the middle of the sidewalk as I struggled to control the raging emotions that were so desperately trying to incinerate their way out of my chest. I took a few calming breaths, willing my inner fire to subside.

When I was finally calm, I continued along the path. Regardless of who I might find her with, I would be the respectful gentleman I always should have been and give her the apology she deserved.

As I rounded toward the gym, I spotted Arya coming out the back entrance, and the person walking beside her was about the last person I ever expected. Adina, Cora’s shadow.

What the hell were the two of them doing walking together? Are they actually laughing?

Something about this smelled fishy.

I approached the two, trying not to look like the protective beast I felt skulking under my skin. I had to be friendly. I had to be respectful.

Arya looked up, her eyes locking with mine, and her beauty struck me like a sucker punch right to my sternum, momentarily making it hard to breathe.

Adina followed Arya’s gaze, her brows lowering in a frown.

“Arya, can I talk to you for a moment?” I asked, stopping a few feet in front of them.

Arya paused for a moment, then looked at Adina. “I’ll see you later.”

Adina didn’t seem happy, but she gave Arya a nod and continued on her way, leaving the two of us alone to talk.

She crossed her arms and jutted out a hip in what was a very obviously annoyed posture.

“What?” she asked, her tone colder and more brusque than I’d ever heard it.

I deserved that.

I pushed my hands in my front pockets, her scornful gaze once again making me young and small.

“I just wanted to apologize,” I said.

She arched one of her dark eyebrows. “Oh? For what?”

I sighed, lifting my shoulders once and then dropping them. “For, well, everything. For the party, for freaking out about Kendall. I’ve been a real jerk to you. And while I didn’t mean to be, I’m sorry.”

I half expected her to scoff and turn away from me, but she didn’t. She assessed me for a long moment, the tension in her posture slowly relaxing, the scowl that weighed on her brow lightening.

So I continued. “I’m not very good with people.”

“I noticed,” she interjected.

A nervous chuckle escaped me. “Facts and numbers, I get. They’re black and white, easy to figure out, to make sense of. But people are harder for me. My whole life I’ve been treated like some prince just because of who my father is, and I never know who actually likes me for me and who’s just kissing my ass.

“I closed myself off from emotions a long time ago, locking my own away in a box deep inside where no one can find them, and that makes it harder for me to read the emotions of others. So most of the time, I just don’t even bother.”

I swallowed, as this next part was hard to say. “You make me want to bother.”

Her pretty features softened the more I spoke, and she gasped at my last declaration. Now that I was done talking, she just stared at me, and I couldn’t discern the expression she wore, mostly for the reasons I just explained.