Page 29 of Blood Oath
“Yes.”
“Because you want them to want you even more.”
An unfeminine snort escapes me before I can stop it. I clear my throat and compose myself again. “Sure. Why not?”
Professor Frost glances over his shoulder to the table where Baelfire and Silas don’t even try to pretend they’re not watching us. They’re also clearly in the middle of an argument.
“But if it’s not to make them jealous, then why?” he asks.
“Let’s say it’s for shits and giggles.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “This is a bad idea.”
“Can’t be. It’s mine.”
His brows go up, and then he scoffs. “You’re not what I expected, Oakley. At all. And that’s both a very good and a very bad thing.”
I don’t have time to puzzle out whether that’s an insult or a compliment. “Here’s my proposal, Professor Frost. We?—“
“Call me Everett,” he cuts in coolly. “Everyone does.”
“Fine. We pretend we like each other, Everett. We have mild PDA in front of the others. Otherwise, I promise to leave you alone if you do the same for me. And when you four finally get a new keeper, I’ll be cheering along with everyone else.”
He looks away. “I’d rather not have that.”
“Fine. Then I’ll be booing and throwing rotten tomatoes,” I deadpan.
The professor meets my eye, and for a fraction of a second, a strong emotion I can’t identify flickers over his face. It’s gone just as quickly, though, replaced by cool indifference as he shakes his head. “I’ll think about this proposal and get back to you.”
“I’d prefer a yes or no now.” I’m already losing time trying to get them to leave me alone.
He mutters something under his breath about needing to visit a temple and stands from the table. “Later. And if you want to convince those arrogant assholes we’re falling for each other, you should eat the food I got you. It’ll make me look like a gentleman and make them feel guilty for talking your ear off instead of taking care of you.”
“If we want them to think we’re falling for each other,” I counter, “Then you should pat my head or smile or something before you go. You look as if this was a highly unpleasant conversation.”
He hesitates for several beats before leaning toward me, and I catch the barest hint of a soft, fresh mint scent clinging to him. I expect him to pat my head as I suggested, so my soul almost leaves my body when his lips brush ever so lightly against my forehead.
They’re cool to the touch as if he was just out in the wintry wonderland and hasn’t had time to warm up.
Then he leaves quickly.
It takes me a moment to unfreeze from my spot, and I just barely resist reaching up to scrub the place where his lips touched my skin. Baelfire is at my table in the next second, dipping down to try to read my expression with furrowed brows.
“Did he ask for permission to touch you, or do I need to hunt him down and beat the frozen shit out of him?”
Acting perfectly unfazed, I shrug. “He’s the only one who doesn’t need to ask for permission. Out of all of you idiots, he’s my favorite. Excuse me.”
I make my way out of the dining hall, taking the quickest route that will spit me out into one of the main hallways of the eastern wing of Everbound. Baelfire doesn’t follow me yet—he’s telling Silas what I just said, and I can hear them arguing in hushed tones. Hopefully, that means they’ll be at each other’s throats soon.
Ignoring some of the legacies who are openly sizing me up as I leave the dining hall, I turn the first corner I come across. This massive corridor is empty except for three girls walking in my direction. I swap to the other side of the hall to get out of their way—but they swap, too, looking right at me as they approach.
I recognize two of them as the high-ranked legacies Kenzie warned me to avoid on my first day here—the redhead’s name is Sierra, and the tall, dark-skinned girl with the nose ring is Harlow.
I’m unfamiliar with the angry girl in the middle, but she would be stunning if she weren’t wearing such a nasty expression. Her dark skin and eyes are a stark contrast to the silvery-white streaks running through her black hair. If I had to make an educated guess, I’d say she’s another highly-ranked, overly competitive legacy who Kenzie would warn me not to get on the radar of.
They stop directly in front of me, all leering.
Guess I’m on their radar.
