Page 23 of Ravage
One hundred percent.
Maybe more like ninety…or seventy. Whatever!
“Do you want me to check on him?” he asks, canting his head to the side to watch my reaction while waiting for my answer.
“I’ll find him and make sure he’s okay,” Aiden cuts in, snapping the book closed and passing it to Jack with a nod.
Jackson sneaks the books out of one of the teacher’s rooms one at a time, returning the previous one after Aiden’s finished with it. The books in our library are about things we’ll never find useful. Like learning about weather and mitochondria.
Aiden has higher aspirations once we turn eighteen and get off this island.
If they actually do what they’ve promised us.
The guys don’t quite believe it. I’m starting not to either.
“Hurry up and get to class and I’ll meet you there,” Aiden adds. We nod, trusting that he’ll fix any problem Kell might be in, and start walking. I drop Kellan’s coffee cup in the trash regretfully at the door.
“Wait.” Aiden grabs my wrist to stop me. Both Dane and Jackson stop too, but he waves them on. “Give us a minute.”
Once they’re out of hearing range, or at least Dane is since none of us know Jackson’s actual range, Aiden turns to face me.
“You and Kellan need to tell me when you’re doing things like this so I can make sure you both don’t get in trouble.” His voice is low and smooth like melted chocolate. It’s pure ear candy to listen to.
I smile playfully up at him. I’ve had the biggest crush on Aiden for years, and it seems the only way to get more of his attention is by pulling stunts like this. Doing things he wouldn’t ‘approve’ of just so he can pull me aside to tell me not to do it again. “But the risk is half the fun.”
His hand slides beneath my ear with his thumb resting on my cheek.
My body stills at the contact. Tingles radiate down my neck, and I suppress a warm shiver. He leans in, stealing away the oxygen between us.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you. We know there’s more going on here than they’re telling us, remember?” he croons softly.
I nod the barest amount. I can’t speak right now. All the breath has been sucked from my lungs.
He smiles when I comply. “Good. If I catch you and Kell doing something like this again without warning me, then I’ll have a punishment of my own for both of you.”
My knees wobble. Why does that sound more like a promise than a threat? Is it both? Can I want both? It feels like my skin is on fire and my heart is melting into a puddle between my legs. Is this normal?
“Well?” Aiden prompts when I don’t respond.
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to reply to that, so I just nod to avoid anything strange coming out of my mouth instead.
His thumb strokes my cheek, and it feels like a reward, before his hand disappears and I almost release a sound that I know I’ll regret. “I’ll find Kell and make sure he’s okay, so don’t worry about him.”
“Okay.”
He waits for me to scurry back to where Dane and Jack are waiting for me before he goes the opposite direction to find Kellan.
My heart hammers in my chest, drowning out anything else as we walk.
I don’t think Aiden’s realized the effect he has on me. If that was what I got for sneaking some coffee without telling him about it, then I am definitely doing that again.
A knock at my door startles me out of my memories. I’ve been thinking about my time on the island far too much since seeing Jack again. I’m sure it doesn’t help that there’s a high chance I’ll be seeing him or the others tonight at the gala, and it’s almost all that’s been on my mind when I’m alone.
I’ve tried to distract myself downstairs at Hype by giving Elias as much information about Gifted Enterprise and how they operate as I can and working the bar in the evenings.
Elias got an invite for himself with the information I gave him about GE and his own connections, or maybe it was waving around enough cash, so I’ll be his plus one.
There’s another knock, and I grab my gun from the counter. I click the safety off as I approach the door and peer through the peephole. Elias stands there in a suit with a bag hooked over his shoulder.
