Page 173 of Knox Academy Omnibus
I finish singing ‘Let’s Be Us Again’ byLonestar,and with a nod to Elsie she reduces the music to ambient background noise and removes the boombox from my back to place it on their table.
“Your dinner is served, princess,” I say with a flourish as I lean past Amelie and put the stack of pizzas on the table. She gives the sexiest little groan and reaches for the first box, grabbing a slice of pepperoni and inhaling it. I love her healthy appetite. No way would most of the girls at this school do that in front of a guy, especially not on Valentine’s Day.
“Oh my god, this is better than sex,” she moans, and I pout.
“Maybe you need a reminder of how great our sex is.”
She gives me a hard look which just makes my dick twitch.
“I’m not going to have sex with you just because you brought me pizza.”
“I didn’t come here to ask for sex,” I huff. Did she not listen to the music? To my singing? Damn woman. “But you mentioned sex and I got distracted.”
“Fine,” she sighs, around mouthfuls of her third slice. Damn she can put it away! That’s hot. “What do you want?”
“I—”
“Oh my god! What the hell is that?” Elsie screeches, pointing to my chest. I like the girl, but I’ve never wanted to kill someone so much in all my life.
“Way to spoil the surprise, rug muncher.” I shoot daggers at her and she hastily gulps and begins to rummage for the veggie pizza.
“Is it a Pygmy Puff?” Amelie asks, her eyes alight with equal parts dread and excitement.
“What the fuck is a Pygmy Puff?”
“It’s a mythical creature from Harry Potter. How do you not know that?”
“You like Harry Potter?”
“Yep.”
“How did I not knowthat?”
“Anyway...is it a Pygmy Puff?”
“One, you just said it was a mythical creature, so how the hell can it be? Two, if you want a mythical creature, wouldn’t a dragon or something be much cooler?” I frown, wrinkling up my nose.
“Yeah, but harder to look after, wouldn’t you say?”
“We’re getting off track, sis,” I say, shaking my head. She always derails me. Not today, Satan, not today.
“This,” I proudly declare, lifting the fluffball from its holster and placing it gently into her arms, “is a puppy. And it’s for you.”
I watch as every female in the room melts and goes ‘awww’. Except, she doesn’t. Amelie doesn’t fucking melt or swoon or anything. She’s staring down at the goddamn mutt like I’ve just dropped a live grenade into her lap. Shit shit shit. I bite my lip, wondering what the fuck I should do now.
“Puppies...and pizza…” I say, trailing off and pointing lamely to each item, eyes wide. Oh my god. Was shejokingwhen she said that to Elsie? What if she hates dogs? My palms start to sweat and my heart races.
There’s a beat of silence as everyone in the room stares at us, and for the first time ever, I hate the attention. I should have done this differently, I should have done it in private, I should have…
“Gotcha!” Amelie crows, pointing at my face and cackling like a crazy person.
“Wh-what?” I stammer. Elsie starts to laugh too.
“You should see your face!” Amelie cries, wiping away tears. “You thought I hate dogs.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. It was written all over your face. I bet your palms are sweating.”
