55. Finn
Chapter 55
Finn
T hea looks different today. More like her old self, with the splash of color in her hair. I liked the purple and blue, but I fucking love the vixen red, burgundy and black she’s rocking right now, and I couldn’t be more turned on if I tried.
Making my way over to her, I ignore the complaints coming from the people I move out of my way. “I love it, Pet.” I snap a photo of her with a spoonful of jello in her mouth and set it as my phone’s lock screen.
“Did you just take a picture of me stuffing my face?”
“Yes.”
“Delete it.”
“Never.” I vow, dropping into the seat across from her. “It’s my favorite picture of you.”
“I didn’t give you permission to take my picture and if I did, it wouldn’t be one with my mouth full.”
“I happen to love how you look when your mouth’s full. That’s why it’s my favorite.” She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she’s not really upset about the picture or what I’ve just said.
“Isn’t this a legacy table day?” She asks, gathering more jello onto her spoon.
It is, and it’s rude of her to remind me of that. I can’t tell her it’s rude since we’re sitting in mixed company. “I was just heading over there, but got distracted by your beauty.”
“And yet you zoomed in and took a picture of my mouth.”
“That mouth. These are the lips, powerful rudders, pushing through groves of kelp.” Her mouth parts. She must recognize the poem. “Shall I recite more of the poetry devoted to that orifice?”
“How about we change the subject?” The guy on my left says.
I twist my head to see the guy from The Tomb. What the hell is he doing at this table? “I wasn’t asking you.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve given you Thea’s answer.”
“Thea has no problem speaking for herself.”
“I know that, but you seem to have a problem listening when she talks, so maybe hearing a man say it will force you to show her the respect she deserves.”
Who in the actual fuck is this guy? I really want to know who I’m about to leave bleeding out at this table.
Thea scolds, “Knock it off, Ry.”
I smirk. “That’s right. Knock it off, Rice, before I cut your tongue off.”
“And you keep your knife stashed away, Finn, or you can leave my table.”
I keep Rice in my sights as I ask, “You’re not going to kick him off your table?”
“He’s not the one who might get blood on my salad.”
I turn back to my girl, a smile on my face. “You know me so well.” Nodding, I happily agree. “I’ll behave while you’re eating.”
She ignores my caveat and says, “Why are you over here today? We’ve got an unofficial schedule. You sit here on the days Connor and Austin are here, and I pretend you’re not. Why are you messing up the routine?”
“I meant what I said, Thea. I really had no intention of changing things. But then I saw you and this hair and I just had to come get a closer look.”
“You’ve looked. You can go back to what you were doing.”
“I don’t want to go back, and nothing I was doing is more fun or more important than this.” I mean that wholeheartedly.
She looks at her spoon then says, “Didn’t look so boring to me, with all the legacy daughters crowding around you.”
I sigh, suddenly feeling the weight of the eyes and expectations on me. I’m companionless and it seems their fathers have been encouraging them to befriend me. “They think I’m submitting my name for the next companion selection and wanted to introduce themselves.”
“What do you mean by submitting your name for the next selection? Isn’t it a continuous cycle? You lose one companion, and you’re immediately assigned another?”
She looks over at dickhead Rice, who’s looking at me. He answers, “It’s not continuous. Once your name goes in the pool, you can have as long or as short of a break as the head of your family line decides. Unmatched second year prospects and above can submit their own names for consideration. I’m assuming Finn falls into that category now, since he and Eloise are no longer matched.”
Thea looks over to the legacy side of the dining hall. “I see. And the welcoming party over at your table are the choices? Are you here to get a woman’s opinion on the type of woman you should go for, numb- Finley?”
She almost called me Number Three. I fight a smile and say, “I don’t need anyone’s opinion. I’m clear on the woman I should go for. You are too, since we’ve had this conversation before.”
“ Before , being the part of that sentence you should focus on.”
“Before. After. Now. Later.” I shrug. “It won’t change my requirements. It won’t change who I want.” I settle back in my chair. “And since I can’t have who I want, yet, I won’t be entering my name into the normal selection process.”
She either doesn’t hear me or doesn’t understand what I mean, but her fake ass spokesperson did, and asks, “What do you mean you won’t be entering the normal selection process?”
“I mean exactly what I’ve said. Do you lack basic comprehension skills?”
Thea snorts. “His comprehension skills are impeccable. They have to be considering where he works.”
Rice says, “That’s right, they are. So I’m not asking for clarification about normal versus abnormal. I’m asking what the fuck you’re up to.”
Thea stares at him, then looks over at me. “Finn? I second his question. What are you up to?”
I smirk at him. “You should ask him the same thing, since I get the impression he knows exactly what I’m up to.” I lean closer to him, holding my knife up for him to see. “Sorry dude, but it’ll be a waste of time for you to ask for a special review to take Thea as your companion. I’ve already sent my request through the proper channels.”
She snorts. “Nobody’s getting me as a companion. First of all, I’m not cattle. Second of all, I’m at the bottom of the scoreboard.”
Rice seems unbothered by how close my blade is to his face. “Which is why I’m asking Finn what he did.”
“And I already told you what I did.”
Thea looks from him to me. “Will one of you fuckers tell me what the hell I missed?”
I want to tell her, but he beats me to it. “He found out that there’s a way that a prospect who’s ineligible for being matched can still become a companion.”
She’s looking at me with narrowed eyes when she asks, “And how would they do that?”
“The head of a family line has to submit a formal request to be matched to that prospect. There’s also a challenge involved.”
Thea drawls, “Isn’t there always?”
Rice goes on to say, “And some other requirements that I haven’t bothered memorizing, since no families have ever asked to be matched to an ineligible prospect.” The tension in his face eases slightly. “And I don’t see Mr. Finley or J.R. ever agreeing to something like that.”
If I poke his eyes out, he’ll never see anything ever again. “Then maybe you should get some glasses. Besides, as a second year, I can submit the request on my own behalf.”
Thea’s voice is soft when she says, “Whatever you did, undo it.”
That’s not happening. “If I pull my request, that means I’m subject to a selection like everyone else. I can change my mind about who I requested but not the companion requests itself. If they agree, then you will-”
Thea pushes to her feet. “Un. Do. It! I don’t need any extra credit, or Trium protection, or whatever other bullshit excuses you used, to justify to yourself why you thought this was a good idea, or that it was even a plan that I’d be happy to go along with. In case you can’t tell Finley, I’m not happy. I’m not going along with it. I’ve already been a Trium companion and zero out of ten million do not recommend.”
I calmly remind her, “You weren’t a Trium companion. You were Pax’s companion. He and I are not the same.”
“Is that what this is? You think it’s your turn? And when you’re done with me and moving on to your forever girl, will Holden be ready to give me a spin?”
“Holden’s ready now.”
A thud drags my gaze from her face to the table, which now has a butter knife sticking out of it. She leans down and hisses. “I am not a pass-around girl. Despite what your last companion yells from the rafters, I am not a whore, and I am not a chew toy. I don’t want to be your companion, or anyone else’s. I never wanted to be Pax’s companion, either. I’m glad I’m ineligible. So undo whatever shit you did.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Fuck around, and find out.”
She snatches her tray off the table, dumps the trash, and slams it on top of the receptacle on her way to the exit. I settle back in my seat, a huge ass smile on my face. Thea can’t possibly expect me to withdraw my request. And doesn’t she know her threat was basically a mating call? I can’t wait to fuck around. And find out.
A low whistle on my left reminds me the idiot is still here. Now that Thea’s gone, I can stop being nice. “Listen fucker. I don’t know who the hell you are-”
“Why would you? You never come down off your throne of entitlement long enough to notice anyone who’s not a top legacy family. Now, before you get to posturing and all that shit, I’m gonna introduce myself. I’m Ryland.”
“And?”
He climbs to his feet. “And I’m not some pussy ass motherfucker you can scare away with your knife and threats.”
“Wanna bet?”
He snickers as he walks away. Walks. The fuck. Away. From me. I pull out my phone and text Holden.
Finn
Who’s the dead fuck that just walked out of here?
He looks over at me and shrugs. I get to my feet and stalk out of the dining hall. There’s no trace of him when I step outside. He talked a good game, but obviously he ran the moment he was out of my sight. Smart man.
I’m dozing in my afternoon lecture when I get a text from Holden.
Holden
Ryland is a grad student here. A third-year prospect. He works in the archives. His family name is Montrose.
It’s the last sentence that drains the murderous rage from my body.
He’s Hailee Laurent’s cousin