Chapter 3
R en
Fucking, Vicky…no fucking, Nash. Apparently, I didn’t have enough issues with Vicky without him starting a world war between us. How could I trust leaving my room with her in it? But…I had to go to class.
“Ugh.” I tossed my pen down, and both Myles and Blake looked up from the textbooks they were studying. I realized it was probably a bitch move to force Blake to study with us when I didn’t even know if he needed help, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a refresher. He could’ve said no.
“I swear that whatever it is, I didn’t do it,” Myles said, and my lip pulled up. He was such a nerd sometimes.
I glanced outside to the snow that was really coming down now, the small flakes indicating that it was going to accumulate. I loved the snow, and much to his dismay, I’d managed to talk Myles into going for a couple of walks with me along the paths through the trees.
Things had changed so much since Myles had set up the winter wonderland for me.
It felt like yesterday and a year ago. I wasn’t sure how to wrap my head around any of it, including my persistently racing heart, passionate kisses, missing him when he wasn’t around, or the fact that he cared about my day and how I was doing.
He still spent every day trying to win me over.
It was adorable but strange having someone other than Lizzy text me to check-in.
The two a.m. texts could stop, but aside from that, I loved it.
He randomly showed up at my door to bring me a muffin or meal, and last Friday, he got me a new pen.
Not just a pen from a pack of twenty like I would’ve purchased.
No, it was bright blue and sleek with our initials engraved on the side, and it came with refills. It was spaceship fancy.
“It’s not you. I can’t stop thinking about my fight with Vicky or stupid Nash.
I’ve been picturing the showdown with Vicky for weeks, and it wasn’t even her.
I destroyed her shoes.” I covered my eyes as I quickly totaled the cost in my head.
“Oh my god, I owe her thousands of dollars. I’m such an idiot. ”
“Snowflake, that girl can afford new shoes. She was probably throwing those away anyhow. Vicky needs to have the latest styles. All you did was help her clear space for a shopping trip,” Myles said and laid his arm across the back of my chair.
“Maybe, but it’s not the point. I don’t lose my cool like that, and I certainly don’t go around ruining someone else’s property.” I also didn’t need another reason to want to hate Nash, but he seemed insistent that I lose it for good and end up in jail. Maybe that was his real mission.
“Why don’t ya come stay in my room? Blake won’t mind,” Myles offered, but Blake looked like he was the one who was going to kill as he glared at the side of Myles’s head.
It wasn’t allowed and was a terrible idea for multiple reasons.
But maybe a couple of days out of this room would be best. I just needed to think about where to go.
My stomach chose that moment to growl, and Myles jumped up, scaring the crap out of me.
“Did ya eat any breakfast?” I shook my head.
“I told ya, Snowflake, ya need a better schedule and to eat more.” Myles had a serious food obsession, or more like a feeding me obsession.
I ate. I ate all the time, but it was never enough. “I’m going to go get us lunch.”
“I’ll go,” Blake offered. “That way, you two can be alone.”
“It’s all good. It’ll be faster if I go.
I know what Snowflake likes, and I always bring back a surprise,” he smiled as he bent over, and his lips touched mine.
I realized this was the first time we’d kissed in front of any of the other guys.
It made me nervous, and I flushed hot with embarrassment.
“Mmm, I’m gonna devour this mouth of yers later.
I can’t get enough,” Myles said and then marched out of the room, leaving me feeling as shaken as after the fight.
I looked at Blake as he looked between me and the door, then back again like he was shocked by what had just happened.
There was a subtle shift that I wasn’t sure Blake was aware of, but he seemed off.
I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but he was missing the in-your-face-flirty vibe.
His green eyes were intense, his smile was tight, and his knee hadn’t stopped bouncing the entire time.
“Did you want me to go,” Blake asked.
A few months ago, I would’ve said, ‘Yes, get the fuck out,’ but despite what Blake and the guys had pulled with the bet and all the other shit, he was Myles’s best friend. Whether I liked it or not, he was going to be around, and I might as well try to get to know him.
“No, he’ll bring back enough for all of us unless you want to go. Do you want to go?”
“No, why would I want to go? I’d only go if you wanted me to go. Is this your way of saying go without saying it?”
I narrowed my eyes and started to laugh. Blake smiled and laughed as well, and a little of the awkward tension that had filled the room popped.
“For the record, I don’t speak in code and don’t have strange rules to my friendships. All I ask is that you be you,” I said, and Blake crossed his arms and snorted before looking out the window.
“What was that for?” I copied his pose while analyzing his face.
“We all wear masks, and in this world, just being who we are can get us killed.”
I was still trying to wrap my head around what being at this school meant. I continuously fell into the trap of thinking it was a typical academy and not filled with enemies and alliances all around me. Each whisper was a new secret that could be used as a weapon.
“I get that, but I’m not talking out there,” I said, waving my hand toward the window. “I’m talking in here with me. I want you to be you. Unless you sit around with your hand down your pants and order everyone around like Al Bundy.”
“Who?”
“You know, Married With Children .” Blake just blinked at me. “Oh my God, where have you been? It’s an old sitcom, super funny. Come here.” Grabbing my phone, I pulled it up on an app as Blake scooted his chair around. “I can’t believe you’ve never seen this show.”
“I don’t watch much TV,” he said, his voice almost sad. I looked at him as he leaned in to watch. “I need to use the bathroom first.” Jumping up, he went into the en suite. Maybe the two of us could find common ground to start. I could find out what he liked and talk about that.
Blake stepped out of the bathroom, and it was like he was a different person. His eyes were full of humor and arrogance like the first time I’d met him, and he didn’t walk but swaggered to the table and sat beside me. He put his arm on the back of my chair, and my body stiffened.
“So, are you going to play this or what?” He sniffed and rubbed at his nose.
“Are you coming down with something?”
“No, why?”
“No reason.” I hit play, and the episode started. Soon, the strangeness dissipated, and we were both laughing at the wildly inappropriate humor. “Okay, I could get into this,” he said.
His leg and arm were touching mine, and the longer we sat watching the show, the more I felt the heat from his body pressing in on me.
Laughing, Blake looked at me, and as I met his gaze, a weird tension gripped me.
His eyes searched my face and then settled on my lips.
It was flirty but more intense, more like how Nash looked at me.
He leaned in a little, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“What are you doing,” I asked, realizing that this had taken a wrong turn, and I was frozen in place.
“You told me to be myself. I’m the asshole who kisses his best friend’s girl. I mean, that’s what you think, isn’t it? I’m the guy who agrees to bets and goes to parties to sleep around?”
“I…I don’t really have an opinion.”
Blake glared and leaned in a little closer, and I still couldn’t seem to jump up.
“Don’t lie. You had me pegged from the moment we first met.
You stared down your delicate nose at me and will think the same thing when I leave this room.
I’m the worthless player who only wants to get a look under your skirt. Isn’t that right?”
He was only partially right, but it wasn’t like he’d given me anything else to go on.
“Well…let’s see, my only interactions with you so far have been you making a bet to sleep with me, then openly telling your cousin that you didn’t like me at all and it was nothing more than a game.
You’ve chased me around a library with a mask on, and let’s not forget you took me shopping and bought me a dress only so you could one up Myles.
What exactly should I think about you, Blake? ”
His eyes softened. “Nothing, why would you think anything else?”
“Well, this is intense and cozy. I’m into it, but does Myles know?
” I jumped up at the sound of Nash’s annoying voice and glared between the two of them.
Was this a trick or another test? Nash was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, and I wanted to punch the smug look off of his face.
“What I want to know is how do I get in on it?” He stepped into the room, and the small area seemed to fill up with his presence.
I glanced at the door, and Nash smirked and side-stepped into my line of sight.
“Huh, Princess? Tell me what the secret is to get you down on your knees.”
“That is never happening.” The arrogant look only got worse as he rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip.
“What if I threaten to tell Myles that you were trying to get into his best friend’s pants?”
“Nash, don’t,” Blake said, confusing me further.
“Go ahead and tell him. Let’s see who he believes,” I said, crossing my arms, not feeling as confident as I sounded, but that was part of the skill of dealing with Nash. Make him believe you meant it no matter what.
Nash waggled a finger between me and Blake. “Isn’t that cute? He’s sticking up for you.”
“Fuck off, man. I was just proving a point. There wasn’t anything going on. Why do you want to jam Myles up like that?”
Nash’s jaw twitched, and his dark blue eyes, which always made me shiver, focused on me again. “Alright, I’ll leave it alone for now,” he said.
“Hey, I got….” Myles walked in and stopped as he looked up. “Lots of food. Did I miss somethin’?”
“Only that I have maintenance coming to fix the door,” Nash said as he walked over to my desk and dropped down into the chair.
He smirked as he picked up the crystal paperweight that Myles had given me as part of my Christmas gift.
It had snowflakes inside of it, so it looked like a miniature blizzard.
“Great, I got roti wraps,” Myles said, leaving the bag on the table and circling his arm around my waist.
“Thanks, but I have to go,” Blake said. He gathered his things and walked out without another word.
“Perfect, more for me,” Nash said and smiled as he leaned back in my chair and spinning around, his eyes finding mine with every rotation.
Why had I agreed to date Myles when he was friends with the devil? The only answer was that I was a sucker for punishment, and it was impossible to say no to Myles.