6. Jace
For the first time in years, I don’t feel restless. I no longer feel the need to use buckets of alcohol or bloody fights or meaningless sex to suppress the overwhelming urge to crawl up the walls. It’s such a strange feeling. That lack of restlessness. It makes me feel as if I’m bursting with energy. But in a good way, this time.
Kayla shoots me a glare as she strides into her lecture hall.
Amusement ripples through me. It’s a good thing that I feel like I’m bursting with energy, because I’m going to need it to deal with this little demon that I have been tasked to protect.
Still, I don’t really mind it. Because finally, I’m doing something that matters. This bodyguard assignment matters more than anything I have done at Blackwater for the past two years. It matters more than anything I have ever done. Because these coming months as Kayla’s bodyguard is what’s going to give me freedom for the rest of my life. So I will be dead before I let her ruin it for me.
She thinks that she can be an annoying menace?
She has no idea who she is playing against.
I grew up annoying the crap out of three older brothers whose mental state varies from arrogant and domineering to downright unhinged.
Menaceis my fucking middle name.
“Let’s sit in the middle,” Kayla says to the Carlisle sisters.
Aurora flicks a quick glance at me while Jenn follows Kayla down the steps of the auditorium. I flash her a sly smile and wink. She flushes bright red and almost trips on the next step.
I suppress a smug laugh while she straightens and hurries after the others.
Thatis how women usually react to me. How they’re supposed to react when I’m being charming and flirty.
But for some reason, Kayla seems entirely immune to my charm. Which is odd. And annoying. Usually, panties would’ve dropped by now. But instead, she just looks at me as if I’m something she scraped off the bottom of her shoe.
Except for our little argument in the coffeeshop. I could feel her pulse fluttering under my hand as I pinned her to the wall. Could see the heat that crept into her cheeks. She’s not used to people speaking to her that way, or manhandling her like that, but it didn’t look like she hated it either.
I file that information away for later and instead shift my attention to the annoying guy who showed up at the coffeeshop and decided to tag along.
Lionel Henderson. I drag my gaze over him. Brown hair that is slicked back from his face, gray eyes that seem to get very interested when he looks at Kayla, and fancy clothes that peg him as someone who comes from money. I don’t like the look of him. I don’t like the look of him at all.
Striding down the steps, I shoulder past Lionel so that I can follow directly behind Kayla instead. He stumbles from the force of it and has to catch himself on the seats to his left. I don’t bother stopping to see him straighten again. Instead, I stride down the row of seats and drop down in the one right next to Kayla.
She jerks back in surprise and turns to stare at me. Then she narrows her eyes.
Pointedly picking up her bag from the floor, she stands up and moves three seats to the right. I simply stand up and follow her.
Since I’m blocking the way, Lionel and the two blonde sisters are left awkwardly standing in the narrow space between the seats behind me.
After flipping the seat down from the backrest, I drop down on it and stretch my legs out.
“Stop,” Kayla growls.
A few other people turn around to look at her. She gives them an embarrassed smile before fixing me with a furious stare. I just raise my eyebrows in a show of innocent confusion.
“You don’t need to sit right next to me,” she snaps.
“How else am I supposed to keep you safe?” I reply, grinning at her.
She draws in an annoyed breath between her teeth. Then she surprises me by climbing over my legs and walking back the way we came.
“Stay,” she orders as she casts me a glance over her shoulder.
I narrow my eyes at her back. “I’m not a dog.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Before I can retort, she grabs the top of the seat in front of her and jumps over it and into the row ahead. Her friends blink at her in surprise, and even more students turn around to look.
After exchanging a glance, Jenn and Aurora jump the row of seats as well. Lionel follows suit. The blonde girls quickly settle themselves in the seats on Kayla’s left while Lionel takes the seat on her right.
With a smug smirk on her lips, Kayla turns around and shoots me a look that I can only interpret as, your move.
Heaving a sigh, I push up from my seat and move towards them.
The soft murmur that was filling the lecture hall dies down as a man in a brown suit walks out onto the stage at the bottom. The room is shaped like an amphitheater, with curving rows of seats that slope down towards the stage.
I walk forward on silent feet until I reach Kayla.
Then I sit down in the seat right behind her.
Bracing my elbows on my knees, I lean forward until I’m so close that my breath caresses the back of her neck.
A shiver rolls down her spine as my breath dances over her skin.
Whipping her head around, she shoots me a lethal stare and opens her mouth.
But right then, the professor speaks up.
“Welcome back, everyone,” he says.
Kayla grinds her teeth in annoyance but then turns back to face the professor. I let out a soft chuckle that also caresses the back of her neck. She swipes a hand under her hair, shifting it from her shoulder so that it falls down her back instead. It stops my breath from playing over her skin, but I still remain where I am. Hovering behind her like that just to piss her off.
“Today, I have a very exciting assignment for you,” the professor says. “These coming months, you will, in groups, be responsible for organizing an event. It can be any kind of event that you want, but it must be something that will show off your organizational skills. Which is what you will be graded on.”
Kayla cocks her head and starts tapping her fingers on her thigh, as if she has already started planning in her head.
“There needs to be at least three people in each group,” he continues. “But no more than five. And together, you will be responsible for organizing an event of your choice. You need to plan it and execute it, which includes finding funds, a location, a target audience, and so on.”
I alternate between studying Kayla and sweeping my gaze around the auditorium while the professor finishes his instructions. All students listen attentively and take notes. I grimace. As much as I hate to admit it, Kayla is right about one thing. I doubt there will actually be any real threats to protect her from in here. These people aren’t like the students that I’m used to at Blackwater. These people are polite and mild-mannered. Nonviolent. They would never instigate some kind of attack because they would be too worried about ruining their designer clothing.
“We should do a silent auction,” Kayla says.
I shift my attention back to her, realizing that the professor has finished speaking. All around us, people are talking and moving around, probably splitting into groups.
“Is it okay if I join your group too?” Lionel asks from Kayla’s right.
Kayla, who was looking at Jenn and Aurora, turns towards him. All three of them seem a little surprised for a second, but then they all smile. I suppress the urge to smack Lionel’s head into the backrest.
“Oh, of course,” Kayla says.
He smiles. “Thanks.”
I flex my hands as that same violent impulse bubbles up again. Leaning back in my seat, I cross my arms and just watch in silence as they begin discussing the assignment.
Though, the more I listen, the more I realize that they are not actually discussing. Kayla has taken charge and is more or less stating how they should set up this silent auction. There is no hesitation in her tone. No handwringing. No apologizing for her opinions. She owns herself and dominates the situation with complete and utter confidence.
Uncrossing my arms, I discreetly shift a hand down and adjust myself.
Because God damn, Kayla is fucking hot when she bosses people around like that.
She’s good at it too.
It really is too bad for her that she ended up with me as her bodyguard. Because no matter how bossy she tries to be, no matter how hard she pushes, in terms of confidence and sheer swaggering arrogance, she will never beat me.
She wants to be a little demon?
I will be the fucking king of hell.