Chapter 4 #3
“See, you always think I’m giving off playful vibes. What I’m going for is disdain. Not my fault you can’t discern between
the two. Emotions not being your strong suit and all.”
He glares at me, and I glare right back. We’re almost chest to chest, and I have to crane my neck up to look at him. This
close, I can see a muscle tick at the edge of his throat when he clenches his jaw. For some reason, it makes me grin.
Footsteps echo down the hall, and both our heads whip to the door.
They can’t find us in this room. This is all we have. Without it—
“Come on,” Hux says roughly. When I hesitate, his hand closes around mine and he pulls me to the door; I try and yank away,
but he holds even tighter.
“The only thing worse than them finding this room is them finding us in this room, Hux!” I whisper-shout.
He’s already working the handle. “They haven’t turned down the south corridor. We’re hearing the echo through the vent, but
we have to go now.”
The door opens with a blast of cool and somehow he still has my hand, leveraging it to pull us both out into the hallway.
The sound grows louder, closer. I twist to look behind us and the hallway seems to stretch forever. We can’t run. We’ll never
make it to the classroom in time. At any moment, the Hammers will come around the corner and catch us.
“Great plan, Finn,” I bite out.
His face is tight as he stares down the hallway; that jaw works as he thinks. He lets out a huff as though making a decision,
and then looks at me, his nostrils flaring slightly as his eyes find mine.
“Play along,” he says, voice almost a growl.
“With what?” I ask, but we’re out of time. The footsteps get closer, and so does Hux.
With one decisive stride, he’s backed me up against the wall next to the server room door. I don’t even have time to process
what is happening before his hand is cupping my jaw. And then Huxley Finn is kissing me.
My brain short-circuits for a moment, the thought refusing to process:
Huxley Finn is kissing me.
I’m kissing Huxley Finn.
I drop my gym bag and grab at a fistful of his shirt, dragging him closer.
He slants into me, mouth opening wider as his tongue meets mine.
This isn’t my first kiss. Refining camp got boring, and there wasn’t much else to do. But now I’m starting to wonder if those
were kisses at all.
This? This is different. Hux kisses like this is his only chance. He kisses me like he’s been thinking about it for a while.
I’ve written kisses like this between Orion and Saffron, but living it is something else.
His hand tangles in my hair as the footsteps round the corner, stopping as a firm voice barks out: “Hey, you two! Get to your
stations.”
Hux, in the most Hux move ever, takes one more deep pull from the kiss before moving his head back a little, still inches
from my mouth as he turns to eye the Hammers staring at us. His eyes roll as a hand comes to his lips, tugging along the flushed
skin. Already, I can see the Hammers twitch hands toward their nightsticks. I pull against his shirt lightly, signaling What are you doing as best I can. Hux’s hand tightens along the nape of my neck.
Trust me, it seems to say.
I have a million reasons not to, but I have no choice.
“Stations,” a Hammer repeats, fingers already white around the grip of his baton.
Hux speaks lazily, like we have all the time in the world: “We’ve got five more minutes on our break.” Already, he’s turning back to me and running the tip of his nose along the curve of my jaw before brushing his lips against mine.
I shiver against him, closing my eyes briefly. A sharp noise makes me flinch: One of the Hammers has smashed his nightstick
against the wall.
“Hey!” he yells. “We’re on a lockdown. Break’s over.”
This time when Hux pulls his mouth from mine, he straightens, hands on either side of my head, caging and shielding me all
at once.
“Is it safe to walk her back to her station?” he asks, a protective note in his voice. Or is it more possessive?
The Hammer thinks for a second before he nods. “Get her there and then get your ass back to yours before I write you up.”
Hux holds his hands up as if to say okay, okay, and the guards march past us. Holding my breath, I take a small step to the side, blocking their view of the server room
door.
They brush past us, the last two chuckling to each other.
“Can’t blame him. Gotta get all that in before you turn eighteen,” one of them jokes.
Shock and fear war inside me as the Hammers disappear down the hallway. Hux breathes hard next to me, and I can’t tell if
it’s from Hammers or the kiss or both. As I stare, he reaches over, hand out. For a second, I wonder if he’s trying to grab
mine.
One kiss and we’re holding hands?
Before I can thoroughly embarrass myself by trying to lace my fingers through his, he turns his hand upward and uncurls his
fist.
The poker chip.
I glance down at it, then up at him. Both eyebrows raise, and I know he means for me to take it.
So I do.
Before Hux can say anything, I’m walking down the hallway, back toward the classroom.
He doesn’t follow me. And I don’t look back.
Even though I want to.