Chapter 5 #2
An abrupt laugh interrupts Reid’s breaths. “Definitely not. He’s like a brother to me. If you’d seen the things I’ve seen, you’d never let his honey stick anywhere near your beehive.”
My… what? I prop myself up on my elbows to better look at Reid. “I don’t think that metaphor works as well as you think.”
“Sure it does. He puts his stick in your hive and gets the sweet, sweet honey.”
If I weren’t already burning up from exertion, I surely would be now. “And then what?” I ask. “He gets mobbed by a swarm of angry bees?”
“That’s women for you.” He drags himself to his feet, then pushes a window open, letting the brisk air in.
“Clearly, you’ve only been with the wrong type of women,” I mumble.
“None, actually. Not interested. But I’ve witnessed plenty of men court my mother.”
“Wait. What?” I sit up further and quickly review all our earlier interactions. He was rather nonchalant with Alexis, and I never did catch him looking at either of us the way Caeo looked at me.
“Which part wasn’t clear?” he asks. “That I prefer men, or my mother’s promiscuity?”
“I…” No wonder he was so casual about us stripping out of our uniforms. “Never mind.”
I clamber onto my hands and knees, preparing for the next round of push-ups in an attempt to escape this conversation. It’s a perfectly acceptable way to live, but if he makes the connection—
“Wait,” he says, eyes narrowing. A second later, a grin breaks across his face as his laughter fills the room. “You thought I was jealous of Caeo for getting with you?”
Darn it. I lower my chest to the ground and light the stupid candle. My arms scream in protest as I push myself back up and extinguish it.
“Wow, you must feel dumb now.”
“Shut up.”
* * *
By Fortune’s favor, upon arriving to our water incanting class as a cramping, disheveled mess, Professor Merriweather, a kindly-looking woman in her mid-fifties with graying hair, decides to test our abilities by having us clean ourselves up as best we can, without any instructions or components.
Thus, we’re both clean and well-hydrated when we arrive at the dining hall.
Rows of faded wooden tables and benches sit under a gabled ceiling, but at least everyone’s uniforms fill the space with splotches of various purple tones.
Thankfully, it’s significantly tamer than the Kettle Maker was, but my insides still itch regardless.
Lunch is served buffet-style, and I fill my plate with a bit of everything, hunger gnawing at me like never before.
We eat in silence, then I wilt against the table with my head buried in my arms.
“You two look terrible.”
My heart flutters at Caeo’s voice. Before I know it, his hand rests on my shoulder, tracing gentle circles with his fingers. Goosebumps dance across my skin as I melt into the tabletop. I should look up, I really should, but my nerves keep me pinned down. What if he only liked me when I was drunk?
“Professor Beckwith had us incanting while doing push-ups for the entire period,” Reid says. “And then made us stay late to run through a dozen tests to see what we know. I despise that man.”
The bench shifts as Caeo sits next to me, pulling his hand away and leaving a cold emptiness behind.
It’s an effort not to slump in disappointment, but I keep my head down, dreading a knowing look from Reid after our moment earlier.
Their conversation wafts over me, and by the time Alexis chimes in, I’m drifting away, lulled by the dulcet tones of Caeo’s voice.
The next thing I know, a hand’s gently shaking my shoulder.
“Wake up,” Caeo whispers, close to my face. “It’s time for History.”
I lift my head, blinking. His gray eyes have specks of blue in them that I hadn’t noticed before, like a warm sky peeking through heavy fog.
“History…” I say breathlessly, completely lost in those clouds.
“I told you I’d find you.” He brushes my hair out of my face, his fingers lightly grazing my skin.
He did. A heat unfurls within me, remembering that moment.
“We should go, or we’ll be late,” he adds.
My pulse quickens as I shove all thoughts of kissing him out of mind, then gather my things.
Reid and Alexis must have gone ahead; it’s the only class that all the first-years have together, so most of the students filing out of the dining hall are heading there.
My leg muscles burn with a dull ache as we follow, and while it isn’t far, I still make a fool of myself by attempting small talk.
“Reid told me he’s interested in men, not women.”
Caeo raises an eyebrow. “Are you looking for confirmation? I don’t have any firsthand experience, but that matches everything I know.” He pauses. “Were you disappointed…?”
“No! No, I was only—Do you think Alexis knows?” I’d hate for her to feel led on, especially when I’m the only reason she met him.
“Oh.” Understanding washes over Caeo’s face. “Yeah, she definitely knows.”
I sigh with relief. “Good.”
He squeezes my hand, and my nerves settle. Something about him… I should be embarrassed, but I’m not. There’s no urge to disappear, to hide from my awkwardness. Just a warm glow in my chest.
The lecture hall’s not as spacious as the Great Hall, but large enough to hold all the students in our year, somewhere between eighty and a hundred people.
The lower side of the room has a desk, podium, and a large chalkboard—a bold swath of black amid all the gray—and ascending away from it are multiple levels of long desks.
They stretch across their entire lengths with benches for the students to sit on, most of which are already full.
My skin’s already prickling from all the people packed around us when I spot Sophie in the front row, rifling through her things.
I glance away, hoping she doesn’t notice me—I should’ve tried to fix things with her last night.
The longer I wait, the more awkward it’s likely to become.
I glimpse Alexis and Reid further up, but there’s no room for us to squeeze in with them.
Caeo leads me to an empty spot on a bench near the back, next to a girl who smiles brightly at him. He completely ignores her, his attention focused entirely on me.
There’s plenty of room for both of us to sit comfortably, but he’s close enough that the warmth of his leg presses against mine. My inner voice yells that I’m here for class, so I pull my bag up to get some paper, ink, and a pen to take notes, then realize he’s still holding my other hand.
I force myself to let go of it.
Our professor arrives, and though his voice echoes through the chamber as he welcomes us to class, I’m straining to decipher his words. In the future, I’ll have to make sure to arrive earlier to get a seat up front.
Caeo doesn’t bother getting anything out to write with.
Instead, he leans his elbow on the desk, chin resting in his hand, watching me.
It should make me nervous, but it doesn’t, stoking a different kind of blaze within me as I write the title for today’s lecture: The Founding of the Order of Incanters by Gareth Arandur.
While I generally know the story from my lessons at home, no doubt the professor will get into specific details he’ll expect us to memorize. But if Caeo keeps this up, I won’t be able to focus at all.
“Stop staring,” I whisper. “You should pay attention.”
“But you’re beautiful. He’s not.”
A tightness coils between my thighs, and I resist squirming in my seat as I note the details of Arandur’s birth. “How are you so bold?” I hiss.
Caeo leans in, close enough that the heat radiating off his skin warms my already sweltering cheek, his breath brushing against my ear. “Because I know you want that kiss.”
Ink spots my paper as I mess up the word I was writing. My face is red, I know it, and I can’t bring myself to look at him. I bite my lip, forcing myself to focus on the professor’s words instead.
“Arandur discovered the connection between the fae’s magic and their realm by studying how it diminished the more time they spent in ours.
It led him to theorize that their power came from their land itself, and that perhaps there was a way for us to tap into something similar.
” And as everyone knows, that advancement saved us—without it, the fae would have claimed all our land by now.
The professor turns away, drawing some rudimentary focals on the board. He clearly expects us to copy them down.
Keeping my eyes locked on my paper, I whisper back to Caeo, “Well, if you want to kiss me, you need to stop being so distracting and wait until class is over.”
When he doesn’t respond, I chance a quick peek in his direction. He’s no longer staring at me, but off into the distance, seemingly daydreaming… his lips curled into a slight smile.
I shake my head, returning to my notes. Another bell of focus, then the rest of the afternoon is him.