32. Erin
Chapter thirty-two
Erin
My shift went by agonizingly slow. I returned cart after cart of books to the stacks, our shelves overflowing. A steady stream of students and professors returned hoards of books throughout the day. Unfortunately for me, among the professors who decided to grace the campus library that day was Mr. Jensin.
“Miss Snow.” His greeting was coarse and oozed annoyance.
So much for being a favorite student of his.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Jensin.” I forced a tight-lipped smile.
“It seems you and Mister Draven have missed a class or two of mine recently. Care to share?”
We missed one prior to those students being mauled by ‘animals.’
And that was when my ass was unconscious.
Bite me.
I fought to keep the fake smile plastered on. “Some personal things have come up. It’s not for me to say, as I’ve been assisting Seth with a few things. I’ll be back in class once they resume next week.”
“And Mister Draven?”
“He should be reaching out to you shortly, Mr. Jensin.”
He clicked his tongue. “You know, Miss Snow, I do see quite the potential in you and would hate to see you throw that away for a mere boy. Man-child if you will.” His mud-colored eyes flicked to my stomach before returning to my face.
I cleared my throat. “I appreciate your concern, Mr. Jensin. I’ll be in class next week. Have a nice day.” I twirled on my heel with his returned books and headed to the staff room.
His voice followed me. “Be sure to have your paper on Lady Leonora submitted by this coming weekend, as it counts for a majority of your final. I’ll see you next week.”
Shit.
“He’s kinda a dick, huh?” I whipped my head to the side, to find my boss, Ashlin. She was short and petite, barely five foot two. Her brown hair was styled into a pixie cut, bangs and all. Her pink-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose as she peaked over them, her amber eyes looking up at me.
“Little bit. But his class is a bit of a necessity. The semester is almost over, then I’ll be rid of him.” I closed my eyes, praying the next couple of weeks went by as quickly as possible.
Ashlin twirled a pen over her fingers. “Is it though? Last time I checked, we have several history professors here that could get you the credits you need for your degree,” she arched her brow. “What is this Lady Leonora business he has you writing about?”
“Honestly, Ashlin. I don’t even know. We went over it and began studying it almost a month ago and my sleep schedule—among other things—had been a mess so my memory and attention span were trash lately.” I dropped the books on the desk with a thud. Two months ago, I would’ve been winded, even with all the lifting. Now, with the strength of me being Nephilim, the stack of books felt as light as a feather.
“Sounds like you might need to get cracking on that then. Unless…this is really a knight in shining armor issue?” She smirked, and her eyes glinted in the lowlights of the library.
“There is no knight in shining armor, Ash. I’m permanently single.” I deadpanned.
She scoffed at me. “Oh please. That friend of yours, Seth? He follows you around like a lost puppy. I see the way you look at him.”
My cheeks flushed. “He’s not into me like that. He has some big-brother complex towards me,” I waved her off. “He’s nice to look at lately, but that’d never go anywhere.
Ashlin chuckled. “But are you into him?”
I stuttered, “I…I don’t know. I mean we’ve been friends since we were in diapers.”
“And?” She craned her neck.
“And that would be utterly ridiculous.”
“Would it though? From what I’ve seen, you are smitten with one another,” her grin spread. “And speaking of tall, muscular, and handsome, it seems as though someone is here to pick you up, Erin.” Ashlin vibrated with excitement.
Please no.
I tensed, quickly spinning around to see Seth striding towards the front desk, his fingers brushed through his hair, the midnight strands glistening. The dark-washed denim jeans he wore hung low on his hips, the waistband barely covered by the same grey V-neck he wore earlier in the day. His favorite zip up hoodie hung open, the underside of his jacket a light-grey contrasting the charcoal of the outer shell. The heat on my face heightened.
He stopped and his cologne drifted through the air—pine. “Hey, Rin. You ready to go?”
Ashlin, the meddling fiend she was, elbowed in. “Yes, she just finished up, actually.”
“But, I—” I stuttered, Ashlin cutting me off.
“I’ll finish up here, Erin. You two have fun. I’ll see you in a few days.” She shot me an innocent grin. Seth turned his attention to his phone briefly and she mouthed ‘ text me.’ I rolled my eyes.
Seth threw his arm over my shoulder. “So, you ready for dinner, Snow?” Ashlin snorted and I looked around Seth, glaring at her. He followed the sight line of my death-glare. “What? What’d I miss?”
I yanked him forward, nearly causing him to fall, which would’ve knocked us both down. “Nothing, nothing at all,” I forced a nervous laugh. “Let’s go. I’m hungry as hell.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Ashlin.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! ;)
“Who is it?” Seth asked.
“Uh, no one. Just Ashlin, reminding me…about that paper for Jensin’s class. I need to get it done by next week,” I shot her a text back, telling her to shove it. “And speaking of, that means you need to get it done too.”
Seth pulled his arm from around my shoulders, leaving me slightly chilled, even with my hoodie. His thumbs looped in his jeans. “Actually, Jensin let me off the hook for that assignment. I emailed him before I got here, and he responded almost immediately.”
“Huh. That’s awfully convenient. He was in the library not too long ago returning a bunch of books and giving me a hard time.”
“Snow, you’re one of his prized students. He’s going to be harder on you.” He shrugged.
“And you should be too. You’re a hell of a lot smarter than I am.”
“You say this, Rin, but your brain’s pretty solid too. Even with how thick your skull is.”
“Like yours is any better, you ass,” I quipped.
“True. Now what’s the paper on?” He cleared his throat.
I smacked his chest. “Did you really not pay any attention? Like at all?”
Seth shrugged, not a care in the world. “Honestly, not really.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “It’s about someone called Lady Leonora. She was some type of ruler or something, I think. We started covering it almost a month ago. And given everything, I’m behind. Really behind.”
Seth deflated. “Do you want to head back to my place to get started on it?”
I quirked my eyebrow. “Uh, hell no. My ass is starving, and I owe you dinner.”
Seth perked back up. “I’m not letting you pay for dinner. I out eat you. As a guy, that’s not cool.”
“And as your best friend, that changes the whole men-pay-for-dinner spiel, Seth,” I swore I saw the light of his eyes dwindle slightly. “You can get the next one. Deal?”
He grinned down at me. “We’ll see about that,” the devilish glint returned. “I’ll race you to the car for it. First one there, pays.” He bolted, speeding off towards his car at the edge of the parking lot.
“You cheater!” I yelled, giggling as I raced after him. I caught up with Seth, to see—to my disappointment—he already reached the car and won, a triumphant grin slapped across his goofy face. As I took another step forward, my shoe caught on the pavement and I went barreling toward the ground.
Seth caught me, his arms reaching under me before I hit the ground. I peered up at him, the light from the sunset casting beautiful shadows across the planes of his face, accentuating his jawline, and the ever-present five o’clock shadow that ran the full length of it. The blue dusk in his eyes twinkled, softening as they stared into my ordinary grey-blue ones. “You okay?” he asked, a hint of huskiness in his voice.
My mouth was dry, unable to form actual words, so I nodded. Seth helped me to my feet and propped open the passenger door so I could slide in.
When did he become so…beautiful?
Okay. I might need my head checked or something.
I gathered myself, shaking off the way he’d looked at me and added as much umph into my voice as I could and whooped as Seth started the engine. “Ready to rock-and-roll?”