Page 43 of Twisted Fate

“Who protects you?” I blurt. If my concern forhimwasn’t clear by the energy I’ve been giving off, he knows about it now. It’s funny, it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.

He’s silent for a few beats. “You never fail to surprise me.”

“Why do you say that?”

He pins me with a focused gaze that turns the temperature of my body way up. “You spend your time trying to hate me for what happened when we met, which is fair, but you don’t, do you?”

The muscles in my jaw tighten. “Are you kidding?”

“Your cheeks flush when I’m around, and I make your pulse race. I can hear your heartbeat right now.”

“An excellent observation,” I remark dryly despite the dampness on my palms.

“I affect you.”

My pulse jumps, and he smirks as if to saytold you. “That’s ridiculous,” I say.

“Is that why your heart is trying to beat its way out of your chest right now?”

“No,” I grumble. “You’re wrong.”

Tristan cocks his head. “I don’t think I am.” His eyes glimmer with heat, and my throat goes dry. “Now you look afraid,” he muses.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m used to you being upfront with your feelings, so this is new.”

My eyes narrow. “Are you expecting me to say I’m head over heels for you and will worship at your feet?” I laugh. “Just because I don’t hate you anymore, just because I care if you’re in danger, doesn’t mean—”

“What? That you feel something for me?”

My heart stutters, and at this point, I don’t care that he heard it. Maybe I do feel something for Tristan, but I’ll be damned if I let myself admit it out loud. I cast my gaze away from him. “You’re busy enough with fae politics today. You don’t need to deal with me.” His words play over in my head on a loop.You feel something for me. I need to get out of this room, away from his presence that makes my head spin. “Staying here isn’t going to help anything, so I might as well go back to my dorm and prep for my study group tonight.”

“Be my guest,” he replies.

I brush past him, grabbing my things from the couch. Then I head for the door and slam it shut behind me.

Marisa frowns at me when I walk through the lobby downstairs. “You’re heading home already?”

I nod. “Yeah, I—”

“Get your ass back here, blondie.” Max approaches us from the elevator. He wasn’t sitting at the desk upstairs when I left, so I thought I’d gotten lucky.

I sigh. “Maybe not.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks. He glances at Marisa and offers her a nod.

“Home,” I say.

He shakes his head and grabs my arm before he walks away, dragging me with him. Becausethat’snot an odd thing to do in a lobby full of people. Subtlety is lost on Max.

“What the hell, Max? Let go of me,” I demand.

“Chill out, human.” He releases his grip and faces me. “What did you do?”

“What are you talking about?” I counter.

“Tristan is up there snapping at people; he’spissed. So, I’ll ask again. What did you do?”

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