Page 28 of Stroke of Fate

What is this girl doing to me?

When the breeze picks up again, she sprawls a hand across the page to keep it from blowing over, and I find myself wondering what class she’s prepping for. She’s too far away to make out any details, so I scoot closer to the window.

Thank fuck Mack is too occupied scrolling Instagram to notice, and the twins aren’t here yet. Otherwise, I’d have some explaining to do.

I want to know everything about her. Where is she from? Her likes and dislikes. Her favorite food. And if she tastes as good as I imagine. That last one? I’ve thought about it over and over.

My desire to get to know Bear is all-consuming as the days pass. I thought the less I saw of her, the more she’d fade from my memory, but it’s been the opposite.

Watching her concentrate is my new favorite pastime. She momentarily plucks her lower lip between her teeth before releasing the plump skin. Her lip is now redder and more delectable looking than ever, and I bite back a groan.

My view is momentarily obscured when a group of students walks past. I frown in annoyance, wishing they would hurry up and move along. They take longer than necessary, and thankfully, Bear is still there when the path finally clears.

But hold up, what the fuck is this?

A guy breaks off from the group and steps in front of her. With his back to me, all I can see is his brown hair and athletic build.

Bear squints up at him from the bench, using her hand to shield her face from the sun. She offers him a smile that irks me for two reasons.

One, it means they’re on friendly terms, which automatically makes me hate him. And two, this one stings to admit, she’s never given me a smile like that.

Bear has the kind of smile that makes you want to lean in and be part of whatever is causing it. A foreign rush of jealousy grips me, knowing I’m not on the receiving end of it.

The longer he talks to her, the more restless I get. She nods along to whatever that douchebag is saying, and then he does something that causes my blood to spike.

He rubs the back of his neck.

He’s nervous.

Which can only mean one thing: he’s about to pull a move on her. A muscle in my jaw ticks.

Over my fucking dead body—

“Hello, Marino?”

The sound of snapping fingers in my face causes the cafeteria noise to flood my ears. It takes all my effort to drag my gaze away from the window and back on Mack.

He raises a brow. “Have you heard a word I’ve said?”

Blinking, I think hard about what he could have possibly been talking about while I had my face practically squished against the window. It’s Mack, so it’s one of three things: girls, partying, or swimming—not necessarily in that order.

“The party this weekend?” I ask, remembering he mentioned something about it during training.

“Oh, so you were listening. You looked like you zoned out on me.”

I did, but I don’t bother saying as much.

“So, as I was saying…”

I try to concentrate on his words. But when Mack’s mouth moves, I barely register a thing. My focus drifts between him and the courtyard, and that’s when I notice Bear handing her phone over to him, and she looks uncomfortable as fuck doing it.

The last straw is when I see him typing something in it—his number, no doubt. The spike of possessiveness that hits me has me bolting up and out of my seat before I fully register what I’m doing.

“Sorry, Mack, gotta stop you there. I’ll be right back.”

“What? Where are you going?” He frowns.

“Uh…” I stall as I push my chair back, using the few seconds to think of a viable excuse.

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