Page 41 of The Heart of Winter

The beta's face changed, as if some energy was leaving him.

"Alright, later then," Winter mumbled, turning away.

Just before he left, I caught the beta’s hand graze Winter’s forearm in a fleeting touch. But Winter pulled back and, with an odd look on his face, quickly turned toward the building exit.

I followed after him, feeling the weight of the beta’s gaze on my back.

Were they boyfriends? I wasn’t entirely sure. They definitely didn’t live together. I was well aware I had no business asking. All these thoughts were just circling in my head for no real reason.

We got into the car.

Winter seemed… off. Though honestly, it was more of a feeling I got from him than anything I could see. His expression was the same as always, indifferent.

I decided to steer the conversation toward some neutral topics, something that might help distract him from whatever strange thoughts were clouding his mind.

"Do a lot of the students who attend these lectures end up applying for internships at DevApp?"

Winter snapped out of the deep contemplation he’d been lost in.

"It’s hard to say if the lecture itself is the reason, but we do keep stats on which colleges send us the most interns. And yeah, quite a few come from here."

He spoke in an absent-minded tone, his gaze still locked on the window.

Was he still thinking about that guy? Was it something serious? Something new? But then, why turn him down? Or… was it something already ending? Was that why Winter wasn’t eager to spend time with the guy?

For a brief moment, I caught myself wondering about his sex life. I barely recognized myself, since when was I interested in what my hostile director did in bed? And yet, my thoughts veered toward the question of who was on top and who was the bottom.

Just out of curiosity, I tried to picture it: Winter beneath that black-haired beta, his legs spread, breath hitching as the guy thrust into him. Then, I flipped the scenario, imagining Winter taking the lead instead. Neither image fully fit. I had no idea what their dynamic was. Honestly, it could go either way.

My gaze drifted to his hand. His skin was pale, not just the usual fair complexion with a pinkish hue like most people in my family, but something else entirely. White like snow.

We stopped at a red light, and I turned my head to glance at Winter’s profile again.

God, I was being ridiculous. Too much staring, too tempting.

His lips caught my attention again, he was biting them slightly, still deep in thought. I could feel it in his aura, something was on his mind, gnawing at him intensely.

My eyes traced the sharp line of his cheekbones, the strong angle of his jaw. Then, his neck. For a split second, I imagined brushing my lips against his skin, tracing the line of his throat, drawing a long, soft moan from him…

What the hell?

I snapped myself out of it immediately.

Fate, have mercy on me! What was wrong with my head? Getting turned on by some cold, distant, and outright rude man?

Was I just being a contrarian, like my father always claimed?

For a while, I pondered why I even found his looks appealing.

There was something enchanting about his snowiness, his translucence, even those silver eyes of his. Sometimes, in movies, vampires were depicted like that, glowing, eerie, nearly fluorescent in the dark.

And his whole demeanor, his untouchable, aristocratic air…

Was he like that in bed too? Cold and impassive? Or was that where he changed? People had layers, hidden depths you’d never guess from the surface.

Yes. I was thinking way too much about this. I needed to stop.

For the next ten minutes, I focused on the road. We drove in silence.

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