Page 21 of Knot What She Seems
What the hell is he doing here?
He clears his throat and smooths his hand down his jeans before extending it. “Sam.” He states the obvious because he literally just said that.
Reaching forward, I clasp his palm and squeeze. His facial expression grows pained, and I realize that I’ve overcompensated, so I loosen my grip. “Sorry. Teddie.”
The guy behind the table is one of those who feels the need to butt into every conversation. He can’t be left out. With a wide, tour-guide-like, completely unnecessary gesture, he adds, “He’s our first ever beta at Eros.”
My head does a slow swivel over to him as Sam’s face turns neon red. The snarky part of me wants to cut the guy down with a “oh, I thought that was you,” but those kinds of quips generally only work out in movies.
Besides, my job isn’t to draw attention to myself, positive or negative. So I simply nod, hoping he’ll move on.
The burly guy decides to do me a favor and leans over, snatching my packet from the person beside him, ignoring their outraged huff. “Here, Your Highness.” He holds out a large envelope to me.
“Thanks,” I respond dryly, trying to rattle around why the hell Eros would let in a beta, what that means for the war we’re embroiled in, what expectations a beta roommate might have versus an alpha, and also simultaneously digging through my packet for a map.
In other words, my brain is an absolute shitshow.
My befuddled state must be blatantly obvious because Sam shuffles forward a step. With a scuff of his sneaker, he offers, “Um…if you want, I did some recon earlier, so I know where our room is.”
“Great.” I keep my answer to one word but give him a grin to accompany it.
He heads off through the gates and past a hedge. I force my eyes to remain glued to his back and not to drift sideways to the wall behind the hedge, or the castle behind the wall—Darling.
Even so, sounds drift across from the other side—soft giggles that sound so fake they might have been recorded.
“Damn. You smell them?” an alpha behind me says as he stomps in with another companion, the pair of them as loud as a herd of bison.
“Can’t wait ’til we get to go over there.”
“Same.”
Fearing the worst, and deciding I couldn’t keep from grimacing if I hear the conversation take a lewd turn, I hurry forward, my shoulder bumping against Sam’s and jostling my bodysuit so that it scrapes against my nipples. “Shit. Sorry!” I apologize, clearing my throat after because my voice got just the tiniest bit pitchy over the nipple pain.
“No problem,” Sam responds hesitantly, as if he’s not quite sure he believes me.
“So…your family force you to come like mine did or…?” I trail off.
“Pretty much.” He huffs out a laugh that doesn’t sound very amused and points left, around an old-school catapult set right in the middle of the lawn. “They donated an arm, a leg, and an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, from what I’ve been told.”
“Mummy’s curse upon you and all that if you mess up?”
“Yup.”
“Mine too.” I pause, but I can’t help myself. The joke is right there. Waiting on a platter. “Bet my mummy’s scarier than yours.”
He snorts as we snake around a bend in the path and our dorm building comes into view. Over the solemn, solid-looking double doors, a snarling gargoyle seems to leap out of the stone. Beneath it is a banner that says: Mars Dormitory.
Super homey.
We mount the steps, and as we do, a spider the size of a Suburban drops down on a web right in front of my face. A scream builds up inside my throat, and I slam my lips together, swallowing it down, though the second I do, it feels like the terrified pressure billows inside my chest. I’m about to explode.
Of all the fears in the world, spiders are in my top three.
I. Hate. Them.
God. I want to dash right back down the stairs. I want to screech to high fucking heaven and jump and launch a shoe at this nasty thing before collapsing in a sobbing mess.
But I can’t. I can’t do any of that.
