Page 57 of Cerulean Truth
SIXTEEN
JAMES
What the hell?
The sheer shock of walking through those familiar halls and seeingherface emerge from the mass of people I saw on a daily basis, without so much as a warning… That shit hit me hard.
A twinge of irritation sparked at her thoughtlessness in failing to inform me of her arrival, but witnessing the distress on her face, a sense of worry overshadowed it.
Scanning the room, I noticed all eyes were on her. Some filled with curiosity, others with distrust, and some male-ones were filled with something else entirely. My nostrils flared and I clenched my fists, restraining myself from gouging out their eyes.
As I diverted my gaze back to her, she looked utterly lost with that wide-eyed expression. My heart lurched and I fought the impulse to rush to her side.
Instead, I straightened my back, raised a brow and kept the rest of my face stoically calm. She’d seen me come in – hell, everyone had seen us come through—surely she was about to come up to me?
I waited for a few more minutes but it became clear she wouldn’t budge and I surely wasn’t going over there first. I was the only person she knew – how many options did she have?
Then, she almost punched herself in the face.
For the love of…
I was about to take a step toward her, when I spotted Enya heading over to Emma. I grimaced and held back. Sure, I wasn’t about to win any awards for charm and friendliness myself, but Enya gave any dictator a run for their money.
I tore my eyes away from Emma, motioning the rest to follow me and cursing the stubborn woman internally for ignoring me. As I left the Grand Hall, I couldn't resist glancing back one last time. Just in time to see Emma trip over her own feet. I almost laughed. Almost.
"Holy shit, did you see the new chick? Was that the granny?" Matthew asked loudly, his subtlety shining through as always. I nodded with visible annoyance, not particularly eager to discuss it.
"Wow, she's kind of attractive, like nerd hot…you know? She seems like the type who'd be a minx in bed but would want to read you excerpts from an encyclopedia about fungus afterward," he laughed, waving his blond hair out of his face. I punched him on the upper arm without even thinking about it.
He gazed at me, taken aback by the force of my punch, then grinned in response to the expression on my face.
“You’ve got a problem with fungi, James?”
I saw no need to dignify Matthew’s non-question with an answer.
"It's quite the spectacular species. Sure, you've got your regular yeast and mold, but there's also mushrooms and..."
Thankfully, Jackson cut him off before I had to resort to more drastic measures to silence him more permanently (like breaking his jaw, for instance). "I know you can't resist, butit's like you're not even trying to be funny anymore. Could you possibly show a modicum of compassion for the poor souls who have to endure your idiotic remarks all day? Maybe try to spice them up with a touch of... I don't know, wit?"
Matthew responded with an air of self-confidence, "One doesn’t need wit when one is as handsome and well-endowed as I am. Huh. Guess we now know howyoucome to be so witty all the time."
Jackson raised his brow. "That shit doesn't even make sense."
Matthew smirked at Jackson. "Shit? Or wit?"
"Both one and the same in your case," Jackson retorted, rolling his eyes at his best friend.
Matthew snorted at Jackson's weak comeback and mumbled, "Maybe you have a larger penis than I thought..."
Jackson sighed. "Is there anything remotely reasonable that ever comes out of your mouth?"
Matthew grinned. "I simply adapt to the level of my conversational partner."
Jackson shook his head and said dryly, looking at me. "You know, I could eat some spicy food and shit out a more interesting conversation than this."
"Well then, at least your digestion would be entertaining," Matthew quipped.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, will you both just SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
