Page 16 of Heroes & Hitmen
She snorts an incredulous laugh, eyes going wide. “You really think I’m going to sneak around with you?”
I lean forward, resting my forearms on the table. “I think you already did.”
Her lips part like she wants to argue, but nothing comes out.
I’m having way too much fun with this. Miley’s got me pegged for the kind of guy who will disappear in a hurry, but I’m not even close to being done with her yet.
“You don’t even know me,” she finally says, shaking her head as she pops another piece of croissant into her mouth.
“Yet,” I clarify.
She sighs, pushing her latte aside like it’s suddenly lost its appeal. “Look, you seem… persistent.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I say, grinning.
“You shouldn’t.”
I grin wider. “Noted.”
She heaves another sigh, turning to stare out the window for a long moment, seemingly lost in thought. “You’re going to get yourself killed,” she mutters.
I shrug nonchalantly. “Wouldn’t be the first time I pissed off the wrong person.”
She turns her gaze on me, narrowing those gorgeous eyes. “Yeah, well… Alpha isn’t just the wrong person. He’stheperson.”
“And yet I’m still here,” I say, spreading my arms in demonstration.
“Because you’ve got a death wish.”
“Oh, I’ve got a wish, alright,” I say with a slow smirk. “But not that one.”
She huffs out a breath, brushing the crumbs off her fingers and pushing up to her feet. “I’ve gotta get to class,” she mutters, swiping up her latte and taking the rest of her croissant to go.
“See you around, sweetheart,” I croon, leaning back in my chair and blowing her a kiss.
The glare she shoots me in return is glacial, but I let it slide for now. We’ve got eleven days to play this out, and she might not know it, but she’s already warming up to me.
A couple more breakfast dates like this one, and she’ll be eating her croissant from the palm of my hand.
CHAPTER 6
Miley
I’m supposedto be paying attention right now, absorbing the intricacies of media ethics from Professor Lancaster’s dry, droning lecture. I’m supposed to be taking thorough notes to study from later since he’s notorious for giving random pop quizzes. I’m supposed to be doing literallyanythingother than zoning out and wasting the precious few days of freedom I’ve got left obsessing over the future, yet here I am, trapped in my own spiraling thoughts.
God.
I scrub a hand over my face and refocus on the laptop screen in front of me, where my notes are a garbled mess of half-formed sentences. Not exactly ideal for studying, but honestly, they mirror the chaos in my head a little too well.
Nobody would know from outward appearances, but I’ve been slowly unraveling since the perusal. I keep acting like I’m fine, but I’m not. Far from it. It was easy to keep my head down and obey when being paired off was just an abstract idea, but now that it’s a reality, everything inside me is screaming in rebellion.
I acted on those defiant urges the other night, but it’s now been three days since Ares Raines kissed me like I belonged to him; three days since I swiped my v-card at his register in some foolish attempt at grasping for freedom. Two days since that awkward breakfast where I told him I was spoken for and he declared that he was going to pursue me anyways, yet I haven’t seen the guy since.
Typical male.
I can’t be mad when it’s the reason I chose him in the first place. I wasn’t looking for some fairytale prince to swoop in and save me. I wanted a distraction– a reckless, beautiful mistake I could call my own– and in that sense, mission accomplished. He served his purpose.So why is Ares Raines still taking up real estate in my mind?
The clock at the front of the room finally ticks over to 11:45, and Professor Lancaster closes his ancient leather binder with a decisive snap. “Next class, we’ll continue our discussion on freedom of speech in the press,” he announces with finality. “Don’t forget your required reading.”
