Page 19 of Heroes & Hitmen
“You’re using a fork?” he questions, furrowing his brow.
“I’m not a savage,” I reply, daintily slicing into the perfectly frosted dome of my cupcake.
He chuckles softly as he leans back in his chair, his own cupcake sitting untouched on the table in front of him. “No, you’re the perfect pack princess, aren’t you?” he muses.
I snort a laugh, rolling my eyes. “If you say so.” I fight the urge to moan around my bite of cupcake, the sugary sweetness slipping over my tongue.
“So,” he says, watching my every move with that frustratingly intense gaze. “About the mating thing…”
I stop chewing, his words ripping me from my blissful dessert distraction.
“Still happening?” he asks, cocking his head.
I set my fork down, leveling him with a stare. “I don’t have a choice.”
A beat of silence settles between us, and for once, he doesn’t try to fill it with a joke or deflect with a one-liner. I pick up my fork and slice off another bite of my cupcake.
“That sucks,” he sighs, his tone surprisingly sincere.
I nod. “That’s the system.”
“And you’re okay with that?” he questions dubiously.
“Does it matter?” I ask around another bite of cupcake.
His eyes darken, jaw tensing. “It should.”
I don’t know how to respond to that, so I just avert my eyes and focus on eating my dessert, letting the sugary richness distract me from the tightening in my chest.
Ares isn’t from around here, so he doesn’t know how far Alpha’s power truly extends. If he did, he wouldn’t even be sitting across from me right now. He definitely wouldn’t be chasing me after I told him I’m spoken for. The fact that he’s still trying to forge some sort of connection after I’ve tried to warn him off means he’s either fearless or just plain stupid.
I make quick work of polishing off the rest of my cupcake, and when I look up, Ares is still staring at me with that same darkintensity. It’s such a departure from his annoying cheerfulness that it gives me pause, my stomach swooping.
“You’re not eating?” I ask, motioning toward his cupcake with my fork.
He shrugs, pushing it across the table toward me in offering. “You can have it.”
I eye him suspiciously. “Aren’t you hungry?”
His lips curve into a slow grin. “Sure, but I’d rather slide under the table and eat something else.”
I nearly choke, the fork slipping from my fingers and clattering against the tabletop. “You’re disgusting,” I bite out, cheeks burning as I glare back at him.
He just barks a laugh, completely unbothered and enjoying every second of my flustered horror. “Don’t act like you’re not thinking about it.”
“I’m not,” I insist, though I definitely amnow.
Damn him.
I finish his cupcake in three savage bites just to spite him, then push up from the table and sling my bag over my shoulder. “I have to get to class.”
He rises with me, all easy confidence. “Oh yeah? Broadcasting class?”
My head whips around so fast I almost give myself whiplash. “What, did you memorize my schedule?”
“I have a photographic memory,” he says innocently.
“Lucky me,” I mutter. “Don’t make me file a complaint with campus security. You’re not a student here, so you shouldn’t be prowling around like a creep.”
