Page 69 of Shadows of Nightshade
Instead, there was a challenge in his stare and stance. Almost as if he’d found the sight of me personally offensive. He was imposing, and a little scary, which shouldn’t have been weird, since I was afraid of everything.
But even though it was out of character for me, I felt as though I shouldn’t look away first.
Yet, in the end, I still did. I couldn’t explain, but, on that day, I’d lost.
I’d hated him from that moment on. He was my rival. It was embarrassing, nor did it make sense. And I would have hoped that, by now, I’d have been able to come up with an eloquent answer to this question.
Otherwise, I really did feel petty.
“I don’t know,” I said instead. “He just does.” And it sounded so stupid.
And Damen, like Finn, only nodded in response. How was it that they were able to understand my emotions even when I didn’t?
“You’ll be fine,” Damen said. “You don’t need to worry so much about him. But”—there was a certain appraising glint in his eyes as he spoke to me—“if you ever need advice on how to keep him in line, I’m here.”
“Okay.” I dug my fingers over my arms and chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Thanks…” I wasn’t worried, right? Still, knowing that Damen was offering to help me with Bryce. It was such an odd thing, especially when we had bigger issues out there.
But still…
What happened to the knot in my stomach? What happened to my nerves?
Usually, I would be worked up for hours. Yet, somehow, Damen’s reassurances had been able to both distract and reassure me.
I was going to be okay.
But even more importantly, I wanted to know…
How did Damen have all this confidence? It would be nice to learn.
He hadn’t hesitated to help me, and Bryce hadn’t intimidated him at all. Even now, as my own nerves frayed at the faceless students milling around us in the common courtyard, Damen appeared to be completely unfazed by the crowd.
My focus was returning to the present, away from my comfortable anger and worry, and back to the reality that we were both very much standing in public view. A new sort of nervousness touched me.
Surely, people were watching, wondering who I was.
Obviously, they knew Damen.
I was certain he’d be recognizable even outside his role. He was a distinguishable figure in his dark gray suit. He didn’t have a jacket though, and I wasn’t sure if he’d forgotten it when coming to my rescue, or if he might run naturally hot. Standing beside him had a way of making my body temperature rise. Besides, now that we were in public, it was easier to see that he had a different air from everyone else.
It was impossible not to be drawn into his presence.
Why couldn’t I stay away? He had to have done something to me.
Not that I cared anymore, really—we were friends. But it was the principal of the matter. How could I so easily go from thinking he was very cheesy to very cool?
It felt like ages had passed from the old days he was cornering me in the library and I’d wanted to break his face.
I was so conflicted.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” he asked, smiling, and this time I didn’t want to hit him.
Somehow, even the horrible nickname had grown to be charming. I bit my bottom lip as the back of my neck became uncomfortably hot.
My nerves screamed with the urge to fidget, but I resisted. “W-what are we going to do?”
Didn’t he say we had plans? I’d yet to learn what these plans were.
Damen looked at his watch and answered, “I have an hour before my next class starts, and you meet up with Miles.” He smirked, and his eyes twinkled. “I know that’s not long, but we can make it work. There are many fun things that a man and woman can do to pass the time. Where do you think we should start?”
