Page 70 of Shadows of Nightshade
The warm feeling in my chest vanished. Why was he like this?
He was supposed to have had a real plan! Why was it suddenly my responsibility to come up with an itinerary? I didn’t even have time to make a list.
I touched the corner of my lips with my pointer finger. It was a bit disconcerting and a little bit unfair to have been thrust into a leadership role. I’d have thought that a man of his intellect would be more creative.
But it was what it was.
Damen was a conundrum.
I suppose we could grab a pre-dinner snack, but would that offend Miles? He was going to cook tonight. “I guess…” I began, my gaze moving toward the library building.
Old habits died hard, and I deserved a treat.
“Should we stop for coffee?” I asked.
He looked in the opposite direction. “Actually, I was thinking we could sneak into the liberal arts building. There’s no one in Gregory’s office right now.”
That seemed problematic. Was Dr. Stephens abandoning his responsibilities? Besides, I highly doubted that Damen had the ability to sneak in anywhere. “Are you supposed to be covering office hours then?” I sighed. “Fine, I’ll go get coffee by myself.”
“Er…” Damen looked at me, his pace slowing, and the happy lift at the corner of his mouth dropped slightly. “No.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Never mind. I wanted to do some research, but it can wait.”
“Oh.” We stopped walking. I’d taken him away from his work, and now I felt bad. I really didn’t want to inconvenience his routine. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Damen bent over, trying to meet my eyes.
“Y-you were busy,” I pointed out. He’d literally just said this. “And I interrupted you with my drama. You can finish your research. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“I’m still doing my research.” Damen touched my chin, urging my face toward his. “I’m just adapting my strategy to changing circumstances.” Was it just me, or was his voice deeper?
I blinked before I saw it, that super annoying look again.
Stupid flirty expression. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I’d have thought he’d put this silliness behind him already.
A chilly breeze wafted between us.
“I’m getting a coffee,” I told him and pulled away. While I was grateful for his help, he could take his promiscuous shenanigans elsewhere.
Or he could stand here and freeze. It made no difference to me.
I just wanted nothing to do with it.
“You do realize,”Damen began, eyeing the paper cup in front of me, “you’ve added enough extras to have made it resemble anything but a coffee.” He paused his unwarranted lecture to sip at his own sweetener-free, extremely strong, espresso-laden caffeine.
My eyebrow twitched. Was he trying to annoy me?
He’d chosen to follow me here, but, on top of that, also hadn’t shut up since. Normally Finn and I lounged around in companionable silence while we each worked on our personal projects or languished in our private thoughts.
But not Damen.
Why did I ever think he was charming? With him, there was never a moment of peace. He was pushy and loud. Not only did he insist on paying, but he’d happened to choose the same table that Finn and I frequented.
And his comments never ended. Thankfully, they were mostly queries about my likes and dislikes, and which subjects I preferred in school.
But still, my head was starting to hurt. I couldn’t think.
“Do you put extra milk and sugar in everything you drink?” he asked, not at all perturbed at my glare.
“No.” My lip curled. One could not put milk and sugar into everything consumed. That would be disgusting.
