“No, not your chipmunk impression,” he said, observing me far too closely. “Think Clydesdale.”
Slowly, I got to my feet.
“Why do you want to humiliate me?”
“What part is humiliating? Having fun with me or doing something that will shock faculty?”
“The part where I’m your beast of burden.” Never mind the part where I might not be strong enough to carry him at all.
Some of the humor faded from his expression.
“I wasn’t humiliated to carry you on my back. Or is the problem that I’ll have my legs wrapped around you this time?” His smile returned full force as my eyes flickered black. “Yes. Just like that. That’s how you need to look when we go out there. No one will know what’s going on if they see us.”
“Good. Then we’ll all be on equal ground. What exactly is my being able to carry you going to prove?”
“To you? That you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. To anyone else? Who cares. It’s what you think about yourself that really matters.”
I took a deep breath as I suddenly understood what this was all about. Fenris was trying to help me again. When did his version of helping ever go right, though? Did it matter? My life couldn’t go any more wrong. Maybe I did need to be like Fenris and just have a little more fun in general.
I turned my back to him and patted my butt.
“Hop on, Fenris. Let’s see where this round of trouble leads.”
“That’s the spirit.”
There was a shuffle of movement behind me, then I felt Fenris touch my shoulder.
“What are the chances of you falling over as soon as I jump on?”
“Eighty/twenty. What happened to your faith in my strength?”
“I have faith. I was just checking to see where your faith was at. Eighty/twenty aren’t good odds. Ready?”
“No.”
He snorted then jumped onto my back.
He weighed far more than a cooler of food, and I almost buckled under his solid frame. Instead, I stumbled a step and hooked my arms around his legs. I could feel his muscles twitch under my hold. My stomach gave an excited flip.
“Steady, girl,” he said, running his hand over my arms before gathering my hair into a loose pony hold. “Giddy up.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t use your heels with that command or I would have dropped you on the floor.”
He chuckled and reached around me to open the door. With his chest pressed against the side of my head, I couldn’t help but inhale his rich scent and think of the bag of chocolate I hadn’t yet touched at home. My hunger stirred lazily.
“To the end of the hall and back,” he declared, taking up my hair again. He didn’t flick it like a kid holding reins. Instead, he played with the strands like he was petting them. Every follicle went supernova sensitive.
“Cut it out.” I strode out into the hall, determined to get this stupid bet over with.
“Why the long face? Aren't you ready to start horsin’ around?”
I groaned, which he took as encouragement to continue.
“No? Is it because you'll be the mane attraction?
“Stop your bad puns while you're ahead.”
“Okay. I'm Dun. Or are you Dun?”
