"Did you tell him you're not interested in CTE," she remarked as she pulled up a note she was looking for on her tablet.
"Of course. I told him I needed to be able to remember my future children's birthdays, not to mention having the faculties to run the family company."
Normally, she would've said something about him having to fight Gaige, their cousin and uncle Grayson's son, to the throne first, but she hesitated. Her thoughts were still stuck on him mentioning children. She wasn’t sure why it was suddenly so startling to hear. This certainly wasn’t the first time he had mentioned his theoretical children or being the torch bearer for the Rosebank bloodline or something else totally egotistical, but this was the first time her brain conjured up a smaller curly headed version of him. The image of the cute little boy flashed through her mind like a snap of a picture, seizing her entire train of thought.
"What is it?" Gavin leaned in closer, searching her face with narrowed eyes. "See yourself running the Rosebank empire instead?" he grinned but she could see the curiosity in his eyes as he stared at her.
Pushing the odd thought aside, she tipped her chin toward him with a grin of her own. "Of course. Just imagining you and Gaige's expressions when dad hands the company over to me would make it all worth it."
Gavin shook his head with a wry expression. "I swear to God if you ever showed an ounce of interest he would too."
That wasn't true. To run Rosebank Capital Management, one had to be like their father. A ruthless man who never took no for an answer, the type of men Gavin and their cousin Gaige already were. Even as he gallivanted around the world with her mom, Grant Rosebank never took his eyes off the ball. He was the type of man that could sit on the terraces of exclusive European restaurants and clink wine glasses with his wife all the while overseeing the acquisition of a new company and liquidating their assets all from the convenience of his phone. But more importantly, the number one reason Ebony could never ever throw her hat in the ring for their family's company was very simple, her pure hatred for math.
It wasn't that she couldn’t do it, it was that she loathed its very existence. A life of constant statistics, projections, and billions of dollars on the line—no thanks.
"Don't worry, I'll make you my secretary." She patted him on the back.
Gavin's eyebrows shot up. "Good Lord, asecretary? Okay,boomer. We've left the fifties and I need you to get up with the times," he plucked an imaginary piece of lint off his shirt and gave her a haughty little sniff. "I would be anexecutive assistantthank you very much."
For the rest of the hour they talked, though most would call it bickering. Since they were both weeks ahead in their class assignments, she put him to work planning some of the details for the college expo the school was hosting in a few months. They were making calls when she looked up to see him staring at her profile.
The woman on the other end of her phone was explaining what materials the recruiter would bring and explain to the students but Ebony was hardly listening. Gavin's eyes were locked onto her, but not her eyes. The skin on her neck prickled with goosebumps as his eyes traced the curve of her nape.
Frowning at him, she caught his attention but he seemed unfazed by being caught. Instead, he replied to the person on the phone asking for dates even as his eyes lingered on her. Ebony's breath caught in her chest at the strange intensity in his gaze. Why was he staring at her like that? Those splendent eyes of his were absorbing every ounce of her, drawing her in like an imploding star.
Finally looking down, Gavin wrote something on a sheet of paper and slid it across the table.
Agreeing to the woman on the phone, Ebony hung up and looked at the paper. The tightness in her chest evaporated and her lips curled into a sneer. On the paper was a simple drawing of a stick figure with a large circle for a head teetering on a short line, and beneath it, the words 'You have a small neck.'
Ebony moved fast, f than Gavin could react, and pinched him. Hard. Gavin laughed and defended himself with one hand as he held the phone with the other.
"Yes, I'm sorry, sir. I'm just experiencing a little bit of domestic violence," he laughed with a pained hiss on the phone as she pinched him again. "You know how it is. Yes—ouch—yes, we'll see you on the eighth. Thank you."
Hanging up, he let his phone drop to the table with a loud thud, giving him two hands to defend himself. Swiftly, he caught her hands into his and pulled her out of her chair and into the space between his legs, forcing her to sit on his thigh.
"Hey now, you can't injure me right before the tournament." His voice was low and gentle as if he was trying to soothe a wild horse which only made her fight his hold more.
His grip around her wrists tightened and his other arm settled around her waist, keeping her seated on his lap.
Annoyed with him, Ebony looked away. "I don’t have a big head," she grumbled, still thinking about his offensive drawing and remembering her mother's disapprovingexpression regarding her ponytail that morning. Was that really why she didn't like it? Because her head looked huge and not because she considered it juvenile?
Beside her, Gavin let out a deep chuckle. "I didn’t say your head was big. I said your neck is small."
"That's the same...difference..." Her words trailed off when she met his gaze.
Gavin was staring at her neck. The small black pupils set within the arctic blue of his eyes fixed on her.
Unsure what to do under the intensity of his stare, Ebony pulled at her hands again and this time Gavin released her, allowing her to stand up. Beside her Gavin stood up too, brushing against her as he did.
He leaned over her shoulder, his breath tickling her ear, and she could hear the teasing grin in his voice as he spoke, "The tournament is in a few days. You know what that means, right?"
Ebony suppressed the shiver that ran through her at the warmth of his breath and the contrasting coolness of the room. She kept her eyes straight ahead as her shoulders sagged in defeat at the meaning of his words. She replied, her voice heavy with resignation. "The Feast of Flesh."
The Feast of Flesh of course was a pre-tournament ritual Gavin had made up years ago when his obsession with his body really started to take off. A pure torture fest of nothing but protein and raw vegetables. The few days leading up to every tournament were pure hell for her. Mountains of fish, lentils, chicken, beef, and salad just sitting there waiting for her ateverymeal. Not a carb in sight. Even the school lunch room staff was advised of the diet requirements for all members of the Taekwondo team giving them no respite from the protein hellscape.
It was finally the day of the tournament. Four straight days of purgatory leading up to it but today it would all end—or she would end herself—Ebony thought sourly as she walked beside Gavin into the Stardust Martial Arts Center. It was a large building that hosted all local martial arts tournaments and where she and Gavin had trained under Master Chun since they were in elementary school.
The large arena was crowded. Along the sides were bleachers for parents and students, all watching the ongoing matches. Right now, the junior division was performing. Broken into ten sections along the matted floors were coaches, judges, and referees guiding each match.
