“Don’t you dare!” She sternly points her finger at me. “Believe me, he would have given you the mother of all thrashings if he’d had a chance and you know it.”
“Probably,” I admit, “I asked one of his friends about his favorite things and he said that Hiroto loves these muffins the Emerald Bakery makes in Kilronan Village, so I got them to deliver a box of them here. Will you come with me to drop them off?”
“Yeah, he’s probably afraid to be alone with you right now,” she agrees.
The male students are in the other wing of the massive building, and I wonder which door is Lucca’s as we walk up to the fourth floor. When Mariya raises her middle finger to the second door on the right, I have my answer.
“Have you made up with Konstantin yet?” I ask as she turns, walking backward so she can keep flipping off the door. “Never mind, I think your actions speak for themselves.”
At Hiroto’s door, I suck in a deep breath before knocking.
“I hope he doesn’t keep a gun in his room,” Mariya mumbles as the door swings open.
His roommate gives us a long look, grinning. “Which one of you is the crazy bitch who knocked my boy’s nuts up into his throat?”
Wincing, I said, “Is he here? I have a peace offering.”
“Yeah, he’s on the couch,” he opens the door wider and I see Hiroto sitting there glumly, an ice pack on his crotch and one on the back of his neck. I wince when I see the huge purple bruise spreading across his throat.
Glancing up, he groaned. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I, uh, I wanted to apologize,” I said, thrusting out the muffins awkwardly. “I heard you like these, so…” When he doesn’t reach out for them, I put them on the coffee table in front of him. His roommate grabs one as Hiroto glares at me. “Really, I’m sorry. I had to pass that test, and I-”
“I get it,” he interrupted. “I do. But fuck you.”
“That’s fair,” I nod rapidly. His eyes are glassy and I lean closer. “Did Dr. Giardo give you his night-night pills?”
“Yeah,” he said, “and fuck you.”
“Um, I have some left over from when Jankowski gave me that beatdown.” Pulling the bottle out of my pocket, I set it down next to the muffins. “In case you need more.”
“Okay,” Hiroto is rubbing his eyes. “Fuck you.”
“Understood,” I said, backing towards the door, “I’ll just see you later, then.”
“Thank you for the muffins,” he groans, “and fuck you.”
“That went well,” Mariya said brightly.
“I appreciate your optimistic nature,” I said sourly, heading back down the hall. As we pass the second door on the right, it opens, Lucca steps out and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder.
“Do you mind if I borrow Tatiana?” he calls over to Mariya, who is grinning at this new development.
“No problem,” she chuckles, but her smile drops instantly as Konstantin holds the door for Lucca, who is still carrying me like a sack of flour.
“Great. Konstantin is going to walk you back to your suite,” he says, shutting the door, which is not thick enough to muffle their instant bickering.
“Smooth, very smooth,” I laugh, “can you put me down? All the blood is rushing to my head.” When he does, I find a table in front of the fireplace, nicely set with room service silver, crystal goblets and two covered plates. “What’s all this?” I ask.
He gifts me with another one of his beautiful smiles. “We have to celebrate, what you did today was fucking amazing.”
Why does praise from this man make me feel like there’s nothing I can’t do? “You’ve already done so much for me,” I said, “I should be making a celebration dinner for you.”
“Oh, you’ll be doing something for me,” Lucca leers meaningfully. Laughing, I let him seat me at the table and pour me a glass of wine. “To the dirtiest fighter in Ares Academy history,” he raises his glass in a toast.
“Don’t say that!” I groan, “I feel bad enough for what I did to Hiroto.”
“He’s fine,” he shrugged, “trust me, it’s not the worst injury he’s had here at the Academy. But you! Less than one month and you’ve turned into the toughest woman on campus.”
