He stops right in front of me.
“In fact…” I step up closer to him, pressing a finger into his chest. “If anything, you sound concerned someone else might get what you want.”
I can’t help the small smirk that spreads across my face as his jaw flexes, his eyes narrowing.
“I’m not concerned at all,” he bites out.
“But you admit you want me.”
“No.”
“Oh, you’re jealous.” It’s my turn to circle him.
“That’s absurd.” He huffs, it sounds forced.
“You feel threatened?” I smirk.
“Absolutely not,” he snaps.
I hum.
Before I can think, I’m shoved up against a wall.
“What the?—”
“Listen here, Ashthorne,” Jace hisses into my face, “I don’t know what game you’re playing at here. But I’m Jace Ravencourt. I lead, and people follow. If anyone is threatened in this situation, it certainly is not me. I’m a man, while you play around with little boys. You can’t even imagine being with someone like me.”
I smile. “Sounds like you’re afraid the little boys are winning.”
He scoffs. “They aren’t competition. You’ll get bored of their amateur games, and you’ll crave for a real man to make your legs tremble. And I won’t be interested.”
I press closer to him, smirking as his breath hitches, and position my lips right next to his ear.
“Trust me, I won’t be looking for a man like you.”
I duck under his arm and saunter away. Feeling his stare drill into my back.
I’m halfwaydown the dorm corridor, just finished my training sessions, lost in thought, when I hear my name.
“Isobel.”
I turn, startled. River stands at the end of the hallway, shoulders tense, jaw tight. He’s ditched his blazer, rolled his sleeves up, and his easygoing smile is nowhere to be seen.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he says, voice low but sharp around the edges.
“What’s wrong?”
His brow furrows, and he closes the distance between us in a few long strides. “What the hell was that at lunch?”
“Lunch—?”
“With Noah.” His hands flex at his sides. “He doesn’t justaskme to leave, Isobel. He humiliated me. In front of everyone.”
I wince. “I didn’t ask him to do that.”
“You didn’tstophim, either.”
That stings, because it’s true. I didn’t. I sat there frozen, trying to play neutral while the floor fell out from under me. Again.
