Somewhere between him saving my life—again—and me allowing him to get me off with his fingers—again—he joined the hate Eryn train. Well, hate was a strong word. Dislike? He’d probably had enough of me by now.
It shouldn’t bother me as much as it did. I wanted him to leave me alone, in terms of our bond, and he finally got the picture. I woke alone in bed the last three mornings and there was no homemade breakfast on the island when I came downstairs. The honeymoon was over. He was done trying to impress me. Good. Great.
It’s what I wanted. Really.
If only his attitude didn’t change with his lack ofinterest. I set the textbook down on the towel and brushed the sand out of the binding. Rani begged me for some study time on the beach, an idea half the campus shared today, but she had yet to crack a book. Too busy avoiding Ezra, she spent all her time in the water.
“She won’t come up here if she sees you waiting for her,” I warned him, not bothering to look away from my notes. “Have you tried playing hard to get?”
He let out a wounded cry and fell next to me. “Thisishard to get. I don’t humble myself for just anyone.”
Oh boy. If he thought turning down a few co-eds and offering to take Rani to dinner first was humbling, he was in for a rude awakening. No wonder she wasn’t willing to take a chance on him. I saw genuine interest from Ezra, but it was possiblehecouldn’t see it. Treating Rani like another notch on his dented bedpost was the wrong way to go about it.
“Let her come to you,” I sighed and packed my books. There was no way I could concentrate anymore.
“You think that will work?” he asked. I wanted to slap him but settled for brushing the sand off my legs.
“What have you got to lose?”
Truly nothing. When it came down to it. Whether or not Ezra slept with her wasn’t a life-or-death decision, and it surely wouldn’t matter whenever his own bond came into the picture. I felt sorry for that girl. Ezra was a handful.
The pair of sunglasses I borrowed from Rani covered a majority of my face as I scanned the student section of the beach. The glaring, late spring sun revealed half-naked bodies glistening with oils and sunblock, a diamond-encrusted sea, and an overall relaxing atmosphere.
But it didn’t show the one person I discreetly looked for. I wasn’t a glutton for punishment; enough passive-aggressive attitude fueled my days when Kaiden was around, but I couldn’t putmy finger on it. A part of me felt at ease in his presence. Was that the new familiarity of the bond or a result of our time spent together? Both?
Regardless, I found myself searching him out despite the very obvious vibe that he didn’t want me around.
“He went to patrol the trails.” Ezra winked and gestured with his head in the direction I might find his cousin.
I nonchalantly glanced down and picked at my tank top. Stitches didn’t make for cute beach attire.
“I was just looking down the beach.” The lie was lame, even to me, but Ezra was enough of a gentleman not to call me out on it.
He stood, sending sand everywhere, and shrugged. “I promised to serve my entire share of guard time, but the way I see it, you’re safest with your bond.” Ezra grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. With two hands on my shoulders, he spun me toward the shaded trees. “He went that way. Follow that little flutter in your chest, and I’m sure you’ll find him.”
I knew it was an excuse to pass me off on Kaiden so he could go flirt, but I wasn’t opposed to the idea. Iwantedto find Kaiden. Gods, the more he pushed me away this week, the more I found myself drawn to him. How messed up was that?
My feet pulled me off the sand and onto the packed earth of the trails without permission from my brain. Honestly, my entire body did what it wanted these days; a rebellion I wasn’t in a rush to stop if it got me more orgasms. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong with me.
Tucked away in the shade, the breeze felt cooler, and it went a long way in easing the toasty burn on my skin. Birds chirped to my right, while seagulls loudly fought to the death over a bag of Doritos on my left. Kaiden wasn’t too far, maybe a quarter mile further into the trees. Tapping into our bond and following it wasn’t nearly as frightening as it had been at first.
It helped that I had a better understanding of the man on the other end. He wasn’t the monster that younger me made him out to be. The heir to the witch faction was a good guy, who would have thought? Despite his most recent attitude toward me, he was still out here patrolling.
Honor and duty meant something to him. I wasn’t sure about the rest of his faction, especially after that brief encounter with his mother, and I had no plans to ditch my dreams and dive into his world of politics and backstabbing agendas. That didn’t mean we couldn’t be friends…or more.
Friends who touched and played, who enjoyed one another’s company.
Who was I kidding? I liked him. That little admission would have sent me running for the nearest escape route not too long ago, but I knew better now. Emotion strengthened the bond, but nothing would seal it until we crossed that line with no pants on. As long as we didn’t have sex, I could remain my own person.
I’d gotten better at controlling my side of the bond, and Kaiden was an expert at keeping his emotions in check. The next four years could work. And after…We’d see about after once I graduated.
My wandering thoughts led me deeper into the trees as I subconsciously followed that flutter in my chest. Sunlight filtered in through the canopy, and a light breeze rustled the higher branches. In the daylight, the forest didn’t appear nearly as dangerous as my last few excursions would suggest.
Laughter and the sound of crashing waves still reached me here. Animals frolicked in the undergrowth. Everything was as it should be. Except for the lone pit bull hopping on three legs. The precious puppy gave a pitiful whine and hobbled some more. There was a thick, black collar around his neck, so he obviously wasn’t a stray.
Maybe he was one of the campus pets that Rani saidbelonged to the veterinary hospital? Before I could reach out with my magick to see what ailed him, he disappeared around the bend.
“Shit,” I whispered, afraid to spook him even further. “Wait for me, little guy.”
