How can he know that?They’ve barely exchanged ten words.It does fit with my own observations of her, though.
“She also clearly has her sights set on Reid,” he adds. “Which isn’t gonna happen, so she’ll probably turn her attention to me once she realizes that. Unless someone else wants to claim me first?”
My steps falter as his nickel eyes sparkle, accented by that magnetic smile. I may not have any experience with flirting, but that was far too obvious to brush aside. Absurdly bold, even. My gaze falls to the teasing glimpse of his neck, which somehow stopped being scandalous during our conversation and simply became him.
“Are you asking me to?” I venture. Caeo comes to a stop, his smile widening. That pull I’ve been trying to ignore aches in my chest, yearning to do just that.
“Only if you want to,” he says.
Sayyes!
“No.” My heart slows, and my mind screams at me an instant later.
Why did you say that?!
Caeo blinks, his jaw dropping slightly. He recovers with a tight smile flashing across his face, then turns back to the road ahead. “Alright. Guess I’m a free man.”
My insides crumble as he catches up with the others. I know exactly why I turned him down: this is the longest conversation I’ve ever had with a man who wasn’t my father, a tutor, or household servant. While I may have dreamed of this, there’s no way someone like him—an absolutely gorgeous boy with perfect, soulful eyes and flawless features—could ever be interested in me. I can’t bear the thought of being made a fool.
I walk the rest of the way in silence.
* * *
The Kettle Maker, marked by a hanging sign with a simple etching of a kettle on it, is on the main street in the central part of Haven. It looks like the taverns I’ve passed in Durnam, its coloring normal thanks to its distance from the Academy. It even has some small yellow flowers in the planter box in front of the window, defiant against the winter chill.
Trying to channel that same resolve, I pull my arms close, my insides quivering as we follow Reid through the crowded interior to a small, circular table wedged between others full of Academy students. The space can’t be much larger than my parents’ sitting room, and it’s all just… pressing in. Two dozen tables, crammed between mismatched chairs and walls draped in shadow, dented from furniture knocking against them. The fire roaring in the oversized hearth smothers us all, the smell of smoke and cooked meat saturating the stuffy air.
I end up sitting across from Alexis, squeezing my legs together to avoid bumping knees with Caeo and Reid as every shout and laugh winds my tendons tighter.
“Are you alright?” Caeo asks, his brow furrowed.
Before I can answer, a barmaid appears at our table, wearing a sleeveless dress with a frilly collar and a window cut beneath, revealing the dip between her pushed-up breasts. Caeo tilts his head aside as she runs her hand through his hair before resting it on his shoulder. My fingers clench.
“Hey, Caeo. Reid.” Her voice pricks my eardrums as she speaks loud enough to carry over the babble of our fellow patrons, then smiles at both of them. “How’d yer placements go?”
“Fine.” Caeo grimaces as he moves her hand off his arm.
“We’ll have three ales, a corn brew, and four bowls of whatever you’re serving today,” Reid says.
“Comin’ up.”
The barmaid swings her hip into Caeo’s shoulder as she departs. He winces, rubbing the spot she hit. “We have to stop coming here.”
Reid relaxes into his chair. “It was your idea, man.”
I take a slow breath, pushing my palms against the table as I try to relax my face enough that my teeth stop grinding. If I want to fit in, I need to calm down. Just focus on the people I’m with. Or this off-color spot on the table, barely visible by the candle flickering at its center.
“I was hungry,” Caeo says, “and The Duck only serves crackers and nuts. I didn’t think I’d be getting molested.”
“An old girlfriend?” Alexis asks, her green eyes twinkling.
I scratch at the pale marking, the knot within me twisting as I await his answer.
“Hardly,” he says. “It was just one time, and we didn’t even—”
I snap my attention to Reid, my tension ready to burst. “So you decided to order for all of us?”
He shrugs. “There aren’t many options. It’s either ale or something harder, but The Duck has a better selection for that.”
