I recognise both of them vaguely through family connections, but I really can’t remember their names.
One of them flashes me a grin and wiggles his brows.
“Piper, darling, you, me, champagne and dinner sometime. We’ll call it a date.”
I roll my eyes, mildly amused by the flirting, though I also have the sudden urge to hit him for staring at my chest so blatantly.
But before I can even respond, I feel him behind me.
“Out,” Hunter says, his tone leaving no room for argument.
The classroom is dead silent.
The boy in front of me blinks, clearly caught off guard. “What? Why?”
“If I have to repeat myself, you’ll be removed from my class and failed for the module.”
His hand lands lightly on my stomach and he pulls me back into him.
The boy notices it and narrows his eyes at me.
I try to discreetly pull away, but Hunter holds me firmly in place, refusing to let me move even an inch.
The boy slowly stands and starts shoving his things into his bag.
“You too,” Hunter says.
The other looks genuinely confused. “Me? Why?”
“For talking.”
“But I didn’t—”
“Looks like you just did.”
The boy standing looks pissed.
“Well, I didn’t realise talking wasn’t allowed in this class.”
“Not to Miss Ashthorne, no,” Hunter replies without missing a beat, and I suddenly want to claw his eyes out.
He leans slightly forward, taking me with him as his hand stays possessively on my stomach.
“If you so much as look at her again,” he says calmly, “not only will you be thrown out of my class and failed for the module, you’ll be expelled from this academy and beaten within an inch of your life.”
He straightens. “Now.”
He motions towards the door, and both boys quickly grab their things and leave, though not before the first one throws one last glare in my direction.
The second they disappear outside, I try to pull myself out of Hunter’s hold, but he doesn’t budge.
If anything, his arm tightens slightly around me.
He pulls me even closer before bending down and taking a slow breath through his nose into my hair.
“Bloody addictive.”
He finally lets me go.
