Page 15 of Heartflame

As soon as I sat down in the cafeteria, I took out a piece of paper and my pencil and began to write. I drafted a message to Aeron explaining that I had a mandatory team dinner tonight and couldn’t make it. It was a lie, but a believable one. Lysander, who had suddenly appeared at my side like he always seemed to do, was chattering away about something that had happened during the ward breach, but I wasn’t listening to him. My focus was entirely on the piece of paper in front of me, on crafting an excuse that would sound plausible enough that he couldn’t call me out on it.

“Quill? Are you even listening to me?” Lysander asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

“Yeah, sorry,” I muttered, folding up the note. “What were you saying?”

“I was saying that the breach was probably just some random people trying to test the wards. Nothing actually got through, so it’s not like we’re in any real danger. It probably wasn’t even the Purity Front. Why would they bother?”

I nodded absently, already planning how I’d slip the note under Aeron’s door before seven o’clock. That way he’d see it in time and wouldn’t show up at my dorm looking for me. He couldn’t drag me to his room if I wasn’t there to be dragged.

The plan made sense. It was solid. It was the right thing to do.

So why did I feel like I was making a mistake?

“What do you think breached the wards?” Lysander asked, pulling me away from my thoughts once more. “Any theories?”

It took me a second to switch gears. “I… I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Like you said, it could’ve been anyone. Maybe it was the Elder Council testing their own wards so they could basically run a fire drill on the whole emergency thing. You know, make sure everything is working like it should and that the students respond correctly.”

“Oh…” Lysander nodded. “That’s actually a really good theory.” He grinned, giving me a nudge on the shoulder. “You’re smart, Quill. That’s kinda hot.”

“Don’t even start with me,” I sighed, pushing him away. “I’m not interested in your dick.”

“Oh? Got someone else’s on your mind?”

I shot him a dirty look before jamming the note into my bag and laying into my food. “No. I’m here to learn, remember? Not to fuck around.”

“Fine, fine,” he huffed, leaning back in his chair. “You’re such a buzzkill.”

“That’s me,” I grumbled. “Not sure why you insist on hanging out with me all the time.”

“You’re my roomie. And you’re cute.”

“As cute as your werewolf guy? Or what about the skinny dude?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Jealous?”

“Fuck off.”

Chapter 8

Aeron

Icouldn’t help but smile as I read over the letter for a second time.

Aeron,

I can’t make it to our meeting tonight. I’ve got Cross Country practice. There’s a meet this weekend and I need to do well. Sorry.

-Quill

P.S. Go fuck yourself.

Ugh… There was just something about this guy being pissed at me that was just so cute. I couldn’t get over it. The more he tried to push me away, the more I wanted him. It was a point of pride now. I wanted to conquer him, from head to toe, with my cock. And I knew he would love it. Everyone did. Now I just had to find the right way to do it, find the key that would make him my willing slave.

I leaned back in my chair, running my thumb over the postscript one more time. The “Go fuck yourself” made me laugh out loud. It was such a poorly disguised plea for my attention. He was so desperate to convince me that he didn’t want this, when everything about him screamed otherwise. I mean, the guy had gotten a boner the moment I was within five feet of him, twice. That told me everything I needed to know.

Cross-country practice was a lie too. I’d looked up the schedule after I found his note, and I knew for a fact that the team didn’t have practice on Monday nights. Monday was their day off. So now I had proof that not only was he lying, but he was desperate to get away from me.

And that meant I was winning this little battle of ours.