Finally, I can’t help myself and place a hand on her shoulder. She looks up, startled, and then with wide eyes, holds my gaze as I recite the material. I try to communicate with my expression alone my concern for her. I want to save her lip from her teeth, afraid it might actually start to bleed soon.
She takes a breath, and releases her lip so that she can clench her teeth, evident by the tic in her jaw. At the top of her notes she writes, “It’s nothing. When I’m ready, I’ll tell you about it.”
When I nod that I understand and take my hand back, she scribbles out the words.
“Excellent, Kaleb,” Mrs. Mills praises when I’m finished. “You have such a wonderful speaking voice.”
“Thank you,” I reply, and politely ignore the dreamy sigh that comes from the girl sitting in front of me.
Callie, however, lets out a breathy snicker.
“Ever consider a career in radio?” Callie teases in my ear, her breath warm against my skin.
I grin and whisper back, “Do people listen to the radio anymore?”
She shrugs. “Podcasts?”
I tip my head side to side, as if considering her suggestion. “Maybe I can slip them in somewhere between classes, sports, and nephilim duties,” I murmur back.
“Wait, I have a better idea,” she says under her breath, lightly bumping my shoulder with hers. “Audio books. With a voice like yours, definitely audio books. You could have house wives around the world as hot and bothered as Ms. Martinez looking at Nolan.”
I press a fist against my lips to attempt to muffle my surprised laughter. My stomach muscles ache trying to contain my mirth.
She grins wide over my struggles and adds, “Felix said he’d explain what that was all about, but I’m thinking I really don’t want to know.”
I shake my head, placing one finger over my lips, and attempt a quiet shhh, though it comes out somewhat broken from laughing. Mrs. Mills is a really nice teacher, but pretty much all instructors frown on talking while they’re talking.
Her almond shaped eyes crinkle in the corners with her smile, and she gives a slight shrug in acquiescence, before turning her attention back to the textbook and her notes.
A smug pride washes over me, noticing she’s a lot calmer and more relaxed than before.
Chapter 5
Callie
When Kaleb and I walk out of the classroom, we find Nolan leaning against the opposite wall surrounded by girls.The bell just rang, where the hell did they all come from?
His cocky, playboy smirk is firmly in place, and the girls hang on his every word-- and body. When he says something apparently funny, they squawk high-pitched giggles and playfully swat at his chest and arms, each swat turning into a longer stroke.
“You’re so funny,” they titter, but I’m pretty sure whatever he said wasn’t that funny.
It’s such a bizarre display that I’m somewhat transfixed, like I’m watching the mating rituals of animals in the wild.
I lean into Kaleb and mutter, “Does this happen to him a lot?”
He sighs, rolling his eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. At least until his ex shows up, then they scatter.” Kaleb adjusts the straps of his backpack and rolls his shoulders. “It’s always best if Nolan doesn’t stand by himself in one location for too long.”
I snort. “You mean like a celebrity when they attempt to go out among the little people?”
Kaleb bobs his head side to side, then says way too seriously, “Yeah. Kind of like that.”
I’m too dumbfounded to do more than blink at him for several moments.Who the hell have I made friends with?Felix’s description of his friends as “a little weird” is a gross understatement.
“He really is a high fashion, Scandinavian model?” I murmur under my breath. “Because I thought I made that up.”
“What?” Kaleb asks, rightfully confused. “Nolan isn’t a model, and please, don’t let those girls hear you. They’re bad enough as it is.”
Heat crawls up my cheeks. Yeah, he wasn’t supposed to hear that.Add excellent hearing to the list of nephilim traits.
