Her gaze flicked to mine—Are you sure?
I nodded and moved past him, making a deliberate point of avoiding his eyes.
But I could feel him.
Like a weight between my shoulder blades.
Like he was trying to pull memories out of my spine.
Jess followed me to the buffet line, and suddenly I wasn’t hungry at all. I grabbed a single muffin—mostly because it gave me something to hold—and walked to the furthest empty table by the wall.
I dropped into my seat and put my head in my hands.
Jess slid into the chair beside me.
“He’s still looking at you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
Against my better judgment, I looked up.
K sat across the room like a storm dressed in black, eyes locked onto me with enough intensity to set the table on fire. Dev muttered something to him, but K wasn’t listening. He was staring at me like he didn’t understand why I wasn’t at his side.
Like I had betrayedhim.
I tore my gaze away, heart banging painfully.
Then—something crashed beside me.
A tray slammed onto the table, piled with enough food to feed a small army. Eggs. Sausages. Bacon. Muffins. Some cereal. A mountain of fruit. And then a second tray because apparently the first wasn’t enough.
I looked up, startled.
Ash dropped into the chair beside me with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever on espresso.
“I brought you breakfast,” he said proudly, grinning so wide it should’ve been illegal.
Jess made a strangled noise.
I blinked at the fortress of food.
“Um… Ash? That’s… a lot.”
He pushed the tray closer. “You’re small. You need feeding. Eat.”
I stared at him.
He stared back, utterly delighted just to be sitting next to me.
Across the room, K froze.
Dev muttered, “Oh, shit.”
Jess whispered under her breath, “We’re so fucked.”
Chapter 13
Seph, aged 15
