Page 35 of The Human’s Heart

“I know that. It was a stupid thought, but I know you’d never do anything like that.” Honestly, he couldn’t punch anyone. Ever.

“Hey.” He released me as he protested. “I could punch someone.”

I raised a brow. “You really think so?”

He opened his mouth as if to argue, thought about it, and snapped his mouth shut with a frowning scowl.

It made me laugh, and I couldn’t help but pull him back into me so I could kiss his temple. “It’s not a bad thing.”

He huffed but didn’t reply.

We stayed that way for another minute, but Hugo whispered, “You’re gonna be late if you don’t leave now.”

I let out a sigh, tilted his chin up, and kissed his lips, slow and soft. “You’re not leaving the wards, right?”

He rolled his eyes, but there was a smile there too. “No, I’m not leaving the wards. Promise.”

“You’ll tell me if something comes up and you need to—”

“Babe, you’re in my head. You’ll know before I leave, but I’m not going anywhere tonight, okay?”

I blew out a breath. “Yeah… yeah, sorry. You’re right. I’m being overprotective again.”

He snorted. “You’re always overprotective. I don’t hate it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He kissed me, a hard peck on my lips that made me grin. “Now get outta here before your friend freaks out about being there by herself.”

After one more lingering kiss, I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. When I started the car, I looked at the door, surprised to see Hugo standing there, watching me with a sweet grin on his face. He waved, so I waved back, then pulled out of the driveway.

It only took a few minutes to get to the coffee shop since it was near the school, so I made it inside with two minutes to spare. Usually, I’d get there at least ten minutes early so I could make sure we had a table large enough for everyone, but stealing some extra kisses from my viramore was worth it.

Two other students—Dean and Rovra—were already there and had snagged a table in the back, so I joined them.

“Hey, Zaos.” Dean smiled up at me. “It’s good to see ya, man.”

I fist-bumped him. “Good to see you too.” I sent Rovra a smile. “You too, Rov.”

She grinned back. “It’s been a while since you joined us.”

I nodded. “Well, I’ve been a little busy with my viramore.”

Both of them froze, and then Rovra let out a huge grin, the biggest I’d ever seen on her, and said, “Holy shit, really? That’s amazing! Congratulations.”

My chest warmed with her kindness and excitement. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, man, that’s awesome.” Dean wasn’t as obvious about it, but I could tell he was happy for me too.

“Thanks.”

Dean leaned in. “So… give us the deets.”

I chuckled at his excitement at getting some new gossip, then went with it and talked about Hugo for a solid five minutes before other people started trickling in.

When Beatrix arrived, I moved my bag off the chair I’d saved beside me, and she let out a relieved sigh as she sat down and whispered, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” I turned to the table. “Everyone, this is Beatrix. Beatrix, this is Dean, Rovra, Joey, Sidney, Judah, and Lilac.”