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I study him carefully but there’s no trace of mockery on his face. At this point, I’m so used to the rug being pulled out from under me that I’m waiting for the laughter and thegotcha. But there’s nothing. There’s only Finlay, gazing at me with those glittering green eyes, as though he has plans for me that amount to more than secret meetings in the medical wing.
I lick my lips, turning away from him. He’s achief. He’s Rory’sbest friend. He hangs around withroyalty— royalty that, unless I’m drunk, I can’t even look in the eye without turning into a gibbering wreck.
“What exactly are you proposing?” Despite licking my lips, they feel drier now than ever. “You can’t hang out with me. The others would hurt you—”
“The others wouldnae lay a finger on me. And I can get them tae dae the same for ye.”
I flick the corner of my abandoned physics notes back and forth.
“There’s the Christmas dance,” Finlay blithely continues, “and I’d like ye tae be my partner.”
I swallow, still refusing to look at him. Hehasto be joking.
“It’s like ye said in your speech. Ye’re a prime candidate for hate, Jessa. Just for bein’ different. I’m an inked wanker who swans around in a kilt and a fuck-off jacket, so I’m used tae that myself. But yer speech was right. It takes a great deal o’ effort to break free fae being under the thumb of tyranny.” His mouth twists wryly. “There’s only so much peaceful protestin’ ye can dae afore things inevitably ramp up.”
“And you’re telling me to ramp it up? By being withyou?” I gaze at him critically. “What would you even get out of this?”
“An on-call maths tutor?” But he’s grinning like this is the furthest thing from his mind. “It’d be a statement, a political connection, and Ilovemakin’ those. Just by being me, I can help ye in a hundred different ways. I canprotectye, and part of me… is actually a wee bit interested in that.”
I swallow. He wants toprotectme?
“I can curry favor wi’ Rory. I can put an end tae his minions goin’ after you. I can even stop Li. But I’m no’ gonnae beg you.” He shrugs, kicking his legs out easily and crossing his ankles over each other. “I’ve laid out a great plan for you and I reckon ye’d be an eejit no’ tae take it. But you do you, at the end of the day.”
“An eejit,” I repeat distantly.
“An idiot.”
“I got that.”
There’s silence for a while. I look at Finlay, scarcely believing what he’s proposing. “I’ll think about it.” There are still a few weeks left until the Christmas dance. With Danny out cold beside me, it feels somewhat inappropriate to discuss partnering up with anyone else right now.
My eyes are always caught by the colorful ink running along Finlay’s arm. It’s a captivating work of art decorating the firm muscles beneath. But in the harsh light of the medical wing, I note something else running across his skin. It’s subtle, as though the ink has been designed to disguise it, but…
Scars.
I see scars.
I slide my gaze up to Finlay’s face, but he’s too busy watching Danny.
“It’s the owls,” Danny mutters in his sleep, the bedsheets twisting over his body. “’S’always the owls…”
Together, Finlay and I guard Danny’s bedside. He mutters a series of incomprehensible phrases and then startles himself awake.
He blinks at us both.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Danny mutters, his eyes switching from my face to Finlay’s. “The lovable sidekick gets shafted the moment the tattooed bad boy comes along.” He tugs the bedsheet over his head, mumbling through it, “I’m going back to sleep.”
I peel it away from his disgruntled face.
“We were discussing Li,” I inform him calmly. “And how to stop her from being less of a punchy, kicky maniac.”
“Maybe she’s jealous of you.” Danny says it so valiantly that his tone makes me find some humor in this awful situation. “She’s jealous that Jessa actually has aniceboy hanging with her, unlikeherbrute of a boyfriend.”
“Rory isnae a brute,” Finlay adds tiredly.
I raise an eyebrow at him. Does he get paid overtime to defend Rory?
“He’sno’. You just have tae get tae know him.” After a pause, he adds, “He was very offended by yer presentation, by the way.”
