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7
“So that’s your big plan, is it?” I ask skeptically, trying not to make my gaze linger on the delicious-looking pile of cakes for too long. “Cause an obesity epidemic among the younger students? That’s what’s gonna save Luke?”
“Of course not. It’s only part of it. But having confidence in your followers and knowing they can be trusted is a significant aspect.” Rory pats the space beside him on the bed, and I sit down gingerly, all too aware of his closeness, his addictive scent, the electricity where parts of our bodies connect. This is too intimate after a day of pretending we hadn’t all shared a bed, and our hearts, on the weekend. Of pretending we’re just normal, unattached students.
Rory doesn’t care. He slides an arm under me and reels me in close so that our bodies meld together. My legs criss-cross between his, like some kind of plaid pattern, and he curls me into his chest, planting soft kisses along my hairline.
“Missed doing this to you,” he breathes, and it’s like we aren’t in his dorm anymore but at the hotel again, with freedom and luxury surrounding us. “I can’t keep my hands off you.”
“Good, I don’t want you to stop.” My mouth curves against his exposed neck, kissing his smooth pale skin as I play with his silken tie. Rory’s arms tense around me, his muscles flexing as though trying and failing to remain poised. “Keep touching me.”
A voice breaks into my reverie. “Oh, okay, we’ll just keep makin’ cakes for the emperor while he gets busy,” Finlay says dryly but there’s a tinge of humor to it. I pull away from Rory slightly, my body too hot to continue without it becoming indecent. “Ye know I’m only daein’ this for ye ‘cause ye promised me wan at the end, aye?I’vegot composure. Danny’s already had at least three iced gems when he thinks I huvnae been lookin’.”
“Luke,” Rory drawls, his head rolling from the pillow to the top of my head, “can you keep the production line under control, please? Feed them a Smartie if you must.”
“Since when am I your servant?” Luke snarks.
“You’re not my servant. You’re the foreman of this workhouse.” Rory pauses. “And you can reward yourself with a Smartie, too, if you want.”
“Your sugar bribes don’t work on me,” Luke says, though he also grabs a handful of the colorful candy and shoves it into his mouth. It’s the most undignified I’ve ever seen Luke, and I’ve seen him first thing in the morning wearing a pair of pink pajamas.
I brush myself down and shift a respectable distance from Rory — which is hard, because really I just want to mount him. “So, your plan? Tell us.”
Rory glances thoughtfully at Luke. “It’s simple. I’m going to needle. I’m going to provoke.”
I frown at him, as does Finlay. “What, so this is why you were going mad in class all day?”
Rory nods, his gaze not shifting from Luke. “I’m going to be the biggest bastard in this castle to take all attention off you.”
There’s a long silence after this statement, which is declared with deep relish. My mouth opens and closes several times but nothing comes out. My thoughts are a whirlwind — how goddamngallantof Rory to do this, to self-sacrifice so willingly, all to protect Luke. How goddamn brave, that he should force the school’s ire to fall on him instead.
How goddamn stupid, that he thinks it could work.
“Think about it,” Rory says, and he takes a small section of my hair and gently coils it around his finger. “When I wanted your attention, I behaved like a cad.”
“Acad? You were a complete di—”
“Clearly, it had an effect, otherwise you wouldn’t still be here,” Rory says with a gloating smile, his silver eyes dancing with mischief. “So I’m doing the same thing but for entirely boring and sanctimonious political reasons.”
Finlay’s frown is still carved deep into his face. “Right, so while you’re playin’ Johnny Big-Balls here, have ye thought it could make thingsworse? Make them resent Luke even mair? It’s no’ like half these folk need the encouragement.”
“Iabdicated,” Luke says in frustration, sinking onto his bed with his head in his hands. “What more can they possibly want?”
He looks glum enough that Danny offers him some rainbow sprinkles. “You’re too cool about it,” Danny theorizes quietly, “because you’re a cool person in general. They want to see you sweat. They want you panicked, and you’re too chill to give them the reaction they need. The reaction they feel they deserve.”
“It’s why they’re callin’ ye the bonny prince,” Finlay adds. “Because ye’re reactin’ so mighty prettily.”
“They want me humiliated. Disgraced.” Luke gives his head a firm shake. “I’m not going to give them that.”
“Good,” Rory says swiftly. “Because you’re going to do nothing. Just stay quiet and keep your head down.I’lldo everything to take the heat off you.”
Luke’s expression grows doubtful. “That’s a lot for one person to do.”
“It’s not just one person, though,” Rory says, his mouth upturned slightly. “You don’t have your guards anymore. But you have us. One for all and all for one, right?”
He places his hand in the middle of the dorm. It hovers there until Finlay adds his, and then Danny, and then me, before Luke — after a long moment, where he appears touched by the gesture — seals his palm over all of ours. The skin-on-skin contact is incredible. It shocks me slightly, because it’s been too long since I’ve felt someone other than Rory, and while the others release their hands, Rory complaining about the sugar-sweet stickiness of Finlay’s, I end up threading my fingers tightly between Luke’s and meeting his soft brown eyes.
They’re wary. Tired. His fingers squeeze mine and he releases a long, almost mournful sigh.
