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My face drops at his reaction, brows knitting together in confusion at the sudden hatred I see there. I mean, I did run into him, but just by looking at him, I know the impact had absolutely no effect on him. He is built so solidly, exuding such raw power. I’m not even sure a dump truck barreling towards him would leave so much as a scratch.
“You need to watch where you’re going.” His words come out in a growl. I purse my lips, disappointed in myself with the effect that sound has on me. It takes all of my efforts not to cross my legs as the sound vibrates through my body. I shake my head in an attempt to dislodge the feeling. Not sure what is wrong with my self-preservation senses that my body’s first reaction would be to shudder with desire rather than run in the opposite direction.
I open my mouth to apologize once more, my eyes tightening with the tension it takes to restrain my words. Having already apologized once before, there’s no chance I’m doing it again.
“No,” He growls, interrupting me before I can even get a word out. My mouth pops open in surprise. “How self-centered do you have to be to walk around with your face in your phone? You can’t take a break from your exciting social life for a few minutes to walk without distractions?”
His tone is stern and incredulous. His words equate me to some airhead that just walks around thinking the world revolves around her. Sure, I didn’t necessarily have a hard life, but in no way have I ever considered myself better than anyone else.
My jaw snaps closed and my anger builds, boiling in my veins. I clench my fists, nails biting sharply into my palms as I stare back at him, eyes narrowed nearly into slits. His eyes widen slightly in surprise at my reaction, quickly schooling his face into a cold, impassive stare.
“Who do you even think you are? You don’t know me, so you can take your assumptions and shove them straight up your ass,” I growl right back, stepping closer to him. He opens his mouth, about to respond to my retort. “Nope, I’m not done talking,” I proclaim, pride blossoming in my chest, that I was able to cut him off just as he did to me.
“I took full responsibility before you even said a word, so I’m a little confused why you felt the need to try to belittle me. So why don’t you keep your rude comments to yourself, mister dark growly man.” I catch him off guard with my last comment, his eyebrows lifting fractionally before smoothing out. I am now convinced this man cannot show any emotion other than anger and disdain on his darkly handsome face.
I match his sneer with one of my own, propping my hands on my hips and I meet his gaze in a challenge. I am really beginning to question my sanity at this point. Challenging this hulking man is definitely not one of my brightest ideas.
“Are you finished now?” His tone is sardonic. He quirks an eyebrow in question before crossing his arms across his chest. His pecs seeming to puff out even more with the action.
“No, as a matter of fact, I’m not,” I state, matching his tone. Not wanting him to have the last word. “I don’t even understand how me bumping into you warranted this sort of reaction. I’m the one who almost fell on my ass. You didn’t even budge with all those huge bulging muscles.” I scoff as though that excuses my distraction. “Accept my apology, or don’t. I really couldn’t care less at this point.” I had even been willing to apologize to him twice before his comments.
I cross my arms and unflinchingly assess him. He shakes his head as though lost for words, narrowing his eyes at me, his face reddening in frustration.
He opens his mouth to speak, pausing a moment. Lips purse seconds later. His forehead creases, eyes moving between mine.
He taps out an agitated rhythm. Leather boots echoing off the floor ominously. I bite my lip, my apprehension increasing with his lack of reaction, second-guessing my words. I shake the nervous thoughts from my head, steeling myself for his response and doubling down on my statements. I refuse to be the type of person that just bows down to someone’s degrading comments.
“Just stay away from me,” he growls, propping his chin up in what I assume is supposed to be a menacing gesture. The movement surprisingly doesn’t affect me in the way he intends. I bite my lip, wanting to run my fingers over the stubble on his strong jawline. I internally shake those thoughts away, not needing to have these feelings about someone who clearly decided to hate me on the spot.
My eyebrows crease in confusion at his lack of scathing remarks. I school them hoping he didn’t notice, before I adopt an impassive tone, rolling my eyes as though proving my lack of fucks given.
“Trust me, there’s nothing I want more in this world than to never see your grumpy ass again.” The words leave a bad taste in my mouth and I will my face to stay neutral. Suppressing the urge to cringe at that statement.
His chest deflates at that, eyes glancing away quickly. He turns, not allowing me to interpret any of his body language and jams his hands into his pockets as he stalks away. A cloud of darkness follows him down the hallway. I take a deep breath pushing aside the strange desire to follow after him.
I take out my frustration on the rest of my croissant. Angrily chewing the pastry, I make a squished-up, mocking face at his back in retaliation.
Shaking my head, I turn on my heel and stomp towards the classroom. Thankfully I haven’t heard the bell yet, a few students still mill about the classroom wing, making their way towards the doors further down the hall. I find the history of the gods classroom—grateful that the class order didn’t change every day—and pull open the door. My eyes scan the room and some of the students turn to me, pausing in their conversations.
Their gazes are checking behind me, most likely to see if Mateo is following me today. They move their attention away once I close the door, satisfied that there will be no god of war chucking knives around the room this morning.
I spot Kali and Domenic at the back of the class. An empty seat is saved on the other side of Kali. As I move closer, I notice a black to-go cup sitting on the open desk. I let loose a small squeal, skipping through the rows of desks until I reach them. I wordlessly wrap my hands around the cup, allowing the warmth to seep into my hands. I do a happy dance and bring the cup to my lips, letting the warm caffeine coat my tongue. The liquid is still hot enough to burn a little down my throat. I honestly couldn’t care, though. Kali must have watched me closer than I thought yesterday because it’s perfect. I would’ve even been happy with gross drip coffee, but this is incredible.
Noticing my classmates’ curious stares, I take my seat. Slipping in the chair, the cup still firmly in my hands. There’s no way I’m letting go of my life juice.
“Coffee—coffee—coffee.” I rush out, holding the cup out before me as though I’m worshiping it. I take a long breath, inhaling the enticing bitter aroma. Humming in appreciation before taking another sip.
I glance over at Kali, ready to thank her profusely for providing my fuel for the day. Finding her chuckling, while she watches me with amusement. Domenic’s eyes are wide with surprise, a small smile on his lips, entertained by my reaction.
“I mean, I’m happy to see you both too, but coffee is life.” I shrug, dancing in my seat. Kali lets loose a chuckle at my words, clutching a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. Stacia whips her head around at the noise, eyes glued on Kali out of my periphery. Katrina follows her gaze, sending me a scathing look before she bends her head, whispering to Stacia.
“You truly are a blessing,” I coo, looking at Kali over my cup.
“I really can’t even tell if you’re talking to her or the coffee.” Domenic laughs, shaking his head at my display. I shrug, leaving the question unanswered, mainly because I’m not sure myself where my comment was directed.
“I figured you would need a caffeine fix.” Kali giggles, shifting in her seat to face me fully.
“You seriously have no idea how right you are,” I groan, my earlier irritation slightly bringing me down from my caffeine-induced high.
