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I’m halfway down the stairs when the sound of laughter halts me.
“Surely you’re not actually going to go and hand them out on campus?” Bhodi asks, still chuckling.
“What choice do I have?” Cove replies. “She asked me to.”
They’re talking about me. About the fliers for the party.
“Doesn’t she get what anexclusiveparty is?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Reef snaps at Bhodi. “You only have to know Malia for ten minutes to know she doesn’t go to many parties.”
Somehow his defence makes me feel even more pathetic.
“That’s why I couldn’t say no to her,” Cove explains. “She probably got the idea from a movie.”
Bhodi snorts and I feel unwelcome tears prick my eyes. I’m so stupid. I bet I’ve planned the whole party all wrong. I should have asked for help. This sort of thing would be Summer’s idea of heaven if she was still talking to me.
What if she doesn’t come? What ifno onecomes? It doesn’t matter that it started off as a fake party to lure Summer out. I’ve worked so hard on it in a desperate attempt to apologise to Bhodi for almost getting him killed, and for the prophecy and his injuries from fighting, that I forgot it wasn’t real. I was excited. My first proper party.
And now they’re all laughing at me.
I turn around and quietly creep back up the stairs, blinking hard to ensure the tears in my eyes don’t actually spill over.
“Malia? What’s wrong?”
I freeze when I hear his voice. Against my will, my head lifts and my eyes search him out. The professor is at the end of the corridor, coming out of his room.
“Nothing.”
His dark gaze narrows and his face hardens. The landing seems to shrink in size as he strides along it towards me, reaching me in a small number of large, confident strides.
“If it’s nothing, why are you crying?” He reaches for my face and my breath catches, but then he stills.
“I’m not crying,” I insist, forcing myself to breathe.I’m not.
“Well, why are youalmostcrying then, if you have to be pedantic about it?”
“It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
He sighs deeply and then looks me up and down. “Can you get changed?”
“Why?”
I’ve just been wearing my usual uniform of cut-off shorts and a tank top thrown over my bikini. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t go for a surf, if only to get out of the house for a couple of hours. Why does he want me to get changed?
“I’m going out. You can come with me. But not dressed like that.”
I frown wondering what he means, but bite my tongue. I get to leave the house? And not just to go to the beach? I’ll wear any-damn-thing he likes if it means a change of scenery.
I nod – probably a little too eagerly. Actually, I should probably calm down and question his motives a bit more. Why is he suddenly wanting to spend time with me after avoiding me for so long? I should ask him.
But I don’t. Because whatever reason he has for this sudden change of heart, I’m all in. I need to shake up the monotony of being here.
“Good. I’ll wait downstairs for you. How long do you need?”
“Umm, ten minutes?” I ask, rather than tell him. Always so damn desperate for his approval. Maybe Cove’s not the golden retriever. Maybe it’s me.
He nods and passes me, the cotton of his pressed shirt brushing against my bare arm and making the hairs stand on end. His scent envelopes me like a warm hug, even though he barely touches me and doesn’t spare me another glance. He must have a new aftershave or something because he smells different. Amazing. But different. Even after he’s gone, the warm spiced rum, vanilla and cedar wood scent lingers in the air and invades my senses. He smells heavenly. Divine. Irresistible.
