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“Actually, I said you needed beauty sleep. It was only inferred, not outright stated.”
“Semantics. Now shut up, we need to go. You first.”
Wyatt chuckled and cracked open the door, glancing around the hall. “All clear.”
“Hang on.” I put a hand on his arm. “If we’re going to keep snipping at each other, we need to have some code words. So we know what’s really going on.”
“Such as?” he asked, quietly latching the door again.
I thought for a second. “Well, if I say, ‘You’re pissing me off,’ it means… I don’t know, how about, ‘Thank you?’ Does that work?”
“And when I call you an ‘annoying little brat,’ it means ‘I love you,’” Wyatt said with a mischievous smile.
The words slammed into me, explosive and heavy with meaning. Had he really just said that? Butterflies burst in my stomach. He’d stated it so nonchalantly, I couldn’t tell if he was serious.
Before I could say anything, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. I hurried after him, not giving a damn if anyone saw us together. I needed to know if he meant what he’d said. After the library door closed behind me, I grabbed Wyatt’s arm, forcing him to turn and face me again.
“What did you say?”
Wyatt stared into my eyes. “You heard me.”
“But… but…”
“Hey, leave her alone!”
I flinched in surprise as Gavin stalked toward us, glaring at Wyatt.
“Oh, good. Thesecondmost annoying person in this house,” Wyatt said.
Gavin hurried over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Was he being a dick?”
“It’s fine, Gavin, seriously,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if it was. Wyatt’s words still bounced through my mind like a pinball.
Wyatt made a disgusted face and waved a hand in dismissal. “I need to get out of here. Have fun with this annoying little brat.”
He looked me in the eyes when he said it, and the slow, burning coals that had been smoldering inside me burst into flame. I watched him walk away with a strange sense of loss and excitement. I didn’t want him to go, but he had to. Otherwise, Gavin would pick up on the reality of our relationship.
Gavin brushed a finger along the bottom of my chin. “You look worn out. Have you eaten since you got back?”
As though jerked from a dream, I blinked and shook my head. “Um, no. Not really. I had some water. That’s all.”
“Do you need to see the healers? You look sort of out of it. Is the venom still messing with you?”
“Already been,” I said, coming back to my senses as Wyatt vanished around the corner. “Food would be good, though.”
Gavin smiled and took my hand, leading me toward the kitchen. Once there, he waved down one of the staff chefs. Within ten minutes, we were sitting at the kitchen island. I bit into a club sandwich.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
Physically? Yes. Emotionally? No. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Wyatt had said.I love you. Three words I’d never heard from anyone other than Mom, Dad, or Kolton. In all the years Jayson and I had been paired, he’d never uttered those words to me. They made my head spin, making it difficult to concentrate on Gavin. My wolf was in a strange state of bliss that I’d never felt from her before.
The TV above the island clicked on automatically, drawing me out of my inner thoughts. Von’s face filled the screen. My hunger almost vanished at the sight of him.
“Good afternoon, everyone. This broadcast is for our contestants only. I’m sure all of you are very tired after this exciting day. As such, you’ll have the afternoon and evening off to recover and recuperate. Filming will start at breakfast tomorrow.” His smile grew even wider and his eyes glittered mischievously. “And don’t forget, tomorrow night, Wyatt and Chelsey will have the mating chamber all to themselves. Kira and J.D. will follow the next evening. Until then, enjoy your afternoons.”
The TV clicked off, leaving us in silence. Grateful to be rid of Von again, I resumed eating. The only thing that pulled me out of my food reverie was Gavin’s voice.
“Kira, can I ask you a question?”
