“I’d say bite me,” she answers with an eye roll, “but who knows where you’ve been.”
“Thanks, but I’m too afraid of catching rabies to ever bite you,” he sneers back.
And can I just say, wow. There are enough bad vibes flowing between them that I can’t help thinking I’m about to witness my second vampire attack of the day.
Apparently, when her relationship went bad with Jaxon, it went bad with the rest of the Order, too, because right now, Mekhi honestly looks like he wants to rip her throat out.
But just when I’m trying to determine how to get out of range, Lia flips him off. Then hooks her arm through mine and says, “Let’s go, Grace. He’s so not worth it.”
“Oh, well, actually, Mekhi was just walking me to class.” I don’t like being in the middle of the two of them, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to bail on Mekhi the first chance I get.
The warning bell chooses that exact moment to ring, and Mekhi gives a little shrug as he takes a step back. “I’m good heading to Calculus if you’re good with Lia showing you the rest of the way.”
“I’m pretty sure I can get her to class safely,” Lia snarks, but I just smile my gratitude at him.
I like that Mekhi isn’t making a big deal of the me not being alone thing, just kind of making sure all the bases are covered without putting up too big a fuss. Especially since Jaxon has already covered the giant-fuss department.
“I’m good,” I tell him, and I mean it. Down here, surrounded by people Jaxon trusts—even if they don’t trust each other—makes everything else that’s happened so much easier to deal with. “You should get to math.”
“Words absolutely no normal person has ever wanted to hear,” he answers with a sigh. But he steps back, does a little two-fingered salute as a goodbye wave.
Impulsively, I close the distance between us to give him a hug. “Thanks for walking with me. I really appreciate it.”
He seems a little taken aback by my very human show of emotion, so I pull away, worried that I did something wrong. But when I look up at him, he’s got a goofy smile on his face that says he doesn’t mind at all. And that’s before he pats my head like I’m a prize-winning Chihuahua or something.
Still, it feels pretty good to have one of Jaxon’s friends’ stamp of approval, so I just grin at him and do that ridiculous two-fingered salute back at him.
He laughs, then snarls a little at Lia—for show, I think—before turning around and heading back the way we came.
I watch him for a second, expecting him to start booking it like Lia was, but instead he takes his time, moseying along like he’s in the middle of one of the old Westerns my dad used to watch.
Which only makes me appreciate Mekhi more. He’s willing to give Lia and me some privacy, but he’s in no hurry to leave me alone with anyone. Even another vampire.
“So what’s been going on with you?” I ask Lia after another glance at my phone reveals still no texts from Jaxon. And the fact that we have two minutes left to get to class.
“Pretty sure that’s my line after that whole scene in the lounge today.” She raises her brows in a WTF look.
“Oh, that. Um, Jaxon…” I trail off, not sure what I can possibly say about what happened.
Lia laughs. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. Hudson was overprotective in the same way, doing whatever he thought necessary to take care of me. Even if there was nothing to protect me from.”
I think about correcting her, maybe even telling her what’s been going on so I can get her take on it, but we’re almost to the cottages, and suddenly more people are around—vampires, witches, and shifters. And since there’s more than enough gossip surrounding me right now, I figure the last thing I need to do is add fuel to the fire.
So instead of letting Lia know everything that’s happened over the last few days, I just kind of shrug and laugh. “You know how guys are.”
“Yeah, I do.” She rolls her eyes. “Which reminds me…I was thinking you might want to get away from all that machismo for a while. Want to do a girls’ night tonight? We can do facials, watch some rom-com, eat too much chocolate. Maybe even do those mani-pedis we were talking about the other day.”
“Oh.” I sneak another glance at my phone. Still no Jaxon. Maybe my uncle banished him to Prague—or Siberia—after all. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Wow.” She gives me a mock-offended look. “Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”