Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(28)
Shifting from leaning on my knees against the rock formation to sitting on my ass with my back braced against it, I took a deep breath. Still not ready to go back to my dorm, I decided some meditation would be in order. I closed my eyes following the twins’ breathing suggestion and tried to let all my tension and stress go.
September 4th
Tuesday Morning
Lucienne
I met up with Cam, Dante, and Nik outside the English building before our debate class. Dante and Cam speaking in hushed tones with Nik interjecting here and there. I was more than happy to just walk with them and listen. They were discussing something they’d learned in their Comparative Healing class and how it would relate to Dante’s Advanced Warfare Studies. Having no knowledge on either of those subjects, I just nodded along as we walked into Room 418 and slid into our four person table. I sat next to Cam while Nik sat across from me next to Dante. I was pulling out my notebook and pen when Professor Crest came in.
“Hello, class!” His thundering voice bounded through the room. The tall, wiry man had on slacks, a powder blue button-up, and a grey argyle sweater vest. His wire glasses were pushed up on top of his head messing his thinning brown hair. His blue eyes sparkled as he looked around the room. “Today is the day! We’re going to be choosing our partners. Once we’re separated into pairs, I’ll have you work on developing your main points in preparation for the upcoming debate later this semester.” He clapped his hands loudly, the noise echoing throughout the room.
“I want you to find your partner, and then we’ll go from there,” his arms waved forward encouraging us to find someone to pair up with. I turned back to our table and looked around at the guys. They looked between each other and me clearly unsure of who should be with who. Glancing at Cam, I came to a realization, he’d been my table partner since the beginning of the semester and seemed well educated in a range of things regarding the supernatural community, making him a good choice. You just want to be alone with him don't lie to yourself, my mind whispered.
“Hey, Cam, uh, do you maybe want to be my partner?” I stuttered nervously. “I’ve tried to learn as much as I could about the supe community this last week, but it’s a lot to take in and you spend so much time studying so you, uh…” I trailed off, trying to figure out how to end my statement, why am I like this? “Yeah, so I think you’d make a good partner.” Foot, meet mouth. I wanted to climb under the table and never come out. Instead, I took a deep breath and tried again. “What I’m trying to say, is you seem really knowledgeable and I think we could work well together.” Tucking my hair behind my left ear, I risked a glance over at him. A small blush crept up his cheeks as he adjusted his glasses.
“I would love to, Lucie,” he gave me a small smile. His light brown hair was a tad messy, the waves falling down his forehead. Bright hazel eyes warmed as he stared back at me. He nibbled on the right side of his bottom lip, flashing a single fang. “I think you’d make a great partner.” Great, now I’m the one blushing. I smiled at him and turned to Nik and Dante. Dante was smirking at me softly while Nik was pouting, his attention focused on Cam.
“But you are always my partner,” Nik’s pout turned into a salacious grin, dripping in innuendo. Cam’s cheeks tinged even darker as he pushed his glasses up his nose with one hand, clearing his throat before responding.
“You’ve never had an issue with sharing me before,” his honeyed voice was low as he stared at Nik, a single eyebrow rose. Dante quickly covered his chuckling behind a tan hand. I’m so confused right now, are...are they…? My eyes bounced between the three of them hoping to be let in on the joke.
“Anyways… guess that leaves you and me,” Dante took over the conversation, his arm weaving its way over Nik’s shoulder. A cocky smile appeared on his face when he turned to Nik, followed by a wink, “hope I can keep up.” What the actual shit? Nik leaned into Dante as Cam eyed both of them appreciatively, biting that corner of his lip again. I felt like I was about to drown in sexual tension, the thought of any combination of them together making me clench my thighs tightly. I decided to redirect the conversation, bringing it back on topic, before I did something stupid. Like ask them to make out.
“Want to be the opposing team for us?” I grinned, acting as if there was nothing odd about what just happened and that my panties weren’t utterly destroyed. Dante’s eyes strayed quickly to my lips while Nik smiled at me, his straight, white teeth catching my attention. Jeez, what is it about guys with nice teeth? As if they weren’t hot enough already. Cam shifted in his seat to face me a little more, his arm going to the back of my chair as he inhaled deeply. A soft sound emanated from his chest. Did he just growl?
“Any idea what topic you would like to do?” Nik’s response was short and to the point. His voice gravelly and low, cutting off my internal questions as I forced my eyes back to his, struck again by the captivating cloudy grey irises. Grigori shifted slightly when Nik and Dante sat back up to their original positions, his wings flickering out before returning to his side.
“I’ll be assigning the topics, Nikolai, but I’m glad to see friends are willing to be on opposing sides. It lends a certain strength to a debate when the teams are more susceptible to listening and understanding rather than being biased to their own opinions,” Professor Crest’s rich voice stated as he stopped at our table. “Since you four seemed to have settled your partners and opposing team, I’ll be right back with your topic.” He swerved around backpacks on the ground to his desk in the front corner of the room. He grabbed a scrap piece of paper and scribbled out a topic for us before straightening. Bringing the piece of paper to me, he nodded and shifted directions towards another pair of students.