Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(89)

Though the desire to have a nap was strong.

“Jonas?” A girl I didn’t recognize called to him as we stepped outside. There was still a steady flow of students leaving the academic building.

He paused in front of me to stare at her. I had to bite the inside of my lip as he didn’t respond verbally to her, at all. But she had snagged his attention.

Poor thing looked so nervous, I thought she might faint. Sympathy swelled inside as she darted a look at me then back to Jonas. “The Fire and Ice Dance—”

“No.” He didn’t wait for her to finish or say anything else, just cut her off before motioning to let me know it was okay to keep moving.

Her entire expression fell, and her cheeks flushed deep pink. “I already asked him,” I told her, taking the heat for his rejection.

“Oh,” she said, then winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Nothing to be sorry about, he is pretty cute.” Which was an understatement. Hot Shot had always been good looking, even when I thought he was a dick.

She laughed, but her blush deepened and she hurried off. Turning to Jonas, I found him staring at me now. Only instead of the blank look, he seemed—puzzled.

It wasn’t until we were walking again that he said, “Why did you tell her that?”

“Because she was embarrassed,” I said. “It didn’t hurt me to say I’d asked.”

“Because I’m cute?” His mystified tone endeared him even more.

“No, though you are definitely easy on the eyes.” Then, because he still looked confused, I said, “Can I hold your arm?”

It was as much to stay steady on my feet as to narrow the distance. He offered his arm immediately, and I tucked my hand against his elbow. Closer, I could talk without worrying about someone following us, hearing me so clearly.

“It’s hard to ask someone out. Even harder to do it in front of someone else and then have the person you were asking out tell you no.”

He seemed to turn that over in his head. “Do you want to go to the dance?”

The slight pivot on subject caught me flat-footed. “I don’t know,” I admitted. The latest riddle quest was sending me to it, and I’d kind of thought about it before…

“You got the hidden invitation.” It wasn’t a question. Did that mean…? “Yes,” was all he said by way of confirmation.

By unspoken decision, we waited until we were back in the suite before continuing the discussion.

“What do you know about them?” He ducked into his room, but he left the door open so I could talk while I headed for the coffee maker.

“I didn’t even know it was a them. I haven’t really thought about it much. Except that the first set of riddles took me out to the pond where RJ was waiting.” That was a surprise enough. “Then Lachlan showed up and I never found out what it was about.”

“It’s a secret society,” Jonas said as he padded back out in a dark t-shirt and pajama bottoms.

I’d just finished pulling the shots when he motioned to the coffee maker.

“I’ll finish if you want to change.”

“Thanks.” I headed for my room. We’d made progress all week restoring stuff here, though I’d literally had the old mattress taken and a new one brought in. I just couldn’t bring myself to lie on it after the shit.

Just—no.

“And a secret society?” I called. Like Jonas, I’d left the door open. He couldn’t see me where I changed just like I couldn’t see him. “For real?”

“Yes,” he said. “It’s a stupid, dated tradition. They’re called Knots and Chains.”

That was—a weird name.

Casual clothing options were limited. I hadn’t bothered with buying more just yet. Aubrey loaned me a couple of outfits, and I still had two of Jonas’ tees. I dragged one of them on right now; it was super soft. Sleep shorts fit on under it.

“And they’re like a real secret society? All Skull and Bones?”

“Yep,” he said and if he followed it with anything, I didn’t hear it over the milk steaming. I slipped into the bathroom to empty my bladder. After, I checked my appearance in the mirror as I washed my hands. You couldn’t quite see where they’d had to shave part of my head to do the stitches.

I’d give the doctors credit, they’d been careful. But I also had to keep my hair loose to cover the missing chunk. If I could make it through the rest of the semester without another disaster, that would be great.

I paused on the way through my room to stare at the empty guitar stand. It was a very real, physical pain for my guitar to not be there. The second one had to be re-strung, and apparently Lachlan had taken it to get it fixed.

He’d even left a note to tell me where it had gone. That was almost sweet. Beyond that, he’d been a ghost. Outside of classes, I hadn’t seen Ramsey either. Though his attention rested on me so firmly in both classes I had with him that I could feel the echo of the weight even now.

With a sigh, I left my room. I hated that empty stand. When I’d reached out to the cops and campus security, both denied taking a guitar, so the one Dad gave me was just—gone.

That… hurt.

Jonas held out the coffee to me as I returned. The latte was practically perfect. “Thank you… you’re getting good at this.”