Reckless Souls (Saints Academy, #1)(85)

make do with what I’ve got because, so far, that’s been working. “I could use a partner, if this is

something you enjoy. I don’t know anyone else who does, and I find it calming,” he states, making me

wet my lips as I observe him.

Of course he’s the yoga and meditating type, it’s written all over him. I pause as I contemplate his

question. Having someone to enjoy this peacefulness with sounds appealing but he could also distract

me. “I’ll think about it,” I reply evenly, which earns me a nod in response.

Rising to my feet, I grab my bottle of water, talking a few gulps before reaching for my phone,

ready to head back. Zen stands too, observing me without a word until I turn to him with a raised

eyebrow.

I know he knows what Adonis did at lunch, I felt his eyes burning me as I shattered, and I know

that also played a part in the intensity of it all, but neither of us have mentioned it since, and I’m quite

happy to keep it that way.

“I’ll walk you back,” he finally murmurs, making me squint in confusion as I turn to head through

the woods with him right beside me.

“You don’t need to,” I grumble in response, eyeing him, but he doesn’t seem to falter.

“I insist,” he says with a soft smile, which only seems to make my brows knit together in

confusion. It always feels so hot and cold with these guys, but I can’t decide if that’s my own doing or

theirs. Maybe both? Are they always trying to be this attentive, and it’s me who allows certain things

over others, unsure of their intentions and putting up my guard?

Fuck if I know. But it definitely doesn’t help that I can’t pinpoint how they view me as a person.

Which is exactly why the next words stumble from my lips as I keep pace.

“Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?” His eyes round in surprise, but he immediately

shakes his head.

“No.”

“Do I act like a damsel in distress to you?” I continue, and I don’t think his head stops shaking as

he replies again.

“No.”

“Do I cry out for help like a damsel in distress to you?” I ask, angrier, annoyed that he’s not

engaging with me.

“No,” he replies soothingly, and it’s my turn to shake my head this time.

“Then stop making me fucking feel like one,” I grumble, turning my gaze from his as I step through

the last line of trees, the gothic Academy building coming into view.

He remains silent for a moment, and I almost think he isn’t going to utter another word as we

climb the steps and enter the main building, leaving me with the peace and quiet in my mind, but I’m

wrong, oh so fucking wrong.

There’s no one around, which is surprising. As we near the portal to take us to Agion, his hand

grips my wrist, tugging me toward him as he slips inside a nearby empty office.

I gape at him in surprise as he tilts me back against the wall, shutting the door behind us. I don’t

see a thing around me, my eyes locked on his as they shimmer with a mixture of emotions I can’t quite

decipher. And right now, I don’t have the energy to question it.

“Do not mistake my calmness and protectiveness for something it’s not, Rhea. It isn’t about me

underestimating you, viewing you as a damsel, or any other bullshit like that. It’s about me wanting to

discuss who or what we all are to each other, because this all means something to me. Whatever it

actually is that’s going on.”

My jaw only slackens further as I scramble to find something, anything to say in response as heat

crawls up my neck, desperate to consume me.

“If this is about the sealed souls bullshit then—”

He cuts me off with a finger to my lips, shaking his head at me as he interrupts. “It’s not bullshit,

and it’s more than that and you know it. It was more than that when it happened, and it’s more than that

now, but it’s there too, strengthening every inch of this thing between us all and you know it. You just

won’t admit it.”

Do I though? Do I really? Because I don’t fucking think I do.

He inches closer, his nose almost close enough to brush mine, and I shiver under his intense gaze.

I can practically see him internally trying to piece together how he can word it so it gets through my

thick skull. “If anything, Rhea, it may help with making everyone else back off if we’re announced as

being in a committed relationship,” he states, my frown deepening, my eyes zoning in on his lips as

they explain.

“I can’t. Not now, not yet,” I whisper, unable to tear my gaze from his full lush lips as he slowly

trails his tongue over them.

I can feel his need to push back and state his full argument in the way he somehow manages to

step closer, his waist sweeping against mine as his hand tightens on my wrist, but whatever words

were about to stumble out of his mouth are cut short when the sound of a door slamming makes us

both jolt.

Zen takes a step back, eyes darting to the door looking for the intruder, but there’s no one there,