Page 14 of Secret Gifts
“You’re very annoying,” I gripe while looking away, and he laughs even louder.
“That’s the first time anyone has ever said that to me.”
He opens another door, and again, I follow him through the labyrinth halls of Seminole. I know we’re heading out to the exercise grounds, but I don’t know why, and I haven’t bothered to ask.
“I suppose I’m a pioneer then,” I snark, though it’s all I can do to keep from swooning.
What’s wrong with me?
“So, what did your brother say about me?” he pokes.
He said you’re gay to keep me from wanting to fuck you.
I roll my eyes, and then his hand grazes mine when we get too close. I gasp a little at the sparks between our touch, and he clears his throat as though he felt it too.
“Um, nothing much. He just wanted to know what we were doing off to the side, alone, in the dark… you know. I told him it wasn’t anything like it looked,” I lie, while avoiding letting my hand graze his again.
I want details from the brother who sees the future, but he refuses to give me that.
“Mm, I see,” he says with a secretive smirk. “So you didn’t tell him your theories on the leading tracker?”
“He knows them already. I think he’s sick of hearing my gripes and complaints on the matter,” I mumble.
“Well, I suppose you’ll just have to start sharing them with me instead. I wouldn’t grow tired of hearing them,” he says with his seductive tone intact.
“I was right, you know,” I say while walking out into the brightly lit sky of the courtyard.
“I heard. I saw it on the news this morning. It’s good those officials did more of a detailed search than usual.”
“Very,” I sigh out. “Have you heard who will be interrogating?”
He smiles as he pulls my hand in his to lead me around the damn wall I was about to slap headfirst. I grumble under my breath, but his hand only tightens around mine instead of releasing it. I don’t want him to let it go either. My fingers intertwine with his, and I see his grin spreading once more.
“Are you saying you’d like to interrogate?” he leads, and my moment of seduction is soured with the question I hate hearing asked.
“Not at all,” I murmur while dropping my hand out of his, and he looks at me with his smile fading.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I just get sick of everyone thinking I can interrogate,” I huff out.
“You can’t?”
He seems surprised by that, just as everyone else. I hate, hate, hate this part of getting to know someone.
“I can, but not like my mother.”
I might enjoy interrogation if everyone's expectations weren't absurdly high. I don't care for that sort of pressure. I prefer tracking anyhow. I get out of the compound more.
I look away, keeping my eyes focused front instead of on him for the first time. He lets a bit of a laugh free, and his hand grazes my back as he turns me into another building; the greenhouse that stands at least five stories high. We slowly start up the stairs, our sides almost touching in the narrow space meant for one person at a time to travel up.
“Your mother has been interrogating for centuries. I don’t expect you to be as good as her since you have no field training in such,” he laughs out.
“You’d be the only person not to expect it then. I swear, everyone thinks I’m supposed to have this divine gene that makes me just as strong, smart, and fascinating as she is, but I don’t. It’s just annoying. Besides, I’m not good at the whole seduction thing, and that’s her forte which makes everyone spill.”
He laughs wildly now, and my cheeks burn with their blushing hue once more. Is he making fun of me?
“Judging by what I saw in the training room, you’d be surprised at how good you are at seduction. I thought the boy who was suffering your teasing was going to combust before he slammed into the ground,” he laughs out, and I blush all the harder.
