Page 110 of The Sidekick

“Nu-uh,” I say back petulantly. “I’ll buy allergy meds and tough it out if my reward is your black eye.”

A throat clears beside us, and I look up with a wince. I get consumed in our arguments when they start, and I have to focus to get my witty comebacks. Not that they’re witty. I’m trying, dang it. I forgot we were in a public place, being rude and yelling.

The teacher is standing there with several women from the class behind him. Every single female is glaring at Shade.

“He’s a total jerk,” I assure them all and nod as their eyes swing towards me. “Feel free to dump your water bottles over his head as you leave. I’ll clean it up. No one will ever know. It’ll be our secret.”

“I would rather you didn’t, ladies. Have a good day,” the teacher dismisses them with a small smile. They file out with disgusted glares thrown Shade’s way, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he rolls up his mat. One even calls out, “Girl, break up with him. You can do so much better.”

“Am I even doing this right?” He looks at me with an irritated expression.

His mat is rolled so tight that it springs open when he lets it go. I have to giggle as he glares down at it.

“I didn’t think you could speak,” the guy says to Shade with a lazy smile that makes a blush start on my cheeks. How can his smile be so sexy? It’s not even aimed at me.

Shade ignores him, staring at the mat as if he can will it to roll up by itself.

I roll my eyes and get both his and mine safely fastened closed. “The dictator has been foiled by a yoga mat. I’m marking the calendar.”

“You would,” he snipes back, but he’s trying not to smile, I can tell.

“If I had known the kind of trouble this would cause, I wouldn’t have told you guys she stopped coming.”

Wait, have they all been complaining about me to the hot guy? And he’s been complaining back? Oh gosh, where is the invisibility spell?

“You guys talk about me?” I ask Shade quietly as my hand creeps up to clutch my throat to self-soothe.

“I had Blaze ask about the yoga class, and I got you set up,” he admits and rubs the back of his neck. “We aren’t talking shit behind your back, Tera. I promise.”

“Yeah. And you said we were getting lunch, you dirty liar. Don’t bother getting out of your PJs, Tera. It will be fine. The trust train has pulled away from the station,” I clap back while the hot guy chuckles softly. “You got kicked out at full speed ahead, jerk. Enjoy rolling down that hill covered in stickers.”

“Tera.” Shade says with a forbidding frown.

“I’m not taking it back,” I cross my arms over my chest and give him my ugliest stubborn look.

“I was concerned,” the hot guy confesses. When I look at him, I’m only able to make my eyes go up far enough to see his throat before I stop. I can feel my face getting red at his attention. Is that tattoo a chrysanthemum? His whole throat is covered in flowers! That’s beautiful. His throat bobs as he clears it.

“When I got disconnected trying to speak with you last week and couldn’t reach you again, I brought it up.”

“You hung up on him, admit it.” Shade glares.

I admit nothing. Mainly because the guy isn’t just hot, he’s nice, and I feel like a total jerk for hanging up on him. My eyes drop to the floor. Would it have killed me to talk to him? I’m so dramatic.

“I’m so sorry.” Dang it, that’s admitting it!

“That’s ok,” he says in the soothing tone he uses for class. The sound does a sudden twist as he growls out, “Shade, since you aren’t being helpful, why don’t you wait out in the hallway.”

I barely catch the scowl that crosses Shade’s face before he picks up both mats and walks to the doorway. He stays there, hovering with one foot in the hall and the other in the classroom.

“Eyes up, please.”

My gaze meets his as if he has control of my eyeballs, and my stomach sinks as we stare at each other. I feel such a strong pull to this complete stranger. I don’t like my reactions to him. It reminds me of Satan. What if he’s just like him? I can’t help the flash of fear that runs through me. I don’t want to go through that again.

“Thank you,” he says softly and smiles as he pushes up his glasses with his middle finger. His eyes are dark blue, almost cobalt. They’re mesmerizing, and my heart squeezes. Please don’t let him look down at my nipples.

“I noticed that something happened the last time you were here. Would you like to talk to me about it?”

I roll my lips in to keep quiet. I’m scared that if he rephrases it into a command, I’ll answer whether I like it or not, just like I used to do with Satan. I don’t even know this guy! What is wrong with me? My gaze slips back down to his throat in self-defense.

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