A foolish hope.
It just wouldn’t die, would it?
It was an effort to keep myself from just going up to him and catching him in the act as I’d fantasized about doing so many times before.
It was, after all, completely unadvisable. We were silently not acknowledging what was going on between us. How much I’d enjoyed his fussing. His protectiveness. How jealous I’d clearly been about Maddox. The lingering feelings from three years ago.
I was trying my best to keep at bay the flames he was igniting inside me once again—the ones that had never been put out—at all costs.
But then I thought of him telling me to message him when I got home, and his little good-night retort when I finally did.
Before I knew it, I gave Oliver a mumbled excuse, getting up from my seat and going out to hunt a rare Heartbreaker-King in a forest of books.
Not dangerous at all.
Chapter 10
Henry
I’d just been looking away for a moment, examining one of the books in front of me—subject: Mathematics, a.k.a: definitelynotmy choice of literature—, and then when I looked back over the spines to check on Antony, he wasn’t there anymore.
My heart lurched, coming up to my throat. Where the fuck had he gone now? Hisfriendwas still there, still diligently writing in his notebook, especially now that he didn’t have Antony to flirt with.
Trying my best to be subtle, I moved a little closer, checking the hallway, the neat rows of long wooden desks sparsely populated with students, and finding no Antony.
I was contemplating what to do, whether to wait him out or just fuckingleave, stop feeding this addiction like I’d promised myself I would, when a familiar voice whispered in my ear.
“Looking for someone?”
I nearly jumped out of my own skin, spooked like a startled cat, and clutched my chest with a hand as I turned to the source of my torment.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I whisper-shouted, trying to get my heart to go back to a less frantic rhythm.
“Asking you a question?” Antony asked, one dark eyebrow raised and mischief glinting in those green, green eyes.
Damn him.
Couldn’t he give me a fucking break? He looked way too good for having been stuck here for as long as he had, especially after our late night yesterday. His dark hair, trimmed short, looked perfect as always. It was a haircut that should have been completely unimpressive with how basic it was, and yet it suited him perfectly, enhancing his handsome face.
Antony Andino had a sort ofunderstated beauty—a phrase that I would always refuse to say out loud—because while none of him was ever screaminglook at me, once you did look, you couldn’t turn away.
And I knew from experience. I hadn’t been able to think about anyone else ever since I met him.
What a cursed, cursed world.
“Are you telling me or are you asking me?”
He rolled his eyes. “You didn’t answer my question.”
I let out a long exhale, finally calming down, and leaned my shoulder against the nearest shelf, which thankfully didn’t budge under my weight. “I was just looking for books, as I’m told people usually do in libraries. What’s your excuse?”
Antony copied my posture, making my chest flutter.Why? Why did I have to react to everything this guy did?“I was just going for a stroll. Taking a break from studying.”
I huffed, hackles rising.
“Studying or flirting?”
I had just said that out loud.