Page 39 of Cold as Ice

“What was that for?”

Mal’s face was full of shock—and astonishment too.

And Elliott knew he’d done the right thing.

“It was a thank you and hey, great hang out—” Elliott paused because Mal made a disgruntled face athang out.“Okay,study session. Not a hang out, westudied. It was a good study session.”

Mal nodded once, sharply.

“And also, ’cause that’s how friends say goodbye,” Elliott said gently, and before Malcolm could tell him they had never been friends and never would be, he turned and walked away.

Didn’t look back even though he felt the pull of Mal’s gaze on him every step of the way.

Chapter 6

“God, I need thiscoffee,” Ivan groaned as he opened the door of the Koffee Klatch.

It was busy this morning, half a dozen students and staff in line.

“Why?” Elliott asked, not mentioning that this would be his third cup of the morning. Why? Because he’d stupidly lain awake in bed for hours, trying unsuccessfully to sleep. Trying unsuccessfully to not think about Malcolm.

The way he’d felt against him.

The way he’d smiled.

The shadows in his gorgeous blue eyes.

How he and Mal had only needed a slight shift to turn their endless bickering into something like flirtation.

Connie would tell him he was in deep.

Macey and Nina would tell him he was barking up the wrong tree.

What would Ivan say?

Elliott didn’t know and he wasn’t about to find out, because he wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.

“Martina and I were up half the night working on this stupid joint project,” Ivan said, rolling his eyes. Martina was Ivan’s girlfriend of a few years, and it had only taken one meeting for Elliott to know, without question, that someday she’d govern a small country with an iron fist but so competently that the whole population would probably love her.

Kind of like Ivan did.

“Hey, you wanted to be a poli-sci major. That’s practically declaring youlikegroup projects,” Elliott joked.

Ivan elbowed him in the side. “And what does being a lit major mean? That you enjoy being a lone wolf?”

Elliott grinned. “Oh, you know it.”

“Explains why you and Mal can’t get along for five seconds,” Ivan muttered. “I’m surrounded by fucking lone wolves.”

Elliott wanted to say they weren’t that bad, but they could be—and he knew that Ivan also took the brunt of that.

“Aw, I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Elliott crooned, slinging an arm around Ivan’s shoulders, tugging him close. “We’ll try to get along better.”

Ivan shot him a skeptical glance. “Since when?”

“Since now?”

“I’ve got a better chance of not needing any more caffeine today,” Ivan said bluntly.

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