Page 36 of Soulless Rivalry

I wanted to see if he was watching me. I wanted to see if Konstantin would finally break and stop ignoring me if I went there, blatantly passing over his word.

I felt watched the whole way there and was convinced, up until I took out the brownie from the oven, that he would appear out of thin air like before.

But nobody came. And I hated the disappointment that settled in my stomach when I was back under my cover with a steaming plate of brownies cooling off on my desk.

Sin looked around us and frowned. “Hey, where’s Mia?”

“She heard they were doing a drug sweep tomorrow with dogs and everything so she went to throw away her stash,” Briar answered lazily and Sin simply nodded. She was about to retort when I put a tin container between us and opened the lid so she could see the brownies inside. She all but squealed at the sight.

“You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Elyssa Ayaari.”

I grinned at her words because I was growing really fond of her. She fit right in with us and I loved her eccentric personality. She sure had a flare for dramatics, but she was someone you could truly count on.

Right as I was about to grab a piece for her, a hand came out from behind me and snatched the whole box away from me. I gasped—along with Sin—and turned around, ready to rip a new one to whoever had dared touch my newest creation.

But words failed me when I saw who stood there.

His hair, usually slicked back to perfection, today fell messily over his eyes. The rest of him looked as impeccable as usual though, from the perfect tailoring of his uniform to the way he stood and made other guys in the room look like buffoons.

“Hey, those are ours!” Count on Sinem to defend her sweets.

Konstantin didn’t even spare her a look, his eyes were trained on me. Words wouldn’t form on my lips.

“What did I tell you about your late-night trips?” he hissed, putting the lid on the box and closing it with a click. “I’ll be taking those. And you know what? Since you love to bake so much, I’ll be waiting for another batch tomorrow, too. Same time”

I gritted my teeth. Count on him to teach me a lesson by taking something hedidn’twant me to do andforcingme to do it. It made menotwant to do it anymore and I had a sneaky feeling that was exactly what he wanted.

“I have a test to study for tomorrow,” I announced through gritted teeth.

“I don’t give a fuck,” was his simple response.

After that he turned around and walked out of the great hall, leaving me infuriated and my friends gawking in surprise.

Fuck that, the whole room was staring at me in surprise, not used to seeing us interact with each other. He knew he’d probably put a few questions in a lot of people’s minds, including my friends.

Anger made my blood simmer, but just as I watched him exit the room, the tin Tupperware firmly clutched in his hand, an idea sparked.

It would certainly put me in so much more trouble with him, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

KONSTANTIN

“So, you’re not going to share?” Mikhail’s annoying voice made my eyes open.

I hadn’t even realized they had closed, I was just savoring the gooey chocolate from the brownies I stole mere hours ago.

At first, I didn’t plan on eating them. Sweets weren’t usually my thing, but the scent emanating from the little container got my curiosity going. I couldn’t deny that they were delicious.

My brother tried grabbing one for himself but I slapped his hand away with a glare. Asher laughed from the opposite couch.

“I’m telling mom you won’t share.”

“Go ahead, I’ll tell her you’re a whore.”

Mikhail had the audacity to gasp, affronted. Paying him no mind, I closed the lid on the container, deciding to save them for later when I was in bed, away from prying hands.

“Dude, seriously, not even one?”

My eyes fell on Asher and I glared at the stupid grin he had on. It was the first time he’d hung out with us in over a week. When he learned he’d be there, Rhodes refused to come. They still weren't on speaking terms and it was annoying the fuck out of me but I chose not to say anything. The way Asher had treatedhim wasn't dignified and I couldn’t hold it against Rhodes to refuse to be in the same room. I had always suspected our friend felt more for Asher than he let on, and not only on a sexual level.

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