Page 26 of Envy

Before I can protest, the waitress scurries off. “I don’t drink.”

Amy leans forward. “Please tell me you’ve had a beer.”

I haven’t, but I don’t want to sound like a prude, so I let it slide. The most I’ve had is Scotch—a drink I hate as much as the person who gave it to me laced with drugs. It was either needles or Scotch. Both I detest with every fiber of my being. “Not really. I’m not twenty-one.”

“I am. I started school late, and my birthday was last month. Besides, she doesn’t look the type to ask or give a shit either way.”

I’m sure they are told not to when it comes to Prey. There is a different set of rules when it comes to anything involving Kenyan, Babylon included. The waitress comes back with our beer and my water. I take a sip of the amber liquid and hold back a wince from the bitter taste but play it off before she notices. “Who’s the guy I saw you with at the library?”

My stomach drops. My thoughts fly to the afternoon on the shelves with Garret. “I’m not sure…”

“Not the swim team captain—the other one.”

A sense of relief washes over me like a gust of wind. “Azriel.”

Her eyes light up with interest. “So that’s his name. I didn’t think he went to Kenyan.”

“He does, but he’s a hybrid student. Mostly online. He tutors.”

“He is so cute.”

I should tell her to stay away, warn her, but who am I to tell her anything? It would also mean I would have to explain why. Then she would get scared and tell me to fuck off. Twothings I can’t risk. Azriel is nice, and he isn’t evil like the others. He hasn’t given me any reason to worry, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t. He’s Valen’s brother, after all. I’m sure he’s part of something. They all are. “He is nice to look at,” I tell her truthfully, and then a sense of protectiveness settles in my gut. I don’t know where it came from, but I see Azriel like a brother, the same way he sees Melody like a sister. I shouldn’t feel this way after the way things went, but Azriel has been the only one to help me, to warn me. He’s shown me that he cares, even if it’s stemmed from pity. “I guess I’ll have to sign up for tutoring then.”

“Be careful; he’s a heartbreaker.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Azriel look at another girl, but it’s the only thing I can come up with. “You know, I thought he was your boyfriend at first, but then the other guy showed up… Garret is his name, right?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend. He was there for Azriel.” I hate lying. It’s like a disease that acts up when you least expect it, but I don’t want to talk about Garret. I came along to make a friend and forget about him. “So, about the party. What are you planning on wearing? I heard it’s fun and it’s where both Kenyan and Ohio students go to hang out without killing each other.”

I’ve heard of it but have never gone, most likely because my weekends were occupied or I was unconscious. “I’ve never been invited.”

“I haven’t gone either. I transferred from another school.”

I’m curious to know where she came from. I didn’t see her in any of my classes or on campus last year. “What school?”

Her eyes dim, and I can tell there is a story she isn’t ready to tell, so I keep it light. I guess we all have stories we are afraid to tell and sometimes ones we can’t. “Delaware.”

“I’ve never been.”

“Boring. You’re not missing anything special.” Definitely a story back there. “I applied for a transfer, and this place offered a scholarship based on my GPA. I couldn’t say no.”

I don’t want to rain on her parade and reveal the real reason. It would scare her off, and they wouldn’t let her go either way. These people are evil. Once you accept, it’s like you’ve pledged your life in blood, and you didn’t even know it. They make sure she will never graduate anywhere else—probably blacklist her wherever she goes. That’s why I keep my mouth shut and make it my mission to look out for her. One good deed to erase the lies I’ve had to spill. She talks about the things she likes, her favorites. I tell her I have none because I don’t. There wasn’t much to compare anything to with my limited experience, and everything I did try was part of an act I was forced to endure. If it was food, a song, a drink, a smell, or a feeling, I ended up hating it because it reminded me of the time I had to try it.

Music starts to play, and then voices get louder. Within the hour, the place is crawling with students. My guess is the meet is over, and judging by the happy faces, Kenyan dominated. “Oh my God,” Amy says with excitement, bopping her head to the intro. “I love this song. It’s ‘Everything I Do Is for You’ by Amira Elfeky.” She glances at the jukebox to see who selected it, and my heart feels like it’s going to stop. Garret is standing like a skyscraper. His tall, muscular back underneath a tight long-sleeved shirt molds to his frame. The band of his sweatpants sits on his hips. I can tell he’s fresh from a shower. The black strands of his hair on the back of his head are dark like ink from a black marker.

“Is that…” Amy trails off when he turns around, pushing the long strands of his straight hair off his face like a model in a commercial. His face is smooth. His chiseled jaw does things to my insides—the memory of his lips on my skin when he spoke, his breath causing heat to spread to my thighs. It all evaporateswhen Cassie walks up, standing on her toes and causing her skirt to lift almost above the cheeks of her ass. She is everything I’m not: beautiful with a nice body that guys drool over. He can keep lying all he wants—he’s into her. You wouldn’t have caught her sucking him off if he wasn’t. I tear my gaze away. “Yeah, it was him. Garret.”

“He’s looking this way,” she says, but I don’t care. I’m focused on drinking my beer for moral support. I could care less if he told me to meet him after his swim meet and I left. I’m done being humiliated. “What’s going on between you two? The girl with him is glaring this way.”

“There is nothing going on. I was friends with him, and now I’m not. They graduated, so… it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I don’t think he feels the same, judging by the way he’s staring. It looks like he wants to kidnap you.”

She wouldn’t be wrong, but not in the way she thinks. He isn’t into me. He’s playing games, like they all do to prey, and I’m on the menu. “I don’t think his girlfriend, or whatever she is, will be happy about it. She already showed me her claws after I caught her sucking him off in the library.” I take a large sip of my beer and place it on the table, letting the heat from the alcohol calm my anxiety. “If you hear about it in the morning, that’s what happened. I don’t think she was so happy about it.”

“Is it because he’s ignoring her and staring right at you?”

I sneak a glance. I can’t help it. Sure enough, he’s leaning on the jukebox like he owns it and staring at me with his black eyes. The heat from his gaze feels like it’s threatening to melt my skin.

He heads this way after ignoring Cassie’s attempt to grab his attention and storms off. Shit. I stare straight ahead at Amy. I can see apprehension in her expression when he walks up and slides into the booth next to me. “Why did you leave?” he asks, his mouth inches from my cheek. I can feel his eyes rolling over my skin. I turn and stare him down. “Why don’t you ask your girlfriend?”

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