Page 48 of Envy

“I wish I was.”

Not many people know, but it was the only excuse I could give her. There’s no way I could tell her the real reason I’m staying with Garret. No way I could admit that we kissed. That he saved me from drowning in his pool. That I liked it. That I still have the bite marks to prove it.

“How is he when you’re alone?” she asks, lowering her voice. “I mean, he’s always the life of the party, but he also has this dangerous quality. You know, ‘don’t let the nice act fool you’ type of thing.”

She isn’t wrong. I thought I was the only one who noticed. But since that night at the party, Garret has me wrapped up in him. In his kindness. In the contradiction of him. And I can’t get enough.

But he hasn’t tried to kiss me again.

I thought it was guilt. Maybe regret.

I don’t know what I’m feeling, but I can’t ignore the way my body reacts when he’s close. The anticipation of his touch. The way his gaze lingers in a room full of people.

And just when I convince myself it’s all in my head, he does something that takes my breath away—like getting me a brand-new smartphone. Showing me all the features and how I could use it for my assignments. He didn’t expect anything in return, just said it was a gift. A simple gift to help me out.

For the first time, I saw kindness in the dark depths of his eyes. A kindness I don’t think he shows just anyone.

It felt like a rare gift—an eclipse of the moon.

I didn’t know what to say, just thanked him over and over. And he just stared at me, his gaze deep, like he was committing the moment to memory.

“Is that why I haven’t seen you in the dorms?” Amy asks.

I nod, wondering how many people had noticed. “Yeah. I don’t know how he convinced his mom and stepfather, but I guess they agreed.”

I leave out the part that he was ordered to take me in. That he didn’t have a choice. Not that it mattered. No one goes against the Order.

And I still don’t know if Garret’s behavior is out of obligation. Or pity.

The bar grows louder as more people filter in. The sharp crack of a pool stick against a ball pulls my attention. My chest tightens when I spot a group of guys from the swim team—including Luke. But Garret is nowhere to be found.

I check my phone, but there’s no text. Not that I expected one. He told me not to wait up for him after class.

“Do you know them?” Amy asks, catching me staring.

I snap out of it, shaking my head. “No.”

She raises a brow. “Aren’t they on the swim team with your boy?”

“He’s not my boy,” I say too quickly.

“He’s not your brother either,” she points out. “You’re not related by any means. You didn’t grow up together, right?”

“You sound like Garret. He says that all the time.”

Her grin turns knowing. “That means he likes you.”

I want to laugh at her assumption. Garret Nox might screw anything that moves, but liking me? That’s something I don’t think he’s capable of.

I nod, wondering how many people have noticed the same thing. How obvious is it?

“Yeah. I don’t know how he convinced his mom and stepfather, but I guess they agreed,” I say, leaving out the part that Garret didn’t have a choice. That he was ordered to take me in. It doesn’t matter, though. Nothing could have changed it. No one goes against the Order.

And yet . . . I wonder if Garret’s behavior is out of obligation. Or pity.

The bar grows louder as more people filter in, the air thick with laughter and the clinking of glasses. The sharp crack of a pool cue against the ball pulls my attention. My chest tightens when I spot a group of guys from the swim team—including Luke.

But Garret is nowhere to be found.

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