Page 15 of Obsession

I groaned, my eyes burning with angry tears that I refused to let fall. This was all Kann's fault. That couldn’t be how he attracted females. He must have been teasing me when he’d told me to shake my ass when I walked and toss my hair. Maybe he’d even hoped I’d make an idiot of myself.

My embarrassment transformed into anger with each step. He was probably having a good laugh at how gullible I’d been. Maybe he even planned to laugh about it with Zav.

Well, he wouldn’t be laughing once I was through with him. I was going to tell him exactly what I thought of his bad, ridiculous advice. Since classes hadn’t started yet, and Kann was not the type to be early for his classes, I had a fifty-fifty shot at finding him either in his quarters getting ready or grabbing food in the staff dining room.

I rolled the dice and guessed that he was more likely to be running late and skip breakfast, practically running up the twisting steps leading to the instructors' quarters.

Before I could think better of it, my fist was pounding on his door. I dragged in a few ragged breaths as I waited, almost about to spin on my heel and head for the dining room when the door slid open.

Then my carefully prepared tirade evaporated.

I expected to find Kann getting ready, but I hadn’t been prepared for him to be in nothing but a dark towel that rode low on his hips. Moisture glistened on his bare chest, highlighting every sculpted muscle, and his hair was damp and tousled.

My mouth went dry as I stared at the half-naked Drexian. I tried to remember what I'd come to say, but my brain seemed to have short-circuited. All I could do was gape, my anger dissolving into something far more dangerous.

"Britta?" He cocked his head, and a drop of sweat traced its way down his neck to his collarbone, disappearing beneath the silver Blade pendant. “Are you okay?”

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again. Nothing.

Grekkinghell, I was in trouble.

Chapter

Nine

Kann

How was the serious Taori engineer so skilled at climbing? I shook my head as I peeled off my sweaty clothes, my shoulders twinging from the effort. I tossed them on the gray blanket that hugged my bed, the corners sharply tucked and the surface perfectly smooth.

So much for showing him up. I’d gravely miscalculated the Taori’s strength and his climbing experience. It had only been after the second trip up the wall that he’d told me that his home world was mountainous, and he’d grown up scaling steep peaks and sheer walls for fun.

“Grekkingcheat,” I said under my breath, even though there was no one to hear my complaints in my quarters.

I knew I had no one to blame but myself. I’d been the one to challenge him to the climbing wall. I’d been the one who’dassumed he wasn’t an experienced climber. I’d been the one who’d secretly wanted him to fail so I could feel superior.

I’d heard Ariana talk about karma before—some unusual human concept that the universe rewarded you with what you deserved—but if this was it, I was not a fan. At least Zav had no idea of my true intention, which made the humiliation sting a little less.

Better yet? Britta had no idea I’d been bested by the Taori or that I’d wanted to climb with him to prove to myself that I was better. Even thinking about it made my cheeks flame with heat.

“You idiot.” I padded barefoot into the attached bathing chamber and snatched a dark towel from the rack. I wrapped it around my waist as I reached for the button to engage the water.

Thump thump thump.

I stopped and turned at the pounding on my door. Who needed me now? Classes hadn’t started yet, but they would soon. Was it Volt telling me that I couldn’t miss breakfast again?

"Volten, if you're here to drag me to…” The words died on my lips as I yanked the door open and was not greeted by my friend.

“Britta?” I couldn’t imagine why the human was outside my door at this time of day, but she looked angry. “Are you okay?”

Her mouth opened and closed, then her gaze slid south of my face. I watched with fascination as her cheeks darkened and her pupils dilated. She seemed to have forgotten whatever she'd come to say.

I cleared my throat, hoping to snap her from her stasis. “Do you need something from me?”

Her gaze snapped back to mine. “Your advice was crap.”

I blinked, momentarily confused. “My advice?”

Then understanding hit. "My advice on how to flirt?”

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