Page 19 of Caught Stealing

“Hey, guys,” an annoyingly familiar voice comes from behind me.

This motherfucker.

I stare straight at Kason while Holden slides in beside me, praying to God I have the willpower to not strangle my best friend on the spot.

And now I know why we’re eating at a different time today.

“What’d I miss?” Holden asks as he takes a swig of water.

Kason watches me silently, the expression on his face begging me to play nice, at least for the next fifteen minutes. Which very well might take every ounce of strength in my body and still not be enough.

I shift in my seat to face Holden. “Kason was just telling me that he won’t have time to study tonight because the two of you are going out on adate.”

There’s a gleam of amusement in Holden’s eyes at the apparent venom dripping from my voice. “Yeah, I’m excited for tonight.”

“Of course you are,” I mutter under my breath. Not quiet enough, though, because Holden’s brows quirk up.

“Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, I think there is.”

He studies me for a moment, eyes cataloging my face with scrutiny before he responds. “Well, the only problem I can see is your parents never teaching you how to share.”

My nostrils flare, annoyance growing as I stare him down. “Sharing is easy if the other person is deserving of it.”

“You two about done here, or do we need to whip them out and measure to end this?” Kason snaps. For a second, I completely forgot he was at the table with us; all my attention barely veering off Holden and all his irritating glory whenever he’s in the same room as me. I can’t help it, though. I’m sick of his smooth, silver tongue and cocky attitude. It radiates from him like a toxin.

“Not necessary,” Holden says, a smirk sitting on his lips. “We both know who’d win.”

“Fitting, seeing as you’re the biggest dick.”

“Jesus take the wheel,” Kason mutters, eyes shifting to the ceiling before landing on me in a death glare.

I raise my hands in surrender. “Just saying, irony works in many ways.”

Kason’s thoughts are written all over his face, so I’m not surprised in the slightest by what comes out of his mouth next.

“Can you not be an asshole for five minutes?”

“Happily,” I say, plastering a fake, innocent smile on my face when I glance over at Holden. “So glad you could join us for lunch.”

There’s a slight lift of his brow, amusement and challenge in the action.

“Really? Then maybe we should make it a regular occurrence.”

I’m one smart-ass comment away from losing my shit on him—maybe even causing a scene in the middle of the dining hall. Something that would not only embarrass all three of us, but also piss Kason off to no end—the latter being something I’m tryingreallyhard not to do.

Which is why I bite my tongue and shove back from the table before grabbing my half-eaten tray of food.

“I better get going,” I tell Kason, even though I still have ten minutes. But leaving now is the best thing I can do for everyone involved, considering I have the massive urge to wipe Holden’s smirk clean off his stupid face.

“Already?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’ll see you later.”

The heat of Holden’s gaze on my cheek as I attempt to ignore him is searing, and I make the mistake of looking over at him while grabbing my bag from the ground.

“Save me a seat,” he says with a taunting lilt.

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