Page 101 of A University of Betrayal

My breath hitched. Once at the fact that Emely should leave, and once at the fact that Hunter was so supportive of her.

Shit.She seemed to need people like Hunter to stand up for her.

“Julian?”

I winced as I caught sight of the girl everything had just been about. Emely was standing there in her black jeans and one of her olive-green blouses, her hair for once not in one of those wild ponytails. Her eyes glistened.

“You’re here.”

She looked confused. And it was my fault.

“I came to check on Mia.”

“She’s upstairs.”

I turned away from Hunter and walked toward her, determined to get past her, but too many thoughts of Bayla’s words, and now Hunter’s, made me stop. Right in front of her. I looked into her eyes, a disheveled strand of dark hair hanging in front of them, and immediately I had the urge to brush it out of her face.

After all this time with her, it was only now that I realized how pretty she had become over the last three years. She always had been. But it hadn’t mattered back then.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Then Hunter cleared his throat, and I stepped back. “By the way, Emely, I really like your idea from this afternoon.”

She turned her eyes away from me and smiled towards Hunter.

“What idea?” I asked with interest.

I felt idiotic for not paying attention to Emely all these years, as she deserved. I had been trapped in my bubble, and maybe what Bayla had said was true.

Ems looked at me again. At first, she seemed very focused on me, as if I had thrown her off track.

“I... we... well, a few of the pack are planning on not wearing the uniform tomorrow, against the rules.”

“Is that so?” My grin widened as I looked at Emely.Thiswas how I knew my childhood friend.

She started to smile and for a second I thought I spotted something playful in her eyes.

“Are you in?” she asked quickly.

I tried to memorize every detail of her, only to realize that a hell of a lot had changed about her. Her lips looked fuller than before, as did her hair, which looked much better loose.

As if she had read my thoughts, she brushed the left strand behind her ear.

I realized that I was making her nervous. Something that must have happened before, otherwise Bayla wouldn’t have noticed.

I didn’t want to make Emely nervous... and I wanted to stop this carousel of thoughts about my childhood friend before it did more to me than I wanted.

Finally, the corners of my mouth turned upward. “I’m in.”

Hypnotic Suggestions

Chris Tilton

Chapter 19

Miles

Wild Child

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