Page 12 of Vexing the Viper

"Yippee," I murmur.

King looks at me and tilts his head as though he’s accessing me. I know my attitude toward him makes no sense at all, and he's probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I can't even describe it myself beyond the fact he's a human and a baseball player, so it's like he already has two strikes against him. It also might be the fact that I’ve never been attracted to a human before, and I can’t stop myself from checking him out.

"Well, thanks again. I'll let you get to bed." He hikes his thumb over his shoulder toward the hallway. "I'm gonna go head back out there."

"Night."

King turns to walk away, and I resist the urge to look at his ass.

I fail.

His ass is fucking glorious.

Oh, fucking hell. I’m attracted to a human.

6

KING

A few days later,I'm lying on the couch in the common area when Niko walks out of his room. He bypasses me and heads out of the dorm, shutting the door behind him. He isn't gone for long before he's back with a drink from Mummy Mocha.

"Come on, let's start this tutoring stuff."

Rolling my eyes, I scoff. ’Oh, hi King, how are you? Are you up for some tutoring today?’ “Oh, why thank you for asking, Niko, that sounds great."

"You're so dramatic."

"I'mdramatic?" I huff, crossing my arms over my chest. "Nevermind, let me grab my stuff." As I storm off into my room, I roll my eyes, cussing him out silently. Fucking Niko. I don't know what the hell his problem is, but it's getting irritating. I don't know what I did to set him off, but it's testing my patience.

Snatching my backpack off my bed, I head back toward the common area, stopping short when I take in Niko on the couch. He's whispering something under his breath, and I smile when I realize he's talking to one of his snakes. He's petting the top of one's head before another hisses and he redirects his attention.

I can tell the moment he realizes he's no longer alone because his body stiffens and his snakes start hissing, and he whips around to look at me.

"What do you want to start on first?" I ask, dropping down onto the other side of the couch.

"What do you consider to be your worst subject?"

I scoff, "I don't have a worst subject." Niko raises his eyebrow and I relent. "Fine. Math."

"Okay, let's start there." I watch the muscles in his arms flex as he grabs my books and sets them on the table. Niko isn't a big guy; he's actually pretty small compared to me, but his arms are jacked. Arms where the veins are currently flexing and drawing my attention to them. Fuck, I would love to lick along each and every one of them.

One of his snakes hisses at me, and Niko jerks his head up. "I don't think your snake likes me," I tell him, staring at the viper that's inching closer to my face. I wonder if it could read my thoughts, and that's why it got angry. My face pales at the thought. "So, uh, can your snakes read minds or something?" I chuckle nervously, hoping that's not the case.

"What? No, they can't read your mind." He looks at me as though I'm an idiot, but hell, before coming to Creelin U, I've never met a Gorgon before. "Besides, that's Coby, he’s a little feisty sometimes."

Ah, just like his owner.

I grab my pencil, twirling it around with my fingers. "Is it true that they can turn you to stone? Because Coby there keeps staring at me."

"No, but I can. They only attack, but I've trained all of mine. They only strike if I let them. You're lucky you haven't pissed me off too much yet."

Sputtering out incoherent sounds, I fumble with what to say when Niko chuckles. I sigh deeply, snickering alongside him.Thank fuck he was kidding, because with him, it could have been the truth.

"So, you’re able to turn people to stone?"

"What's with all the questions?" he asks.

"I just want to know more about you." I shrug, feeling like someone who's been scolded.

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