Page 60 of Vexing the Viper

"Is Niko here?" I ask, hoping he's already back from the library.

"Yeah, he should be in his room."

"Thanks. Have fun," I tell them over my shoulder as I hurry down the hall to Niko's room.

I quickly knock once before pushing the door open. Closing the door behind me, I smile, taking in Niko sitting at his desk. He has headphones over his ears and he's dancing around to some music. He's facing the wall, so I take a second to admire him.

He's shirtless, with textbooks laid out in front of him. He still has one more final tomorrow, so I know he's been studying for that test. His head bobs up and down, and I smile when I see Bo and Lox dancing along to the music. Coby is slithering around, but isn't dancing like the others.

I stride over to him, leaning down and placing a kiss on his cheek. Niko yelps, turning around quickly in his seat and taking off his headphones.

Placing his hand over his heaving chest, he pushes at me with his other hand. "Fuck, you scared me."

I laugh, giving him another kiss. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You just looked so damn adorable rocking out to your music. What were you listening to?"

Niko quickly grabs the headphones, bringing them to his chest. "Nothing, just typical music."

Raising my eyebrow, I stare him down. "Are you sure about that? You seem nervous."

"Nope. I mean, yeah, I'm sure. I'm not nervous."

"Okay."

I pretend to start walking over to his bed, and when he places the headphones back down, I snatch them. Putting them up to my ears, I laugh loudly when Taylor Swift hits my ears.

"Oh, my God. I knew you listened to her. All the shit you give me about my musical choices, and here you are: a fellow Swiftie."

"I am not." He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes darting to the side.

"Sure, sure." I put his headphones back down, smiling at him as I walk to the bed. "Come here, I want to show you something."

"What's up?" he asks, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to me.

"Look at this."

I hand him my test, and his eyes brighten when he sees my grade. "I knew you could do it!" he yells, throwing his arms around my neck. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I pull him close until he's straddling my lap.

"Thank you," I tell him.

"I didn't do anything but help. This is all you, Kingston. I am so damn proud of you."

"I'm pretty fucking proud of myself, too." Resting my head against his chest, I close my eyes. I can't fucking believe I passed all my classes, and that means I get to keep my spot on the team.

"Come on, let's go celebrate." Niko says, climbing off my lap.

Nikoand I decide to head to the waterfall, wanting to have another picnic. We walk away from the dorm room hand in hand, glancing around the university. A Hydra strolls past us and I smile, remembering my first day at Creelin U. I was so anxious to not only be in the first group of humans to come to the school, but to also start all over on a new baseball team.

Glancing at Niko, I grin bigger, remembering how grumpy he used to be. It seems like a completely different lifetime, when it was only a few months ago. How he fought so hard to not let me in and tried to push me away at every chance.

We make it to the path over the Lin Bridge for the waterfall. Looking at the river, I see a Merman swimming with a Loch Ness, and I smile while waving at them. They greet us back before going back to their swim.

Walking down the path, we take in the forest around us. There's chirps from the birds flying overhead and rustling from some animals walking over the fallen leaves. It's too cold for us to go swimming in the waterfall, but it'll be perfect for hanging out.

The sound of running water alerts us that we're near the falls before we see it. We walk out of the clearing, and I'm blown away. The last time we came was at night, and it's so much prettier in the daylight. There’s so much more visible for us tosee. The sun is glistening off the water, causing it to look as though it's sparkling.

"It's beautiful." Niko comes to a stop, and I sidle up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my chin on his shoulder.

"It really is. Come on, let's spread out the blanket."

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