Page 24 of Vexing the Viper

"Niko!" she exclaims, running around the counter and giving me a hug. "How have you been?"

"Really good. You?"

"Same." She walks away and squeals when she sees Mateo. "And Mateo! Of course you're here, too! It's so good to see both of you. Oh, hello," she whispers, her wings spreading wide with a flutter.

Twisting my head, I see she's staring at King. And I can't blame her, but could she make it any more obvious.

"Hey, I'm King."

"Savannah."

"Nice to meet you." He moves around her and sets his drinks on the counter. "Cool wings. Those are badass."

"Thanks," she chirps, making her way back behind the register. She scans each of our drinks, and we pay her and say our thanks before making our way out of the store.

"Is it offensive to ask what monster Savannah is?"

"She's a Harpy," Mateo tells him while pulling out his phone. "And she's cool as hell. I’ve known her since before she worked at the liquor store."

We head back over Lin River Bridge, hiking back up to Creelin U. It's not long before we're back in our dorm room and sitting in the common area. King pours each of us a shot and we take it one by one, wincing as it burns our throats.

"There is no way this is better than a wine cooler," Mateo coughs, rubbing at his chest. Whenever we go out, I've never seen Mateo drink anything that wasn't fruity, so I'm surprised he even took the shot.

"You okay? You can always go get a wine cooler if you rather have that." I don't want him to feel as though he has to take shots just because King and I are.

"No, no, I like it." He grimaces, glancing down into the shot glass. "But uh, maybe my limit is one for now."

King pours us another shot, which we both take, the second one going down easier than the first.

"So, I know you both hate baseball, but since we're roommates, would you guys come to our scrimmage?" King avoids making eye contact with me, twirling the shot glass around with his hand.

"Of course," Mateo says eagerly. “I'm always a fan of watching the baseball games.”

"You just want to look at their asses." I snicker, knowing full well that’s the only reasonI’dever be there.

"Well, duh. Is there any other reason to go?"

"As much as I know you would love to watch my ass, I would love for you both to come watch me play," King says, laughing softly at Mateo.

"Yeah, we can do that," I reply, immediately not knowing why I agreed to go. I dislike baseball, but for some reason I’m not hating the idea of watching King play the game.

Mateo whips his head around so fast I'm surprised he doesn't get whiplash. "Did you agree to go to a baseball game?"

"Yeah, so." I shrug, unsure of why he's making such a big deal of this.

"But you hate baseball," he sputters, staring at me. His eyes dart to King, then make their way back to me. "Ah, I see." Nodding his head, he smiles at me. "We would love to go to your game."

"Thanks, guys." King stands up. "Be right back."

King disappears down the hallway and Mateo hits me on the shoulder. "Ow, what the fuck?"

"You are so fucked."

"What?" I ask, rubbing my shoulder. Damn, that really hurt.

"Nothing. Oh, nothing at all." He smirks at me, his eyes darting between me and the space King just disappeared into. I might be a little bit too obvious with my attraction to King if Mateo is starting to notice.

King walks back into the room holding up a game station. "Anyone want to play?"

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