Page 105 of The Art of Exiley

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop letting all the boys talk mean to me,my dove,” I try to joke, but it comes out a little breathy.

“Be sure you do,babe.”

That sounds way better than it should. I might be in trouble.

Once he’s taken his hands back and given me breathing room, I say, “When I saw you yelling at Bram, I thought you were lambasting him for not winning.”

Rafe leans his head back against a post with a sigh. “It’s hard to even care about winning right now. Other things feel so much more important.”

Hypatia.

“I get it. I feel the same way.”

“Anyway, congratulations to you. You played a good game for a debut.”

My brain is blinking out from the experience of receiving a compliment from Rafe. “And you were so sure I wouldn’t be any kind of competition.”

“You? Are still not competition.”

“You’re an ass.”

“You have a nice ass.”

Two compliments in one day. I’m really in trouble now.

30

Everyone is celebrating the opening games at the Beltane bonfire, even the Artisans who came last in the tournament and won’t be moving on to the next round. I wish I could join the revelry and party with my team, but Rafe is using the distraction of absolutely everyone Beltane-ing it up to sneak around and “borrow” some equipment we’re going to need. So I can’t go. People will definitely notice that Rafe is absent, and he wants them to assume it’s because we’re together.

Instead, I head to my room to pack.

I guess noteveryoneis at the bonfire, because I encounter Michael exiting the library.

“Oh, hi,” he says, flustered.

“Hi,” I say back, so very eloquently.

It’s sad that things have gotten so awkward between us. But I’ve been keeping my distance ever since our last conversation. The one where I told him he should date Kaylie.

Now that I’m leaving tomorrow, and I don’t know when I’ll see him again, I suddenly regret that choice. Our last few weeks together, wasted.

“Um, great game,” he says. “Your match was really fun to watch.”

“Thanks,” I reply. There’s so much more that I want to say to him, but it’s too tangled to come out. None of it matters anyway. Michael and I have no future. If I don’t come back, I’ll never see him again. And if I do… well, if he ever finds out what I’ve done, he’ll hate me.

We both start talking at the same time.

“I should get g—”

“I wanted to tell you—”

Awkward pause.

“You first,” I say.

Michael clears his throat. “I just wanted to say that I took what you said seriously. I… needed to hear it.”

Does that mean he’s dating Kaylie now? I might actually cry.

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