Page 49 of The Reluctant Hero

“How observant you are,” she says, giving me a hair-raising smile that unnerves me. In defense, I get snippy.

“Stop doing that, or I will smack that grin off your face.”

“You won’t,” her boyfriend tells me in his death tone. Without his sunglasses the pure malice comes across beautifully.

“She won’t,” South agrees and leans on him harder. “Your anger is entertaining but unfocused, Amanda. You need an outlet. I understand that. You can be trained to use it appropriately.”

I cross my arms as I stare back. “I’m listening.”

“With defensive posture and an antagonizing tone.”

I tilt my chin stubbornly and refuse to correct any of those things.

“I could teach you a lot,” she offers and gains everyone’s attention. It’s a mixture of dread and fear across the board that makes me frown. “You would be able to kill him yourself and get away with it.”

“That sounds like a lot of work and danger. No, thanks. I’d rather lawyer up and use whoever it is as a go-between so I don’t have to deal with Loser, and I can live without thinking about him again.”

“Lazy,” her eyes narrow in disapproval.

“Peaceful and no drama,” I smirk back. “I don’t want a montage to become a badass. I want a divorce and some of myself-confidence back. Somebody else can have the badass job. I’m busy.”

“Your instincts are good but skewed,” she mutters thoughtfully.

“Yes, how horrible that I don’t want to be a ninja assassin,” I roll my eyes. “I cut myself with a butter knife once. Do you know how dumb that is? Now, picture me with arealweapon. I’d somehow kill myself first. Have I mentioned how accident-prone I am? No. It’s my final answer.”

“Really lazy,” she tilts her head to take me in.

“Yeah,” I scoff. “I don’t want to waste my time when there are logical paths to take.”

“My path is logical,” her voice gets gritty, which makes me frown in surprise. That can’t be good for her throat.

“Logical foryou. Not everyone can fill those shoes or even want to. It’s not a big deal. Get over it.”

She blinks at me for a moment as if she’s not sure how to take that. Her breathing calms after a second of thought. “You have a unique outlook.”

“So do you, but I’m not calling you lazy or being an ass because your outlook is different from mine. You’re homicidal, and I’m going through a selfish, destructive phase. We can coexist.”

Her head tilts creepily as she watches me.

“You’ll come to class on Saturday, and we’ll begin.”

“No,” I scoff.

“Yes.”

“I am never going back to that place. I’m not dealing with more egotistical assholes that think everybody wants to fuck them or the women that are proving them right. They give us all a bad rep, and it makes me want to puke now. Supportive friendship is now on permanent vacation.”

“That’s where it has to be. I’ll train you to attack them, and no one will bother you. I need Shade to be there so he can see my interest in you isn’t sexual.”

I frown in confusion and glance at her boyfriend, whose expression drops into a scowl. He looks like he’s struggling with the urge to yell at her.

“It’s cool. She has zero tact but I didn’t hear anything. On a completely unrelated note, that ship would never sail,” I assure him with a wince.

He glances at me and his expression blanks out. I give him a wary look in return. “I want everyone to leave now. Party over.”

“Just a moment,” Matthias says in his frosty tone. I glance between the boyfriend and him for a second.

“Are you two related?” I point between them.

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