Page 31 of Nemesis

He takes my wrist and pulls me to my feet. I can’t seem to break my staring contest with Saint, while the man beside me gathers our clothes. I sigh and start toward him, leaving Kade to follow.

Saint meets me halfway. His gaze rakes up and down my body, a flush overtaking his neck and face. “What the fuck, Artemis?”

“I thought friends called you Tem,” Kade interjects.

“We’re not friends,” we both say at the same time.

I wrinkle my nose. I don’t like having anything to do with him, including saying the same words at the same time. Like we’re on the same page?Nope. He’s been acting like a jerk and avoiding me since I saw his dick.

So why did he come?

Or more aptly—who forced his hand? My brother, ever the worrier, or one of his best friends?

“I don’t suppose you have a reason for being here,” I say after a beat.

“Well.” He lifts his chin. “As a matter of fact, I’m your chaperone for the day,Tem.”

Kade laughs. “Yeah, no.”

“You don’t get to decide that.”

The big guy beside me hooks his thumb in my direction. “Do you see her face? What part of that says, ‘Oh, please follow me around all day like a lost puppy?’”

I snort.

I changed my mind. Between this and actually jumping, this guy is growing on me.

“Let’s get dry,” I say to him. “There are showers in Olympus. And then we can figure out how to ditch the Debbie Downer.”

Saint scowls. “Seriously?”

“I seriously don’t want you following me around, asshole,” I snap. “Go run back to the guys and tell them we got away from you. Whatever.”

“Just don’t come crying to me when something bad happens to you.”

I gape at him. Kade’s watching me, I can feel his gaze like a white-hot poker. It would take too long to explain my issues with Saint. To cover the last year…

“Why don’t you go jump off a cliff?” I retort, forcing a sweet smile. “Make sure to aim for the rocks.”

With that, I turn on my heel and stride toward Olympus.

Becausefuck him.

Well, not really. We’re not doing that again.

8ARTEMIS

Our daring escapefrom Saint isn’t as thrilling as I hoped it would be. By the time we emerge from the fighters’ area—there are separate shower rooms for the men and women, and I keep a box of my things in my brother’s quarters—changed and dry, Saint is nowhere to be found.

Seems he took me at my word.

“Now,” Kade says. “My turn.”

I sigh. A tendril of unease winds through me, but I shove it down. The last thing Saint can be isright.

Kade’s blacked-out SUV is parked beside my bike. And since I purposefully took the bike to not be a chauffeur… I suppress my vocal groan and follow him to the SUV. As we walk, I find myself analyzing him like I would a fighter. How he moves, how he holds himself.

But then I get distracted. His ass is dangerous in his jeans. In the light of day, he seems overall different than the man who fought Saint two days ago.

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