Page 13 of Honorable Convictions
While he might not be a natural Juris Knight like Pierson, Mitchell was inching closer to clinching one of those coveted positions. On graduation day, he planned to rub it in Pierson’s face too. Not enough to piss him off but to show him that Mitchell was intelligent as well. Although he’d never be the undead calculator and mimic machine Pierson was, he was making the most of what he had to work with.
“Does anyone besides Murphy know the answer to my question?” VK Ruarc asked, leaning against the desk he’d yet to sit behind for more than a handful of minutes. Mitchell supposed he might have a clue and wished he could raise his hand, but he’d let his mind wander and had no idea what they were discussing.
No one said a word, and VK Ruarc lifted the chalk resting between his fingers. “Murphy, get up here and explain it to these guys.”
There was red in Pierson’s cheeks as he rose and went to the blackboard. It was one of the things Mitchell had picked up on as he studied his mate from afar. While Pierson was happy to do well in tests, he was reluctant to show off that knowledge. It demonstrated to Mitchell that although he’d purposefully ostracized himself from their class, he held no grudges.Well, except for the one unfortunate time he met me while my dick was between Trista’s lips.
Pierson took the chalk and spoke little as he scribbled the answer with his back to Mitchell. Since he had on uniform pants with a T-shirt, Mitchell enjoyed the view of his taut ass and the long muscles that stretched from his spine. The view was nearly as nice as his refined and exquisite face. While their temperaments were filled with things that put them at odds, Fate’s pick for Mitchell was indisputably perfect.
Intelligent with a quick wit, muscular physique, and enchanting bottle-green eyes were the type of package Mitchell might’ve dreamed of if he’d had more than three days to exist before they were paired. Mitchell had to admit that Pierson could be right. Perhaps they needed to solely focus on graduating because the reality was, if he got Pierson close and naked, he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on anything besides doing everything he’d fantasized about in the snatches of sleep he allowed himself at night.
When Pierson turned around, Mitchell was still busy daydreaming about sex. Their gazes locked and Pierson glared, then stomped off to his chair. For three more weeks, Pierson was free to have his temper tantrums, but after their completion ceremony was done, they’d need to discuss which city of the two assigned to them was best. Together, they’d make history as the first mated pair of Juris Knights, and Mitchell was ready to finally focus on his relationship instead of textbooks.
Chapter 7
Exhausted to the point where he wasn’t sure if he could stay awake through the whole graduation ceremony, Mitchell had accomplished the impossible and by the skin of his teeth had qualified for Juris Knighthood. To no one’s surprise, Pierson had set a new academic record as the first recruit to never receive below a perfect score on the mental portion of their training. Although he’d reportedly spent hours in the gym, little of his performance there had improved, and it hardly mattered because he’d spend eternity behind a desk or in a courtroom along with Mitchell.
After how hard he’d worked, success should’ve been flowing through his veins. However, on stage in his pristine formal uniform and handed the patch with the “JK” on it, there was a mixture of feelings plaguing him. Overcoming incredible odds to be worthy of that title was a commendable accomplishment, and he was proud of himself, but his new reality didn’t match up with his original dreams. Instead of policing with Pierson at his side, Mitchell was forced to continue studying to keep laws and precedents straight.
That aspect had not been thought through when he’d set the goal for himself. Without Pierson’s incredible brain, Mitchell had to devote countless hours to expand his knowledge. Practice and experience would aid him and allow him to spend less time with his face in a book, which helped stave off his despair, but that wasn’t his biggest problem. It was the blond striding off away from the podium with his head held high. Pierson was not only a Juris Knight, but he’d scooped up the coveted headquarters assignment.
Picking up the pace, Mitchell had to burst into a sprint to catch up to him. “We need to talk, Blondie.”
Without a backward glance, Pierson shook his head. “I told you weeks ago to stop calling me that.”
“I’m going to keep following you, so I suggest you give us a chance to discuss a few things.”
Pierson let out a sound of disgust, then came to a halt so quickly that Mitchell slammed into him. “Do you mind?”
“You did that on purpose, Blondie, so don’t get pissed off at me.”
“I suppose you’re going to insist on privacy.”
“Unless you want all these fallen knights who freed their schedules to come see a bunch of newly rezzed recruits to know our business, yes.”
Mitchell was once again on his heels as Pierson walked out of the gym, and down the hall to an empty classroom. Flipping on the light, he faced him with a frown. “What do you want, Brooks?”
“We’re leaving today. You don’t think it’s important for us to have a conversation before that happens?”
“I think we’ve already said plenty to one another, and I don’t want to spend the afternoon fighting. I need to get to work finding a permanent residence in DC.”
“My first instinct is to fight with you about which city we’ll pick since we got different ones, but DC is the best, so I’m going to agree that we need to find a nice place not far from here.”
“What do you mean, ‘we’?”
“You know damn well what I mean. I’m not going to teleport to Seattle and start my job there while my mate is here in DC.”
“Oh, so that’s the plan. I won the best assignment one could hope for, so suddenly you want us to get along so you can get an automatic transfer as my mate.”
“Are you accusing me of using you?”
Pierson’s mouth tightened. “Aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not. Fate paired us, Blondie. Stop pretending like that doesn’t count for shit. I’ve put up with your temper tantrums for weeks, and I’m too damn tired to deal with it right now. We’ve spent our time insulting one another instead of thinking rationally, but we’re better than that.”
“Temper tantrums?”
“Who carries on for eight fucking weeks because I got my dick sucked?”
