Page 19 of Wings of Ashes
“Must be the amazing back rub,” Nix commented.
“This is…so inappropriate,” he grumbled.
“More inappropriate than when you implied in front of the whole class, on my very first day, that I was only here to try to sleep with you and not learn?”
He scowled down at his hand, not meeting her gaze as he grunted.
“Do you have that many students trying to sleep with you? To make that your instant assumption?”
He grunted again.
“Gross.” Nix’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “Oh, sorry,” she apologized after realizing she kind of just insulted him. “I mean, you’re hot and all. It’s just gross that people sign up and take the class seat away from others who could enroll and then don’t make any effort to learn anything. It sucks when people take opportunities from others and then squander them, you know?”
Finally, Professor Thierry looked up and over to meet Nix’s gaze.
She fell down the rabbit hole of those enchanting silver eyes instantly.
He really was very attractive. All sharp cheekbones and pouty lips and striking eyes with long lashes.I guess I can kind of understand why all the girls want to be in his class, Nix admitted to herself.
“Yes. Squandering that which you have is the greatest mistake in life,” he said gravely.
“Yes,” she replied instantly in agreement, thinking of her second chance at life. “It is.”
He blinked at her again. That same stunned look of confused and fascinated astonishment claimed his face. “You speak very maturely for someone your age.”
“My life has felt…pretty long.” Her mind was probably closer to the age of the professor than to the other students, considering she came from six years in the future.
“You never know how much time you have,” he said cryptically just before his gaze dropped lower on her face. Her lips?
“Yes,” she said, a little breathier than she meant to. Was he staring at her lips?
He jerked his head to the side, away from her, and stood, removing his hand from the desk. His body was stiff, but most of the pain had clearly worn off from whatever episode he’d just had.
“I promise to never accidentally break your medicine again,” she said.
He nodded and turned further away from her, granting them distance. “Good.”
“If you ever need another back rub, uh, you know, cause of the pain—”
“Won’t be necessary.”
“Some things don’t have to be necessary.”
8
CHAPTER
“There you are,” Elle squealed happily when Nix sat beside her at the long wooden lunch table in the massive cafeteria. “Where have you been all day? Were you feeling sick? You weren’t in any of our classes—” Elle’s eyes grew wide as she looked down. “Wow, you sure got a lot to eat, huh?”
Nix’s lunch tray was, in one word, full.
After years of living in a cage, waiting for her captor to bring her scraps or starve her to see what the “effects” would be, Nix was starting this second chance at life off with a big passion for food.
Funny, she remembered that back in her days at the academy, she had never eaten all that much. She always felt weak or sick or just not in the mood for normal-sized meals.
Even though her body was not prepared for the adjustment, Nix was hungry. Her mind was famished. And all the hot food in the cafeteria line? Nix could not say no.
“You typically don’t eat that much,” Elle commented. “Aren’t you worried about making yourself sick?”
