Page 31 of Crimson Promises
He shook his head as if that wasn’t what he meant but didn’t elaborate. Instead, he stood up, grabbed his belongings, and stared at the seat where I had put everything down. No reasonable requests like “Could you move your stuff?” He just stared. Infuriating.
Grabbing my backpack, I moved it to the seat on my other side.
He gave me a curt nod as he dumped his things beside him.
My nostrils flared. Evergreen and fresh soil cocooned me.
I did not realize I had inched closer to him until he spun back around, his nose centimeters from mine.Move, my brain demanded. His hot breath skimmed the opening between the edge of my turtleneck and my neck.Oh, sweet cream with a cherry on top. My muscles locked. I tipped my head back. He stared down at me. Eyes blazing. His pupils had grown, leaving only a thin outline of green. Somehow, that green had gotten darker, deeper. Dangerous, my mind warned for a second time.
He leaned back and blinked. The fire that had just been there was gone. A composed and indifferent man was back. But the heavy heaving of his chest gave him away. Proof I hadsomephysical effect on him.
“We should get started,” he said. “The prof only gave us a bit of class time.”
“Okay.” I extended my hand toward him. “I’m Aurora, by the way.”
“I’m Bennett, but you can call me Ben.” He said as his hand clasped mine. A current washed through my body, an awareness emitting from where our bodies connected.
Interested to see how his name felt on my tongue, I responded, “Ben. It’s nice to meet you officially.”Although I’ve definitely been creeping you for the duration of this class.
“Likewise.” He tapped a new pen against the laminate cover of his notebook. “So, what do you think: hero or villain?”
“Huh?”
“Hercules, you know, for our assignment,” he pointed out.
“History has always viewed him as the hero. He was viewed as virtuous by many in Greek Mythology. Hercules became a symbol of strength for the people of Greece.”
“He was erratic like his father, Zeus. He let power get to his head. Hercules has blood on his hand. He killed innocents.”
“Those accounts vary depending on the academic sources. Some point out Hercules was under the influence of Hera, though,” I argued.
“Semantics.”
“Semantics isn’t an argument we can put into our paper and support with academic evidence.”
“Would you be bold enough to try?” He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.
I released a heavy sigh. “No, I’m not willing to try when it’s worth twenty-five percent of our grade. So, we agree that we’ll take the approach and argue that Hercules was a hero. I saw some material we could use where I work.”
“Now you have me curious about where you work,” he smirked.
This time, I didn’t hold the eye roll back. “At a library. Not whatever gross thing you were imagining in your head.”
“Don’t you think it’s rude to suggest my brain automatically assumes it’s something dirty?”
“I…uh…” A deep blush colored my face.
Ben grinned.
Asshole was enjoying making me uncomfortable.
Thankfully, the professor interrupted Awkward Central. “Five more minutes, and then we are moving forward with today’s lesson.”
“We should probably get together to discuss how we want to separate the research. Then we can devise several arguments supported by evidence to ensure the paper is cohesive.”And try to figure out how to complete this project with as little interaction as possible.
“Your expansive vocabulary is intoxicating, Aurora,” Ben teased.
“It’s telling of who you surround yourself with if you think my vocabulary is comprehensive. You should get out more.”
