I don’t think he’s a dick anymore, but he’s still kind of patronizing.
“I should go,” I announce, realizing I’ve lingered too long in this odd conversation with my professor. “I have reading to do.”
“Watch your step this time, won’t you?” He reminds me of how I almost fell on my ass before he steadied me.
I struggle not to roll my eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of walking home without your instruction, Professor.”
He chuckles, and the sound does something funny to my insides.
“I’ll see you in class.” He says it like a promise.
I give him an awkward wave and turn on my heel to hide my flushed cheeks.
Before this weird encounter, I’d struggled not to glower at him during our lectures. Now I’m not sure how I’ll keep myself from blushing if he turns that devastating smile on me again.
He’s far too hot to be a professor. It shouldn’t be allowed.
11
RAND
Karolina
Are you free to chat?
I really want to talk to you.
Stop ignoring me, Bones.
Are you alive?
Please answer me.
Iread through her string of texts that she’s sent since the disastrous end to our hunt. I’ve intended to deprive her of my company as Bones until she accepts me as Rand.
But after our encounter in town today, I’m curious to know what she thinks of her asshole professor.
I hope I’ve managed to repair some of the damage I did during the icebreaker.
She seemed more at ease with me, even if she was a bit prickly at first. She almost flirted with me a little.
I’ll have to be careful not to give away too many clues that I’m Bones and Rand; she’s not ready to find out yet. I might nevertell her, if I can figure out a few logistics—I have her real name and her face tattooed all over my body.
Eventually, I’ll have her in my bed, and she’ll need an explanation for that.
I’ll have to earn her trust so that she’ll share her true identity with me. Then I’ll be able to pretend the tattoos are more recent.
For now, I have to hope that my false English accent is enough to throw her off. That, and the fact that she’s never seen my face as Bones.
And really, what has she shared with me in all these years as her masked man?
In the wake of her rejection after the hunt, I’ve obsessively pored over ever interaction we’ve ever had. Even though I know everything about her from my clandestine stalking, objectively, she’s barely revealed anything about herself.
And I kept all of my secrets too because I wasn’t ready to reveal myself to her.
No wonder she freaked out when I tried to profess my devotion.
She was scared of me in that moment.