Empire High Elite (Empire High #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,53
mess. My hair detangled in one stroke. Huh. I looked down at the brush. It must have been some magic, rich person brush. I put it down gently, afraid that I might break it. And then I went to go save Matt from what was surely an awkward conversation.
But when I walked into the dining room, it was only Matt sitting there.
“Hey,” I said. “Where’s Mr. Pruitt?”
“He said he needed a few minutes in his office. But that we could start without him. You want me to stay, right?”
“Of course.” I sat down next to him at the table, avoiding the chairs Mrs. Pruitt and Isabella had sat at the other night. “If it was up to me, you’d never leave.” I opened my mouth to say something else, but one of the staff members I hadn’t met yet bustled in carrying a tray of salads.
She didn’t question the unannounced guest, the absence of Mr. Pruitt, or the fact that Mrs. Pruitt and Isabella were missing.
“Thank you,” I said when she placed a bowl down in front of me. “This looks great.”
She seemed surprised that I was talking to her. “You’re welcome, miss.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t meet you the other day on my tour. I’m Brooklyn. What’s your name?”
She glanced at Matt nervously. “Tiffany,” she said. Her skin was so pale that I thought she might faint. But then I thought that maybe she was just never allowed to leave the apartment. Like me. Besides, the rest of her looked healthy enough. She couldn’t be much older than me, and her mousey brown hair was shining and I wondered if she had one of those magical hairbrushes too. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said.
Tiffany smiled, but it faltered when there was a noise from somewhere in the hall. It almost sounded like the heat had just kicked on, even though it wasn’t quite chilly enough for it. She scurried away as quickly as she had come.
“Why does everyone always look so shocked when I talk to them?” Justin had acted the same way earlier. I shoved a huge forkful of lettuce in my mouth.
Matt laughed.
I looked up at him and tried to swallow my food as fast as I could.
“You don’t see it, do you?” he asked.
“See what?” It took every ounce of restraint I had not to shovel more food into my mouth. I was so freaking hungry.
“They react that way because people usually ignore them. And you…you’re so nice. And kind. And sincere. It’s refreshing.”
I felt my cheeks blush.
“And beautiful,” he added.
I laughed. “I don’t think that’s why they’re shocked when I talk to them.”
“I was shocked when you talked to me.”
“No you weren’t.” But I was smiling so hard that my objection didn’t sound like much of one at all. He thought I was beautiful. He was acting like he was the lucky one in this relationship, not me. “Are we still…I know I said I wanted to break up, but…”
“Are you asking me out, Brooklyn?”
“Yes?”
He smiled. “As far as I’m concerned, we never broke up.” He reached out and grabbed my hand. “And I don’t care about what happened with Felix. I deserved it for not sticking up for you.”
“Nothing happened.” Minus the fact that I’d told him I loved him. But I was freaking high. I had no idea what I wanted. Except Matt. I knew I wanted him back. I squeezed his hand. “But nothing has really changed. You still won’t be able to stick up for me in public.”
“What if we have a secret code?”
“A code?”
“So that you’ll know I’m on your side even if I can’t say anything.”
“I’m not sure that will really help.”
“Or a signal so I know to help get you out of a situation?”
It should have been pretty clear when I needed help. But maybe a signal would assist him. And it would allow us to communicate without anyone knowing. “What about sticking out our tongues?”
He laughed. “People will think we’re sick. How about you bite your lip.”
“Like this?” I bit my bottom lip and I swore he groaned.
“Yeah. Like that.” He did the same and I realized why he groaned.
Something about the way his teeth dug into his lip made me wish he was doing it to me. My lips. My skin. Anything. He could bite me anywhere he wanted. “You don’t think it’s too suggestive?”
He smiled. “You might be right. How about we rub the tip of our nose with our index finger?”