Ritual (Palm South University #5) - Kandi Steiner Page 0,5
my proximity to that danger.
I sit there with my jaw clenched, my brain a whir of angry nonsense as I try to listen to the professor warn us that we’re in for a challenging semester. I take notes, mark up my syllabus, and add important dates to my calendar on my laptop, all while trying to pretend I don’t care that Grayson is a few seats behind me.
When the professor dismisses us, I bolt out of that room like it’s on fire, not giving Grayson the chance to even attempt to talk to me again. It’s not until I’m a hundred yards away from the science building and nearly to the student union that I take a calming breath, releasing the tension in my chest.
As soon as I do, I’m lifted from behind and spun around in a frenzied circle.
I scream, swatting at the arms around me until I’m dropped back to the Earth. When I turn and find a sexy, lazily smiling Adam, I shove him hard in the chest.
“Asshole! You scared the living hell out of me!”
He chuckles, wrapping me in a warm hug and kissing my nose as I pout. “I’m sorry, babe. I just couldn’t resist. I haven’t seen you since this morning. I missed you.”
“You saw me three hours ago,” I say, but already I’m smiling and leaning into his chest with a sigh. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head under his.
“Three hours is too long.” He pulls back, grabbing my hand as we continue making our way toward the student union. “How was class?”
Anxiety rips through me — and this time, not from having Grayson in the same room with me, but with the decision of whether or not I should tell Adam that he was in the same room with me. I glance at him from the corner of my eyes, swallowing.
“It was fine.”
“Fine?” he asks with a smirk. “You were practically bouncing like a little kid about to ride a carousel when I dropped you off in front of the science building. How come you’re not smiling like a loon now?”
I blow out a breath. “It’s an advanced Genetics class, Adam, not a carnival. Excuse me if I’m not excited about the massive amount of lab work I’ll have this semester.”
I inwardly cringe at the way I snapped at him, but he just stops walking, pulling me to a halt, too, and framing my face with his hands.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” he says — even though it’s me who should be apologizing. His brown eyes search mine. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
I sigh, shaking my head and leaning my forehead against his. “I’m just a little stressed with the new workload, I think.”
It’s a lie. A blatant lie. And I can’t figure out why I’m making it. I should just tell him what happened, tell him Grayson is in my class and it freaked me out to see him after everything.
But Adam and I are finally happy. We’re finally together — really together. We’ve spent the whole summer falling in love and getting even closer than we ever were before. And for the first time since we met, there’s no one and nothing between us.
And I don’t want to ruin it.
Adam kisses my forehead, pulling me in for a long hug with his chin balanced on the crown of my head. “That’s understandable, Red.”
I pinch his side and he makes an oaf! sound before chucking and hugging me tighter.
“How about we grab lunch, I’ll walk you to your next class, and then when you’re done we can go get Moon Pie pizza and hide away in my bed for the rest of the night?”
I pull back and peer up at him. “I thought we were going to work out after class?”
He shrugs, a smirk on his too-hot-for-his-own-good face. “We can work extra hard tomorrow. Tonight, I want to hold my beautiful, amazing, smart, incredible girlfriend and make all her stress go away.” He leans in, grabbing my ass as he whispers in my ear. “And I know many ways to do it.”
I shove him away with a roll of my eyes, pretending to be annoyed, but as soon as he’s away from me I’m grabbing his hand and holding it tight. I lean up to kiss his cheek. “You’re perfect.”
“That’s you, baby girl. Now,” he says, opening the door to the boisterous student union. “What’s for lunch?”
“ALRIGHT, LADIES,” ERIN SAYS, highlighting something on her clipboard before smiling