Spring (Evermore Academy #2) - Audrey Grey Page 0,44
history . . .
No way will I subject Mack to that hot mess.
“Summer?” Mack says, concern in her eyes.
“What?” I blink as her last question slowly surfaces. “Hell no. Chicks before dicks, bae before Fae, remember? And you’re my only bae. Besides, you deserve extra training time like everyone else to prepare for the gauntlet. If you didn’t pass . . .” I shake my head, sending the idea back to the dark hole from whence it came. “That will never happen because A, you’re the best student here and B, I need you. Got it? Even if that means training five times a day with dragon boy.”
“I mean, if that’s what it takes to pass, I’ll force myself to do extra sessions with Asher, but I won’t like it.”
We break into hysterical laughter, earning more than a few weird looks from our dormmates passing by the open door.
Tears of laughter stream down her face as she wraps me in a hug. “I don’t deserve you, bae.”
I hug her back, knowing the opposite is true: Mackenzie Fairchild is the love of my life, and I’ll never understand why she chose me as her best friend. Never.
“Can we please demand George back?” I whisper.
She squeezes me harder. “Shh, Fred will hear you! He’s temperamental.”
Great. I’m so going to punish Reina for this.
I find Eclipsa wiping down her eggplant purple yoga mat. Her text said to wear comfortable clothes, and I realize why when she pats the pink mat beside hers. I settle next to her, glancing at the two empty mats behind us.
“Someone joining us?” I say, but my heart already knows, and it stutters into a frantic rhythm just as the doors swing open and Valerian enters, followed by Asher.
Both wear black joggers and soft cotton tees that show off their athletic bodies. Holy hell, they could be models in a sportswear campaign.
This time, I’m prepared for the lightning bolt that spears my middle as our eyes meet. But prepared or not, I still gasp beneath my breath as the raw strength of the connection pulses to life.
Valerian stiffens before dragging his focus away. As they both prowl toward us like the badass predators they are, Asher throws me a wink.
“Princess,” dragon boy says by way of greeting as he somehow fits his bulky body onto his mat and falls into a surprisingly graceful pose. He ignores the pink and yellow Hello Kitty mat Eclipsa provided for him, much to Eclipsa’s disappointment.
Valerian, at least, hesitates for a hot second as he spots his SpongeBob SquarePants mat. Wrinkling his nose, he peers at the giant image of Patrick, slides his gaze to Asher’s Hello Kitty print, and says, “Why did he get the adorable cat and I get the weird . . . whatever this is.”
I barely swallow down my chuckle. There’s so much about mortal culture he doesn’t know still.
Asher draws his muscular body into a bakasana pose with an ease that startles me and mutters, “Because I didn’t try to eviscerate her a few nights ago, so I get the cute kitty while you get the pink lumpy creature.”
Frowning, Valerian begins to stretch. I do the same, willing my limbs to stop trembling, my breath to even out. The feet between us feel like inches. The aura from his presence seeping across the space and into my bones.
Sweat slicks my palms as I perform a downward dog pose. Sweet Baby Jesus, if I’d known my butt was going to be in his face, I’d have worn my loose sweatpants instead of my skin-tight black leggings.
In my periphery, I catch Eclipsa trying to muffle her devilish grin. I’m guessing this is a form of punishment for the prince after his behavior during the Wild Hunt.
“I thought we were going to discuss why the prince traveled to the Winter Court?” I mumble just as a bead of sweat slides down my forehead and into my eye.
Eclipsa twists into a spider pose, her face a picture of relaxation despite holding a pose that would break me in half. “We are. But no reason we shouldn’t get a session in while we do, right?”
I trade an exasperated look with Asher, who appears just as grumpy as I am right now, despite his flawless form. Ignoring Valerian, who’s stare keeps flicking my way like tiny slivers of sleet peppering my skin, I ask, “How, exactly, did you all learn yoga?”