Chapter 93

Rowena

The camp was practically brimming with excitement as Eric and I walked through the front doors. It seemed as though everyone had heard about Eric’s miraculous recovery—and it seemed, too, that almost everyone had gathered in the cafeteria to see for themselves.

As we strode into the cafeteria side-by-side, we were met with a sea of excited students and warriors alike. Barely even three seconds had passed since we were through the doors before we were swarmed, with absolutely no time to catch our breaths in the meantime.

“Eric!” a female voice called out from the throng. “How did you do it?”

Eric and I both turned to see one of the cheerleaders heading our way—with the rest of the team, excluding Heather, in tow. The tall, slender brunette at the forefront of the group jogged up to Eric and stopped less than a foot away from him, completely ignoring my presence.

“Oh, well…” Eric paused, glancing over at me briefly. “It was all thanks to a serum that Rowena made.”

The cheerleader raised an eyebrow as she turned to me. “Is that true? Does that mean you’re going to cure everyone?”

“In time, hopefully,” I said, keeping my tone carefully neutral. “We still have to put the serum through testing, and—”

But it seemed as though I had already lost her interest. As soon as one of the other cheerleaders stepped forward and squeezed Eric’s bicep, exclaiming, “Wow, Eric! Your muscles are even bigger now!” all eyes turned to him.

And I was invisible once more.

I watched for a moment, entranced, as Eric chatted and laughed with the other cheerleaders—although it wasn’t long before I was ultimately drowned out of the mob by more people shoving to get a better look at him.

Sighing, I slipped away from the growing crowd and adjusted my bag on my shoulder. A wry smile touched my lips as I watched him; the famous playboy, Eric Griffith.

I never stood a chance against any of them. I should have known better.

“I told you everyone was freaking out.”

The sound of Emma’s voice snapped me out of my daze, and I felt a relieved sigh escape me at the sight of my friend. Looping her arm through mine, she guided me away from the chaos. The sounds of excited girls and Eric’s laughter soon died as we turned a nearby corner and began heading toward my office.

“They all love him so much,” I said with a rueful chuckle, fishing my office key out of my pocket.

Emma shot me a sidelong glance and turned to me as I unlocked the door. “Hey,” she said softly, touching my shoulder, “don’t let it get to you. You still don’t know how he really feels.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea, Em.” I pushed the door open and stepped inside, plopping my bag down on the desk and flicking on the light. “Even though we’re on the same page now about my lineage, we were still raised as siblings. It’s… a little weird.”

Scoffing, Emma shut the door behind herself and leaned against it with a frown. “Don’t be so negative.”

“What’s there to be positive about?” I shrugged and began to rifle through some papers on my desk; there was nothing really there of note, but it kept my hands busy and distracted from the way they trembled. “He’s still a playboy at the end of the day. And those other girls… I don’t hold a candle to them.”

“I thought you had grown past this phase of constantly comparing yourself, Rowena.” Emma pushed away from the door and took a few quick strides over to me. She grabbed my hands, forcing me to put down the papers. “Yes, those girls are beautiful. But so are you. You think Eric doesn’t realize that? You think he wouldn’t have kissed you all those times if he didn’t?”

My mouth worked uselessly for a moment, my lips opening and closing a few times in the wake of Emma’s statement.

Finally, realizing that there was no arguing against that logic, I sighed and sat down. “I’ll try to be more positive, Em. But no promises.”

Emma smirked and adjusted her purse on her shoulder. “Whatever you say.” With that, she turned on her heel and made for the door, checking her watch. “I’ve gotta go to class. Are we still on for the diner tonight?”

I nodded and shot her a smile. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Once I was alone again, I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes, officially feeling the exhaustion set in. Eric’s words had been roiling through my mind since he had uttered them last night: “I think you already know the answer, Rowena.” They had kept me up almost all night.

I had practically fled the room after that, too much of a coward to ask what he meant. And now, here he was, flirting with other girls in the cafeteria with his more pronounced muscles at the center of the discussion. I couldn’t even bear to stand alongside him.

Shaking my head as if to dispel the thoughts, I put my glasses back on and began filling out paperwork from the days I had missed—if only to take my mind off of things.

…

I wasn’t sure how long I had been sitting there with my head bent over my desk—hours, at least, although I didn’t bother looking at the clock. I didn’t want to interrupt my flow, my methodical filling-out of paperwork. Perhaps it was boring for most, but not for me. For me, it was meditative. It cleared my head.

But maybe I was too entranced by the pile of papers, because I didn’t even notice when someone walked in. I barely heard the door creak a little wider, and the footsteps clicking toward me across the tile floor were nothing but a distant echo in the back of my head.

It wasn’t until I felt a hand touch my hair that I suddenly jerked my head up, my eyes wide.

A pair of smiling blue eyes stared down at me.

“Easy, Ro,” Eric said softly. “It’s just me.”

I felt frozen beneath his touch, the pen in my hand practically becoming fused to my fingers as I gawked up at him. His fingers ran across my hair, gently pushing a few strands out of the way—and then, gently, he placed something behind my ear.

“There.” He took a step back to admire his work. My fingers instinctively fluttered up to touch what it was—the soft petals of a flower.

Instantly, my face went aflame. “What is this?” I asked, my voice hardly more than a whisper.

Eric smirked and circled around the table. He turned my chair with one hand and dropped to one knee in front of me, taking my hands in his.

“I hope you know you’re far more beautiful in my eyes than all the others,” he said softly. “Even that flower pales in comparison to you.”

My breath caught, my heart beginning to pound like a war drum in my chest. Was he…?

“E-Eric,” I stammered, my lower lip quivering, “a-about last night—”

“I meant exactly what you think I meant when I held your hand, Rowena,” he cut me off. He reached up to cup my cheek in his wide palm, his calloused thumb tracing my lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it more obvious. But from now on, I—”

I didn’t let him finish. Feeling his thumb cross my lip and his hand brush against my knee set something on fire inside of me that had been smoldering all this time. I needed to feel him—every part of him, every atom. My hands shot out like two arrows and cupped his face, pulling him so close that our noses almost brushed.

“Quiet,” I whispered, my eyes searching his face. “Just kiss me.”

Eric did just that. With no hesitation, he closed the remaining distance between us and kissed me softly, deeply, with every ounce of himself poured into the melting together of our lips. And this time, for the first time ever, I didn’t pull away.

He wasn’t my brother. And I loved him from a place deep inside of myself where no one and nothing had ever reached before.

When we finally pulled apart after what felt like an eternity, our lips smacking wetly, I drew in a shuddering breath that made my lungs burn. With our foreheads pressed together, I tangled my fingers in his hair and drew in the scent of him.

“Eric, I…”

Before I could utter those three words, however, the sound of footsteps approaching caused us both to snap away from each other. Within less than an instant, Eric was back on his feet, and I was haphazardly shoving my glasses back up on my nose.

A moment later, a warrior stopped in the doorway.

“Ah! Eric,” the warrior said, oblivious to the heat in the room. “We’re throwing a party tonight. You should come.”