Chapter 0521

Luca glances up at me. “Nothing,” he murmurs, blushing a little bit as he gathers his book back up. As he does I realize that his actions were not performative or attention-seeking at all, but instead the very real result of very real frustrations.

In a flash, I wonder how and why I didn’t feel that down the bond – has he been closing that on me? Or…

“Seriously, Luc,” Rafe says from his chair, leaning forward towards him. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry,” Luca says, shaking his head and looking down at his book. “I didn’t mean to interrupt – just…pretend it didn’t happen. Book…slipped out of my hands, is all.”

“Luca,” Jesse says, quietly closing his own book in his lap and peering at my mate. “We…genuinely want to know. Seriously, four of us are in the same class – maybe we can help.”

“In the same class but in vastly different groups,” Luca murmurs, looking around the room with a flash of embarrassment at Ben, Daphne, and me. “You guys covered this stuff last semester. Just…I’ll figure it out.”