Chapter 9

Flora’s P.O.V

“What’s this?” I asked, looking at the box suspiciously.

“Your lunch.” Clay shrugged, looking nervous for the first time since I’ve known him. “I woke up early this morning so I thought about cooking lunch…for us.”

Clay cooked lunch for me? And brought it to college…how has the box survived till now without any of his million fans stealing it or the entire college bursting into gossip?

It was a good thing that school was out or there would’ve been a lot of gossip when people saw him carrying me in his arms. He hadn’t taken me to the cafeteria for lunch, but had instead brought me to the woods behind the school, to the fallen branch of the forest giant where Ruth and I had first seen him kiss Ms. McKellar. I had felt a bit awkward when he had sat me on top of the branch and taken a seat next to me, but then he had revealed his bag and given me the lunch box.

Now, I hesitantly opened the lunch box to find a serving of fried rice and a beef preparation, all arranged neatly in order like a fancy restaurant. There was also a side of salad, which was just thinly sliced cucumber and carrots, but the overall presentation of the box was splendid. Not to mention the smell…God! It was heavenly! I was too scared to eat it now considering how pretty it looked.

“You made all of this?” I looked up at Clay in surprise. “Since when did you learn to cook?”

“At Lindersay,” Clay’s smile was a little nostalgic as he looked at the forest ahead. “Riley and I always got into trouble for our pranks and fights, so we got a lot of detention as well.”

“Riley got into detention?” My mouth fell open wide enough to swallow an entire beer bottle.

“Blackmail material?” Clay smirked. “Always got some exciting stories up my sleeves.”

“Gimmi!” I demanded once I was able to overcome my shock. Damn! My brother could sure pretend to be the perfect little angle.

“But what do I get in return?” Clay raised an eyebrow, half turning to face me on the tree branch.

“I’m eating your lunch?” I gave him a nervous smile while taking a spoonful of the rice and shoving it into my mouth. “Oh my!”

It was unbelievably good. So much so that I actually moaned, closing my eyes to savour the flavours longer.

“How did you make this?” I asked him when I opened my eyes, only to find him staring at me intensely.

“A chef never exposes their secrets.” He bent down closer to me and dabbed his thumb at the corner of my lips, making them tingle, before he brought that thumb closer to his lips and flicked out his tongue for a slow, slow lick.

I shivered at the sensual imagery and quickly lowered my eyes, focusing on eating instead. Why was he doing this? Tempting me in every possible way. I was a healthy wolf with a healthy sexual appetite. And even though I wasn’t taking sexual partners left and right since my heat, there was no denying the tension between us. Or maybe, was it because of my lack of partners that I felt this attracted to Clay?

Will it go away if I took a partner?

What’s wrong with taking Clay?

My conscious reminded me and yes, it was right. There was absolutely no problem in sleeping with him, quenching this thirst that has me writhing in my bed every night. What did I have to lose…except maybe my heart and my sanity?

“You’re overthinking something.”

Clay’s husky voice had me snapping out of my thoughts to look into wolf-gold eyes. “What?”

“You’re wrinkling your brows.” He brought his fingers to my face once again, soothing them over my forehead. “You have a habit of doing that when you over-think something. You’ve had this habit since you were six.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “You noticed?” He noticed me? Even before going to Lindersay?

“I always have.” His lips tilted up in a small smile as a tiny ray fading sunlight broke through the canopy, reflecting off his dark copper hair, making it appear red.

It reminded me of an unwanted memory from a couple days ago. “Why did you kiss Ms. McKellar?”

His lips tilted up in a half-smile, half-smirk and a hell lot of arrogance. “What happened to the honour code?”

“I’m not talking to anyone else.” I shrugged, taking another bite of food. In fact, now I was regretting asking him that question. I sounded like a jealous teenager rather than a responsible adult.

“It was just a rejection kiss.” He smiled. “So you don’t need to feel jealous.”

Did he just read my mind? “I’m not jealous.” I told him quickly. “And what on earth is a rejection kiss?”

Clay laughed out loud, the sound deep and throaty. “Avery had asked me if we could become temporary lovers, but I declined her politely with that kiss.” He shrugged. “And before you ask, she was unclothed because she had gone for a run in her wolf form.”

I didn’t like that he was on first name basis with Ms. McKellar, but hearing that he rejected her, it gave me an odd kind of satisfaction.

“I wasn’t going to ask…” I told him quietly, finishing off my lunch and handing him back the box.

“But you wanted to.” He told me instantly, his gaze becoming intense. “And you would’ve tortured yourself trying to figure out the answer. I told you before and I’m telling you again, Flora. If there’s anything you want to know about me, just ask. I’ll tell you directly.”

He sighed before running a hand through his hair, ruffling up the perfect strands. “If I haven’t made myself clear already, I want to tell you clearly, Flora. I want you. There is something between us, an attraction that neither of us can deny. And I want to give us a shot. I want you to give us a shot.”

Give us a shot? He says it like it’s so easy…like I don’t have a ton of things to be careful about. What if my parent’s find out? He’s going to be the future Alpha of the pack, what if our relationship leaves a negative impact and it later affects my family?

And what about Riley? Clay and Riley have been inseparable since childhood, still are. What if Riley gets in the way? What if our relationship breaks their decade’s long friendship? How will I ever be able to face my brother again?

“I need to think about it.” It was the only thing I could tell him as I left the forest and ran home, before collapsing onto my bed in exhaustion. The look he had given me was going to be etched into my mind for some time now. It wasn’t disappointment or hate, it was longing.

And I knew then that he’ll be waiting for an answer.