Valkyrie's Harem (Academy of Immortals 1)

That girl is always paying attention.

I grimace. “Right. My head was killing me and my stomach. Ugh. That cherry stuff did not agree with me.”

“Not everyone can hold their liquor,” Claudia says with a smirk. “I told Marielle that’s why you shoved your tongue down Marshal’s throat. Sloppy drunk.”

Sloppy what?

“I know. I never should have gotten so upset about it. I mean, the kiss he gave me was very tender and sweet. Not a tongue wrestling match like you two had. Obviously, there’s a difference.”

Yeah, I want to tell her. The difference is passion and lust. Not a chaste kiss on the forehead. I fight an eyeroll and say, “Yeah, it was totally over the line.”

“Desperate,” Cora says.

“Needy,” adds her sister.

If they’re trying to make me look trashy to make Marielle feel better? The smile on Marielle’s painted red lips says it’s working.

Whatever.

“I should get going before Instructor Armin gets upset for me being late, again.”

“Good idea,” Marielle says, giving me a wave.

I almost ask if she’s heard anything about Luke, but I don’t want to get involved. Plus I do need to get to Armin’s room before he thinks I bailed on him. I say goodbye and head up the stairs, taking a second to pause at the landing, making sure they don’t follow me. When I’m sure they haven’t, I turn away from the offices toward the dorms. Thankfully, I manage to get to his room without further incident. I don’t knock when I get to Armin’s room, instead just quickly enter the room.

It’s dark, the thick drapes that hang by the window are closed. A thin sliver of light gives me enough visibility to see the couch, where I place the book. I also take off my sweater and drape it over the arm.

Thinking Armin may have gone to sleep without me, I tip-toe over to the bed and see him lying there, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

“I thought maybe you changed your mind,” he says. He’s on top of the blankets, body stretched out, tense. His hands rest on his stomach, which I can tell under the thin cotton of his shirt is taut and hard.

“Marielle stopped me in the hallway. She got mad last night, and it seemed best to do a little damage control.”

He turns his head, giving me a glimpse of his handsome face. “Mad about what?”

I frown. Miya made it clear he knew something happened last night. How much? And how much will they care? I shake my head, tired of the secrets. “We played this stupid, juvenile drinking game. Marshal and I had to kiss. It’s pretty clear Marielle has a crush on him, so she wasn’t too happy.”

Something flickers in his eyes, not exactly surprise at my revelation but not confirmation either.

“You’re the one Marshal kissed.”

I rest my hands on the mattress. I still haven’t gotten on the bed. “Yes, for a game.”

“I guess I’m probably more shocked that it took him this long.”

I laugh, a bark of nervousness and his accuracy. I ease onto the mattress and slide my legs under the covers. I don’t like to sleep with my feet exposed. A question nags at me and I decide to ask it. “Would you be mad if he had kissed me before?”

He doesn’t respond right away, and his blue eyes hold mine for so long that my skin starts to itch. Just when I think he’s not going to answer he says, “No, mad isn’t the right word.”

“Disappointed? Alarmed? Pity? Secondhand-embarrassed?” I toss out, feeling all three.

“No,” he says again, before looking at the ceiling. “Jealous.”

The word hits me like a ton of bricks. No, a mega-ton of bricks, but his eyes flutter shut, making it clear he doesn’t want to say anything else.

On my side, I watch him with a million questions running through my head. What did he mean by jealous? Does he want to kiss me? Armin? The man with too much guilt and focus to even take a nap?

I lie next to him, neither of us sleeping, trying to process everything that’s come up since we’ve been here. Agis’ behavior with Luke in the hallway. Armin admitting to jealousy and the reaction Marshal and I had to one another last night. These guys are filled with so much pent-up emotion, I don’t even know how to begin to help them.