Page 183 of Their Cruel Play
“Ravenclaw.” I straighten in my seat.
“Hmm. That makes sense, but I almost see you more as a Hufflepuff.” He lowers our hands to the bench.
“I’ve told you mine. Now tell me yours.” I squeeze his hand.
“Gryffindor.”
“No way. You’re totally Slytherin.” I draw back. “You must have lied on the questions.”
He smirks. “Nope. You just want to paint me with an evil brush, but even if I were Slytherin like Eli, that wouldn’t make me evil. There are plenty of Slytherin who don’t gravitate to the dark.”
I arch an eyebrow and lean back in. “So have you ever used your house to pick up a girl?”
He chuckles. “I don’t need a house to pick up girls, princess.”
“No, you probably just look at them, and they fall at your feet.” My smile widens.
“That never would have worked on you.” He keeps caressing my hand with his thumb. My insides churn with heat.
“You never tried. Maybe if you’d asked me that first day in class if I wanted to go out on a date with you?—”
“You would have run away so fast I never would have found you again. Which would have been a shame.” He lifts his gaze to mine. “You were always meant to be ours, princess. We just didn’t know it.”
My heart thumps. I am theirs.
“Two burgers?”
Luke clears his throat as he looks up at Rebecca. “Yes.”
She sets them down in front of each of us. “Do you need anything else?”
Her brown eyes bear down on me, like I need help. Like she wants to help me.
“We’re good,” I say. “Thank you.”
Sighing, she walks away.
“It would have been better if she wasn’t working.” Luke squeezes my hand before releasing it to put mustard on his burger.
I glance toward a table of guys with their heads together over someone’s phone. They glance at me and smirk. Can they make it any more obvious they have that picture up? Heat floods my cheeks.
“I’m not sure anywhere is safe for us to go out to eat.”
Luke follows my line of sight. When the guys glance my way again, a growl rumbles from his chest.
I put my hand on his thigh and lean into his ear. “They’re not worth it. Not tonight.”
When I pull away a little, our eyes lock, and his are frustrated.
“I mean it, Luke. It’s okay. I’m enjoying being out with you. Let’s worry about that stuff after dinner when we’re with the others.” I touch my forehead to his and just breathe him in for a second, letting his fresh cologne fill me.
“They’ll wish they hadn’t come here.” His words are ominous. “But I won’t do anything tonight.”
I breathe out. “Thank you.”
We return to eating.
“What are other things people discuss on dates?” He takes a bite of his burger and waits for my answer.
