He turned his attention back to her as she stopped before him, her dark eyes searching his face. She was a nice girl, but the intense way she studied him was more than a little unsettling. He had the strange feeling that she saw more of him than he wanted her to. Her head tilted, her exotically slanted eyes narrowed as a small smile flitted over her full mouth.
“Thanks for the warning.”
She grinned as she shrugged a dainty shoulder, and made her way back through the crowd. “The seniors sit in the back of the cafeteria, when it’s not nice enough to sit outside.”
Devon hardly paid attention to her as his eyes returned to the mob of students. He could sense her somewhere amongst the crowd; smell the wonderful aroma she emitted. He had not seen Cassie since this morning, when she had fled the classroom in an obvious panic. It was not the reaction he had hoped for from her, but at least he knew that she was feeling something too. He just wasn’t sure what.
The crowd suddenly parted, opening to reveal her. She was sitting at a table, an apple held casually in her hand as she stared up at the boy standing at her side. The boy was tall and muscular, his brown hair curled at the collar of his shirt as he leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. She shook her head at him, placing the apple down as her face hardened slightly. Devon did not like the aggravation that emanated from her; it was more than apparent that she was annoyed by the boy.
“Who is that with your friend?” Devon inquired, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Melissa glanced toward the table, her eyes narrowed. “Mark Young. He’s been chasing Cassie since middle school; unfortunately he doesn’t take a hint.”
Devon stiffened, his eyes narrowed as Cassie shook her head more fiercely at Mark. He already had enough competition in the form of Cassie’s boyfriend for her attention; he did not need, or want, anymore. “And her boyfriend doesn’t do anything about it?” Though he tried, he was unable to keep the aggravation from his voice.
Melissa frowned at him; her dark eyebrows drew tightly together over her petite nose. “Cassie doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
Devon’s eyes widened in surprise, his gaze darted back to the table as the tall blond he had seen with her last night appeared. He nodded briefly to Mark before sliding into the seat next to Cassie. Leaning toward her, he grabbed a handful of fries from her plate. Devon would have sworn the two of them were together. Hell, the boy had crawled through her bedroom window last night. And he had not come back out.
A surprising jolt of anger and jealousy twisted his gut. He had never experienced jealousy before. It was an emotion that had been utterly foreign to him, until now. For most of his existence he had always taken what he wanted, when he wanted it. He did not like the feeling of helplessness that filled him, and anger was an emotion that he could not allow himself to experience. It was an emotion that he had learned to keep tightly under wraps. Anger made him volatile, and when he was unstable, innocent people were hurt.
Devon took a deep breath as he tried to steady the pendulum of emotions that swung through him. He was beginning to realize that this was a giant mistake. He never should have come here; he should not have placed himself in closer proximity to her. She helped to salve the ache and hurt in his soul, but she also served to unhinge all of the hard work he had done to keep himself under tight restraint.
Being around Cassie unbalanced him. He could not allow that to happen, he could not risk losing control of himself and hurting someone, possibly even her. Shockingly, that thought was completely intolerable to him. He would rather destroy himself than see her hurt in anyway, least of all by his own hand.
Though he knew that he should leave, he could not bring himself to move. He was completely captivated by her as a small smile spread over her full lips and she shoved playfully against the blond sitting beside her. Their ease, and obvious affection for each other, made it hard to believe they weren’t together.
“Then who is that boy beside her?” he asked quietly, his voice tight with the tension that pulsed through him.
Melissa glanced toward the table; a bright smile lit her exotic face. “Oh, that’s just Chris.” He glanced at her in confusion. “They’ve been best friends since they were born, more like siblings actually.”
An immense, startling sense of relief flooded him as he glanced back at the table. Their blond heads were bent close together as they talked. Mark, completely forgotten, shook his head and turned away. “Come on, let’s get you some lunch.”
He glanced back at Melissa, not surprised to see her shrewd eyes narrowed upon him. He shook his head, not at all interested in the mounds of human food. He only had one interest, only one thing that he wanted to taste in this cafeteria. “I’m not hungry.”
She nodded and led him over to the table. Chris looked up at him first, his sapphire colored eyes widened slightly as he stopped speaking. Cassie‘s shoulders stiffened, her back straightened as she seemed to brace herself. Very slowly, she turned toward him, her eyes clashing with his.
The full force of her gaze rattled him, shaking him to the very marrow of his bones as he once again felt an odd little skip in the deadened area of his heart. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were a bright azure blue with flecks of pure, deep purple speckled throughout. The most pure amethyst could not match the beautiful purple streaks that highlighted her irises. In all of his many years, he had never seen eyes the like.
“Cassie, Chris, this is Devon.”
“We were in homeroom too Melissa,” Chris reminded her gently. “Nice to meet you.”
Devon had to force himself to tear his gaze away from Cassie as Chris thrust his hand out. He took hold of it, noting the thick calluses on Chris’s palm as they shook firmly. Chris’s eyes darkened slightly, his hand tightened around Devon’s as his gaze became sharper, more intense. His face hardened for a moment, the smile slipped swiftly away. Melissa stiffened beside him; she took a small step forward as she reached out to grasp Chris’s shoulder.
Chris shook his head; his eyes darted away from Devon to Melissa. Pulling his hand away from Devon’s, Chris turned toward Cassie with a small, worried frown. Devon stared at them in bewildered confusion, unable to understand what had just happened. For a moment, he could have sworn that Chris had looked inside him, had seen something there, and it appeared that he had not liked it.
Chris slid back in his seat, still frowning as he stared at his tray of food. Devon shook his crazy thoughts off, he didn’t care what Chris thought of him. She was the only one that mattered. Cassie was still staring at him, her head tilted slightly to the side as she watched him from slightly wary eyes. She did not extend a hand, did not move as he slid into the seat across from her. Well, he thought wryly, at least she wasn’t bolting like a rabbit again. Melissa dropped her lunch on the table; she dug into the cotton bag as she hummed cheerfully to herself. She seemed happily oblivious to the tension thrumming through them all.