Academy Of Mates novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

“Oh, no.”

The garden shack was a quaint little thing.

Emphasis on the little.

Not so much on the quaint.

In fact, it was so small that if I stretched my arms out, I would be able to touch the walls on all the sides.

Yes.

It was very small.

So much so that:

“Gnomes could call this their home.” Andrew deadpans, looking around with an unreadable expression on his face.

And half of the space that we did have was taken up by gardening supplies.

We were nearly chest to chest, our bodies shivering from our damp clothes. I was chilled to the bone, too wet to do anything but shake helplessly.

“Maybe we should head back?” Right as I said this, a thunder cracked so loud that it shook the entire wooden shack, rattling us both.

Outside, the rain pelted down hard and relentlessly, showing no signs of letting up any time soon. It battered over the rickety roof of our shelter, rocking the thing like it would blow away with the wind at any moment.

Even if we tried to go back to the mansion, we wouldn’t be able to tell left from right.

“We can’t do anything but wait for the storm to break.” Andrew tells me, eyes on the small broken window near him. The flimsy thing was fighting for its life with how hard the rain fell. “But that might take some time.”

The shack wobbled and shook from the strong winds outside, only proving him right.

“Are you sure we can’t brave it?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “The rain isn’t that hard.”

I was lying.

It was.

Andrew chuckled at me. “I go, where you go, but I’m not sure I can hold on when you’re blown away to the next country.”

“Is that how easily you’ll let me go? A simple wind?” I teased back, my teeth chattering. “I thought you liked me more than that.”

“You wound me, Vareesa, of course I’ll let go when it’s nature that calls you…” He trailed off as another gust of wind threatened to take our roof away.

I pinched his stomach but there was nothing to squeeze between my fingers but taut muscle. “Now that’s just not fair.”

He doesn’t try to pinch me back, but he does lift an eyebrow.

“Don’t even say a word.” I said with my tongue out, hugging myself as I tried to put space between us, but all over there were hoses, bags of fertilizer and several sharp tools lying around.

He zips his mouth with his fingers, a lazy smile still in place.

The shivering got worse with the small gaps between the wooden structures letting in some of the fierce wind. To try and keep my body warm, I make a home for myself between a plow and a watering can.

With nowhere else to go, Andrew follows suit, sitting right across from me. He bumped against five hundred things to do so but he managed it, our legs pressed against each other, my knees between his.

My arms pimpled with goosebumps as another gust of wind went through the tiny shack, creaking the wood

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Chapter 44

and banging the gardening tools against each other.

“I’m sorry,” He says softly, eyes staring at me.

I hugged myself tight, my chin on my knee as I looked at him from under my eyelashes. “Sorry for what?”

“For dragging you here.” He looked around, his eyes on the roof and how it was the only thing keeping us safe from the rain.

I shook my head, doing my best to lock my jaw so my teeth didn’t rattle uncontrollably. “It’s okay. This reminds me of home if I’m being honest.”

He looked around, an unimpressed look on his face.

And I know I will have to get used to that.

He is a spoiled Beta that has only ever known wealth.

If this does push through, and I don’t want to hope and celebrate until he’s actually choosing me, there will be a lot of adjustments on both our parts.

“I hope you believe me.” It was dark but with each lightning that struck, I got to see a little bit of him each time. Breathtaking as usual. His features are beautiful in the dark stormy night. “You are the person that I want. That is the truth. You are the person that I want to leave with at the end of the Academy.”

As happy as I was and despite a part of my whole being wanting to believe him, I was also scared. Things easily break within the School of Love. Promises don’t really mean anything. I trusted Benedict and that fell apart.

Would Andrew be the same?

My throat tightened, my voice small and showed him just how confused I was by all of this. “Why? Why me? You’re a Beta. You have all the options. Everyone in this School of Love wants to go home with you, for you to choose them, even your own Alpha. Why would you choose me over all of them? There are women here that literally have everything.”

He looks at me then, really looks at me and a small smile pulls at his lips. It was so genuine. So real. ” Because you’re the one that made me want to be here when all I wanted was to run away. Because you don’t care about who I am, like all the others do. You smiled at me, you fought me, you pulled away from me and I forgot about everyone else. You held me and, for a moment, I forgot. I forgot it all.”

Another shiver raked through my body, but I do not know if it was from the cold or because of his words that seemed to resonate through me.

He leans over the small space between us and touches my hand, the mere action taking my breath away. But he draws back in surprise before cupping my hand in his and blowing into my fingers. “You’re so cold.”

“I’m okay.” I pulled at my dress that was sopping wet. “It’s just my clothes.”

His eyes darkened as if seeing me for the first time.

I didn’t say anything more, concentrating on keeping warm.

Andrew moves, standing up from his spot and making all the tools around us clamor about. I watched him, confused.

With one hand on the wall, he removes his boots, a puddle of water coming out of them before placing them on top of a pile of tools. His clothes followed next, his buttoned up shirt coming off with a shrug and then his pants where he loosened the belt.

“What are you doing?” I squeaked, trying to look elsewhere.

It was suddenly very hot.

Very hot indeed.

He was a big man, not quite as big as Benedict or Sebastian, but he was thick in arms and broad in the shoulders, the same shoulders that carried me like I weighed nothing.

As perfect as his face was, his body was the same.

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Chapter 44

All muscle and all cuts.

And he stood over me with only his boxers and though it was eye level with me, I did not dare look.

“The storm isn’t going to stop anytime soon and I don’t plan on catching a cold.” He says, moving around some more, shoving tools and other things to the side until the spot beside me is clear.

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