The Ice Alpha’s Mate (Aria and Ryder) novel Chapter 34

Chapter 34

ARIA

We break eye contact nonetheless and I do my best to ignore him and act like I haven’t seen him.

By the goddess. I’m so tired of playing these games.

“Have you ever been to one of these?” Luca asks from behind me

“No. My uncle and I normally just stay inside. We go out to eat occasionally, but that’s where it ends.”

“Why?”

I shrug. “I just like to stay indoors. It’s not something I’ve ever really thought about.”

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My answers are all clipped and it’s just because of how tense I feel. Ryder’s eyes don’t leave me once and it’s starting to feel daunting. The fact that I’ve been having strange dreams with him doesn’t make things any better.

The girls laugh loudly at something one of his teammates says, drawing my attention briefly, but it’s long enough for me to see Ryder look away from me and throw his arm around the giggling girl’s shoulder.

I feel a stab inside of me so intense that it makes me want to vomit.

I clench my jaw while looking away this time, upset and confused by my reaction. What’s wrong with me? Why do I care about what he’s doing?

I hate myself for this. Whatever this is.

When it’s finally our turn to order, Luca insists on paying for everything and hands the money to the saleslady before I can protest. I’m already upset and done with this whole thing, so I don’t argue with him or insist on paying him the money back.

We manage to find seats inside the theater. The stage is all lit up and the buzz of conversation fills my ears. People are standing around and catching up, and most of them seem to be students at Ironclaw U. I don’t see parents around.

I guess I should’ve known what Mrs. Ortega had planned.

“Here?” Luca asks before gesturing at two empty seats near the end of the row. We sit down, and I’m right at the end, holding my popcorn and my drink in my hand.

It’s nothing before Ryder and his group show up, and, coincidentally, sit right in front of us. His scent hits my nose and my stomach churns. I don’t like how it makes me feel. I’d been feeling fine all day, but now I can feel the heat coursing through my veins and it makes me feel unbearably hot.

1 tug at the neckline of my sweater and focus on breathing.

I don’t understand what’s wrong with me.

The girl he has his arm around is sitting right next to him, and he puts an arm around her again. She’s giggling at everything he’s saying to her and I have to force myself to look away from them. Luca is droning on and on about something but I’m not paying attention to him at all.

A group of people who seem to be a little younger than them show up and they look at each other in confusion. The boy says something to the hockey player sitting right in front of me. These are our seats. Our things are on the floor right

there.”

He gives Ryder a questioning look, but Ryder simply looks at them before turning his attention away, and their things-the belongings that were on the seats before Ryder and his group showed up, are handed back to them.

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Chapter 34

I realize he did this on purpose. Had to be.

Why else would he claim taken seats?

Everyone starts sitting down as the lights start to dim, and Lacks me, “Excited?”

1 force a smile and nod

I couldn’t care less about any of this

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The show begins, and the playing band introduces itself. It seems they go to Ironclaw U, too, but I’ve never seen them before. The music begins, and though the theater is totally dark can still see Ryder and the girl a few seats away and it bothers me still.

Ryder doesn’t look back at me once, which makes my staring ridiculous. I can’t help but wonder if it’s possible that he’s the same guy who drove me to the bonfire and kept me warm at the top of the mountain. Those events seem so distant.

I never would have guessed that things would get so bad. I can’t even pinpoint where exactly things went wrong.

Luca nods his head to the music. I glance at him and he looks my way and smiles. He has dimples when he smiles and he’s handsome. Really handsome, come to think of it. He’s a nice person, too, and that thought turns my stomach once more.

He’s nice and I haven’t paid the slightest mind to him at all. Why I have no idea. There’s something inside of me that prevents me from even looking at him that way. It’s like I labeled him as a nuisance and I’ve been treating him that way ever

since.

I’ve been rude to him. Dismissive. I should consider him as a potential partner.

In fact, I’d be a fool to let someone like him go.

But why does all this pep talk still not appeal to me?

I don’t mean to look at Ryder but I do, and it’s just on time for me to see him kissing the girl. My insides twist painfully and I’m on my feet before I know it.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell Luca before disappearing through the doors. The cool air hits my clammy skin and I breathe out loudly

I’m hurting. Why am I hurting?

I head to the bathroom and manage to close the door right before tears slip from my eyes. It’s frustration. Anger. Sadness. Everything all at once.

I hold onto the sink and peer at my flushed face in the mirror. I then cover my face with my hands. I let out an angry sound.

Why is this happening to me? Why?

The fever is starting again and it rises inside of me and turns myface a pink color. It’s so sudden that I feel breathless. I want to vomit, but I don’t at the same time. I grow weak on the knees and Ryder is on my mind nonstop,

I see him kissing the girl in my mind and it’s like the knife in my chest twists deeper and harder like it’s trying to carve my

heart out

I don’t care. I know I don’t. So, why is this happening to me?

I’m alone in the bathroom but anyone could walk in at any second, so I wash my face with cold water so it gets cool, and then wait for it to dry.

It’s time for me to go. Luca will be wondering where I am and I don’t want to be meaner than I’ve already been. I should

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stop this. It’s like my stubbornness is getting the best of me. I don’t know.

I don’t know anything anymore.

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I start toward the door and walk out, determined to put all of this behind me and see this evening through without any of these strange delusions that I’ve been developing

His scent hits me before I see him.

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田

AD