I craned my neck back, regretting the movement. Grayson glared down at me. Go figure. The last Elite I wanted to see. “Someone pushed me down the stairs,” I rasped.
He blinked, an expression of disbelief in his eyes. “You’re kidding?”
“Would I be on the floor if I was kidding?”
He seemed to think it over before offering me a hand. “Here, let me help you up before you get trampled to death.”
“Gee, thanks.” I put my hand in his. “Are you being nice to me?”
He pulled me to my feet, the edges of his lips twitching and his cynical brown eyes softening a tad. “Don’t let it go to your head. We are not friends.”
There was something familiar about the way he looked at me. It tugged at my mind, but I couldn’t place what it was. “Duly noted. Why, again, do you hate me?” I winced, sucking in a breath of air against the pain that shot through my ankle. “Holy crap, that hurts.” I immediately took the weight off my right foot.
His lips pressed together, eyes darting down to the ankle in question. Before I could protest or tell him not to touch it, Grayson crouched down and prodded the tender spot with his fingers.
“Ouch,” I grated out between clenched teeth.
“You should probably have the nurse look at that,” he said seriously, all semblance of someone capable of compassion gone in just a flick of the eye.
“Yeah. So much for History.”
He bent down and picked up my smashed laptop. “This thing is toast.”
I glanced at the cracked computer, the screen nothing but splintered glass, and sighed. “Any chance the school replaces those for free?” Then I remembered this was the Academy.
Grayson shoved the laptop into his bag, which he secured on his back before slipping an arm around my waist. I leaned into him, grateful for the support, and wobbled alongside him. It was strange. This was the closest I’d ever been to Grayson, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was itching to put distance between us. Did he find me that repulsive? Or was it some sort of bro code because Brock had seen me first?
But that didn’t make sense.
I knew they often hooked up with the same girls. And Micah literally flirted with me every chance he got.
So what gave?
I glanced sideways at him, taking a moment to study Grayson. On the rare occasions I had seen Grayson not scowling, he seemed friendly. Dare I say even approachable, but that was all the vibes I got from him. I never had to worry about Grayson hitting on me, and somehow that was okay with me. Don’t get me wrong, he was an extremely attractive guy, but he wasn’t my type. And I surely wasn’t his.
Perhaps it was the scorn that usually poured off him when I was around that turned me off. I didn’t know what it was, but there was no chance of Grayson and me ever hooking up. Ever.
Hell, I didn’t even know if we could ever be friends.
A mystery I was determined to uncover. There was a reason this particular Elite member didn’t trust me, and I meant to find out why.
After I had some painkillers.
“Do you want me to carry you?” he suddenly asked, breaking me out of my stupor.
I couldn’t tell if he was serious, because the expression on his face said he’d rather jump into a pool of poisonous spiders than have to carry me down the hall. I grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it. Just go slow,” I suggested.
He let out an exasperated breath. “It would be quicker if you let me carry you. I’m not sure you should be walking on that ankle.”
“You sound so thrilled. How could I possibly say no?” I grumbled back, trying my best not to roll my eyes as I so wanted to do. “Look, I’m sorry,” I apologized after an agonizing bout of silence. “Pain makes me bitchy. I know you are only trying to help, and I appreciate it, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Are you going to get in trouble for missing class?”
The idea made him laugh. Like actually laugh. “You do know who I am, right?”
I thumped myself on the head. “Oh, right. Elite. No rules. How exactly does that work anyway?”
“Our parents run the school board,” he answered with a nonchalant shrug.
“Of course they do.” It made perfect sense. I winced at the pain in my ankle as we drew closer to the nurse’s office.