If Malik would be busy during lunch, maybe I could find an excuse so Hannah could have some alone time with Daniel. I caught her staring at him at least a dozen times tonight, and I was ready to shake my friend until she spilled the truth because the other thing I noticed was how many times Daniel watched her when she wasn’t looking. How they kept missing each other was a mystery.
Did Malik know? Could I recruit his help? I didn't want to violate Hannah’s trust, so I’d have to find a discrete way to ask before going to him.
“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice greeted from behind me. I twisted around to see Sai. “Mind if I join you?”
My cheeks warmed before I had time to face my books again. I hoped he didn’t notice. I didn’t want to make things weird, but every time I saw him, I couldn’t help but remember the vision I saw of the two of us.
“You’re late,” Malik scolded. “I could have used your backup a minute ago.”
Sai laughed and sat a few feet from me with his back against the wall. “What did I miss?”
“Just teasing him about his crush,” Hannah answered.
“Oh, Travis.” Sai smiled knowingly. “Yeah, I’ve been hearing a lot about him too. Apparently, this summer was very kind to him.”
Malik dropped his hands in his hands. “I hate all of you.”
I reached out and patted his leg. “There will come a time when you can get back at us. I’m sure of it.”
He peeked through his fingers with a wicked gleam in his eye. “Oh, I’m planning on it.”
I laughed and went back to my textbook, trying to ignore the pull I felt toward Sai. He was so handsome and sweet, and it wasn’t much of a surprise I had some sort of daydream about him.
Something hit my foot, and I glanced up to see Hannah grinning at me and darting her eyes toward Sai like she wanted me to do or say something. Unfortunately, we weren’t quite close enough yet to have the silent communication thing down, but I was pretty sure she wanted me to talk to him.
About what? I didn’t know him, other than he was a tiger shifter. I only knew that because they’d told me, but maybe I could ask anyway. Was that a polite conversation starter? I wouldn’t mind if he asked me what kind of witch I was, so maybe it was okay.
“Sai, they told me you’re a shifter. What’s your animal?” The words came out in a rush, but I kept my smile in check, so he couldn’t see how nervous I was waiting for his response.
He pushed his hair up, away from his face, and grinned at me in a way that made my heart race. “I’m a tiger shifter.”
“That’s so cool.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth to keep from grinning too wide.
Malik scoffed next to me. “I can still take him in a fight.”
I looked at each of them. “Like at the fight club?”
Sai’s brows furrowed. “No. Just with the vampires and shifters. To practice.”
“On campus? Like rugby?” It didn’t sound all that unusual to me. Shifters wanted to be in their animal forms, and it made sense they’d want to practice fighting in those forms.
All the guys made noncommittal noises, so I turned to Hannah. “It’s not school-sponsored, but there are two dedicated areas out past the sports fields for shifters to stretch their legs so to speak.”
“It’s where we fight and train in our animal forms,” Sai added. “Fights do occur, but not like random brawls. It’s only for training purposes.’”
“That’s so cool. Can I watch sometime?”
Sai and Daniel shared a look, and Sai rubbed the back of his neck. Oh, no. This was one of the lines I shouldn’t cross. “Sorry. Is that not allowed? Ugh, every time I think I’m catching on, I stick my foot in my mouth.”
Daniel laughed. “No, it’s not like that. It’s just sometimes it can get pretty nasty. Most witches and vampires don’t like watching.”
“Oh.” That was surprising. Weren’t they all just used to each other by now?
“You can come, though. If you want,” Sai offered. “Maybe after the rugby game tomorrow night? My tiger is normally dying to get out after.”
Daniel nodded, and Malik agreed. “Sure, we can do that.”
I beamed, excited to see more of their world.