sinks. Or “pan-seared tilapia” on the lunch menu. I got used
to my diet of mystery meat.”
“Well, mystery tilapia isn't so bad,” said Varun.
We were interrupted by a pair of loud shouts coming
from the gym.
“Is someone hurt?”
“Let's go!”
Varun and I ran back into the gym, looking for the
source of the cries of pain. Someone was lying on the
ground, his face pressed into the mat, his arms and legs
pinned back by another boy who knelt triumphant above
him.
“Nice job!” A male voice boomed through the gym.
“Not bad at all.” The owner of the voice jogged over to the
mat, pressing his stopwatch with a loud beep. “Just under ten
seconds,” said the coach. “That's record time, especially
when it comes to beating Daniel here.” He looked down at
the fallen boy from beneath the visor of his baseball cap.
“Daniel, you're going to have to work a little harder to
maintain your number-one standing with this new kid
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Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
around.”
Daniel groaned and grumbled as he forced his way
back up from the mat. “Yeah, Coach,” he muttered
indignantly. “I'll try harder, yeah...”
But as he rose, I caught sight of the victorious boy,
who held out a hand to help Daniel up off the mat. When I
had seen him before, he had been perhaps too carefully
dressed in a black cashmere shirt and fitted trousers. But
now, in his gym clothes, he seemed unconstricted, powerful,
free. His broad shoulders and powerfully sculpted chest
tapered into black track pants the color of his hair, that
outlined muscular legs. He was shirtless and sweat glistened
off his smooth tanned skin, and I couldn’t help staring.
I had known lust before, but this was lust at first
sight. I blushed as my mind almost wandered off into an area
I did not want to share with the rest of the class. As gorgeous
as he was dressed, he was definitely the kind of guy who
would outshine all the guys when he wasn’t. I had felt how
strong his arms could be when he pulled me close to dance
with me at the luau, and his chest was wide enough to hug
two of me. As much as I hated myself for doing so, I felt
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KAILIN GOW
myself grow weak at the knees, my anger for him mingled
all the more with desire. It was not fair that the most perfect
male body in the world had to belong to a guy who seemed
to want nothing to do with me. I let out an involuntary soft
sigh, and he turned his head around to look at me with those
razor-sharp blue eyes.
It was Chance.
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Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
Chapter 5
Varun let out a noticeable sigh of annoyance – the
first time he'd betrayed anything other than relaxed affability
all morning. “Chance,” he muttered under his breath, just
loud enough for me to hear. “Do you always have to be such
a show-off?” He shrugged and took my hand gently as
though he had always held my hand before. “Come on,
Mackenzy,” he said. “I don't think Chance needs any more
of an audience than he already has right now.”
But as we turned to leave, the loud, rumbling voice
of the gym coach echoed once again through the room. “Ah,
is this Miss Evers?”
I stopped short in my tracks, causing Varun to bump
straight into me. At the proximity of his touch, I felt once
again the same feeling that had overtaken me in the
principal's office. I felt cool and fresh, as if waterfalls were
rushing over me. Safe – enveloped in water. The feeling left
me breathless and I quickly stepped away from Varun's
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KAILIN GOW
touch, looking down.
“Uh, sorry,” he muttered quickly, turning bright pink,
his eyes squinting for a brief moment to look at me. It was a
serious look, different than the cheerful friendly ones he had
been throwing me all morning long. He licked his lips.
“Sorry,” I muttered straight back, unable to hide my
attraction to him as much as I could fight it.
“I can only assume that you are Miss Mackenzy
Evers,” said the coach again, striding towards us. “Or else
you're a random trespasser. We only have one new girl due
in the class this year.”
“Yes, I am,” I began, stumbling over my words in my
nervousness. “I mean – yes, sir. Uh – yes, Mister...”
“Matthews,” he said. “Mr. Matthews outside the
gym, Coach Matthews inside. You're late, Miss Evers.”
“Late?” I looked down at my schedule, confused.
“I'll cut you some slack this time,” said Coach
Matthews. “You're new and easily confused.” The other
students tittered. “But normally I'd expect you to be warmed
up and changed by now.”
“But my first class,” I stuttered, looking at Varun
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Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
with confusion. “It was Aeros History, wasn't it? I mean...”
Varun's ears were turning pink.
I grabbed hold of
