“Yes, please. The wait is killing me.” Bae responded before I could, clutching his chest while staggering into Arin, pushing him into me. With catlike reflexes, I jumped, spinning out from under Arin’s arm, allowing him to stumble toward the crushed-rock pathway.
“You asshole.” Arin caught himself before he landed face first, springing up and swinging his fist toward Bae’s nose.
“Woo hoo.” I clapped my hands as I leaned up against a tree trunk. “Someone’s been working on their speed.” A better knowledge of computers than either myself or Bae wasn’t the only reason Arin tended to fall into our tech position. As a Sloth bear, speed wasn’t Arin’s usual mode of operation, although the guy could nearly keep up with me on a run when he wanted to.
Bae and Arin grappled with each other for an impromptu personal combat training session as I watched.
Rip. Clothes shredded as Bae and Arin transformed into bears, swiping at each other with their claws. Despite the fact that they were different species, in the darkness, telling them apart became difficult. Both were covered in black fur with a white marking on their chest even though only Bae carried that marking on his human form, but when you looked close, the long sloth-like muzzle of Arin was noticeable.
Arms wrapped around each other they rolled on the ground. Yup. Too much testosterone from sitting on our asses for too long. Under normal circumstances, I should have been vibrating with the urge to jump in, to show my superiority when they were both engrossed with each other, but even that fled me.
Instead I picked up the pieces of their clothing, snorting when I realized that both would be walking through the campus naked. Served the two of them right. Maybe next time, they wouldn’t let their emotions get the better of them.
But even as I took up my spot against the tree again, I couldn’t blame them.
Something needed to change.
Soon.
3
Arin
I rolled my shoulders as I ambled down the hall toward the tech section of FUCN’A. A small groan left my lips as I winced. Fuck, Bae had some wicked strength when he could get his massive arms wrapped around a person. To compensate, I completed another quick shift during the night to help heal the damage Bae’d done, but my muscles were still sore. Yet during breakfast, my face nearly split from the grin I wore watching Bae shuffle around, knowing that I’d managed to pay him in kind.
“Ahh, Mr. Kane.” Mr. Silva danced toward me with a speed that left me reeling, leading with an outstretched hand almost like a swordfish with its long-pointed bill. “I’m so happy you could come and speak to the class today. I think it’s very important for our analysts and tech support to hear from those who are in the field. And well, to have someone of your calibre come in, the students will eat it up.” He grabbed my hand from where it hung at my side, shaking it until I felt like I was doing a floppy wave.
“Um. My pleasure?” I released a small chuckle when I found myself being dragged by the diminutive Mr. Silva toward the double swinging doors that separated the common student area from the tech side. He was new to the school since my graduation, but the rumours I’d heard about Mr. Silva’s Chihuahua-hyper behaviour appeared to be true.
“How nice of you to say, but it’s really our pleasure. The students are all so excited. It’s all they could talk about all morning.” My smile grew as I thought of one student I didn’t think would be pleased. Not if she remained true to form like she had last night. The way her blue-tinged silver ponytail had bobbed, pointing the way to her tight ass as she’d stormed out, popped into my head, making certain portions of my anatomy swell. Shit. Not what I need before I step into the lion’s den.
Although seeing her green eyes widen in surprise when she saw the package I sported would almost be worth the hassle of dealing with the other women fawning over me. The idea of her mouth forming that tight circle... ants on a cracker did I ever need to get laid soon.
“—together a little display of some of the prototype innovations the top students have developed. I’m hoping you’ll be able to give them feedback as to what would be useful in the field.” Mr. Silva stopped and stared up at me from his five-and-a-half-foot stature. Even standing still, at least one part of his body remained in continual motion. Exhaustion tugged on my muscles just from watching him.
“Um...” I’d missed the first half of what Mr. Silva said. And no other answer came to me since I’d learned the hard way from hanging around Bae and Kasim for so many years to never agree to anything without knowing what all was said.
Not that it appeared that I needed to answer with words, as Mr. Silva continued. “I think you’ll be quite surprised. Especially with Miss Blue’s contribution. You’ll want to make sure that you meet her. She’ll be a valuable asset one day. My best student ever. It’ll be a sad day when I lose her from my classes, but I guess I’ll have to learn to share.” For a moment, Mr. Silva lost his infectious smile and slowed, but then he was off to the races again.
I nodded and remained quiet, since words didn’t appear necessary during this one-sided conversation, which suited me. This was the reason why Bae was the leader. Bae, despite his inherent shyness, stood up for us
