Why did I tell him that?
His eyebrows shot to his hairline. “You got a mark?”
“No.” I frowned.
“Next!” The brunette girl behind the cart yelled. She gave me a hurry-the-hell-up look.
Not so friendly when Javi wasn’t there to flirt with. Turning my back on Grayson, I sauntered up to the counter and put in my order. I swiped my card in the reader and waited.
It made a strange beep.
The girl swiveled the screen toward herself and gave me an irritated sigh. “Your account has no balance, hun. Next.”
She shooed me away. My mouth dropped open in surprise, heat spread up my neck. No balance? What the hell? Tía Teresa said I would have $500 for whatever I needed.
“Here. Use mine.” Grayson reached past me and handed her his ID card.
She blew out her breath and shrugged. “What do you want?”
“Large black tea,” he replied.
I gaped at him. Tea? Who drank tea?
Realizing my silence was probably making me look rude, I smiled at him. “You didn’t have to do that. Thank you.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Sure. You can get next time.”
My heart skipped. Next time? Was he… did that mean he was asking me out? I wasn’t sure how to take it, and he offered no further explanation. Instead he walked over to the condiments bar, leaving me standing there alone and confused.
The brunette shook her head, making a face that caught my eye.
I frowned at her. “What?”
“It’s not my business, but I wouldn’t get involved with him if I were you.”
When she didn’t explain herself, I scoffed. “Why not?”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you kidding? That’s Grayson. He and your cousin like hate each other.”
Yeah, I’d gotten that, but what did that have to do with me? I opened my mouth to tell her just as much, but Grayson walked back up, so I clamped my mouth shut.
“Shouldn’t you be heading to the headmaster’s? He isn’t a patient man.” Grayson nodded toward my drink as the girl set it down.
“Yeah. I’m going. Thanks for the coffee.” I grabbed my cup, stirred in some sugar and smiled at him.
To my surprise, he returned the smile. Blue eyes crinkling in the corners and perfect teeth. I nearly stumbled.
Le dang, did he have a sexy smile.
“See you around,” I added lamely.
I turned around and started walking, hoping he couldn’t see the blush on my face. Feeling eyes on me, I didn’t dare look back. I was still grinning like an idiot by the time I made it to the headmaster’s office.
Probably not the picture of innocence and contriteness that I needed to portray. I relaxed my face and downed the rest of my coffee before knocking on his door.
“Come in,” a voice sounded.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my tío walking toward his own office.
Don’t make eye contact.
Crap. It was too late. He’d seen me. I opened the door and slid in before he could say something to me. No doubt I’d hear about it later.
“Rose Perez. Take a seat, please.”
I obeyed.
The man who sat before me had the same brown eyes as Brady, but gray peppered his once blonde-brown locks. Unlike the casual coldness his son put off, he was the opposite—straitlaced and uptight, meaning I wasn’t going to win him with my charm.
“I suppose it’s about time we met, no?” he drawled. The superiority in his tone reminding me of Brady.
“Suppose so,” I replied.
He tapped his pencil against his desk and eyed me. “I must admit, Miss Perez, I was hesitant to allow your acceptance here. In fact, I voted no on the school board, but well, your uncle is a very persistent man. The others follow him.” He threw the words at me like it was somehow my fault my tío got his way.
Not knowing how to respond, I continued to stare blankly at him.
His brown eyes narrowed. “My sources tell me you’ve been consistently sleeping through class.”
His sources?
My nose wrinkled. “You mean Professor Lip?”
“Hmm. Other classes as well. And you’ve been told repeatedly not to wear that jacket.”
I glanced down at my outfit.
“You’ve also failed to sign the student handbook and school policy agreement.”
“Well, I never received those.” I gave him my most innocent stare.
“The e-version hasn’t even been downloaded to your student tablet.”
Oops.
I widened my eyes. “There’s an e-version?”
He wasn’t buying it.
“Tell me, Miss Perez, why do you want to be here at the GRIMM Academy?”
His question threw me for a loop. I don’t. I wanted to blurt, but that would only lead to more questions. My eyes flicked toward my bracelet. Was tío listening in right now? Is that how it worked?
“Miss Perez?”
I sighed. “The only reason I’m here is because my family expects me to learn… at the very best school.”
The words felt like my own, but where was I going with that response?
He tapped his desk once more. “Hmm. Even after your incident with the shifter?”
My eyes snapped to his. It was the first time I’d been questioned about it besides the lecture my tío gave me.
His eyebrow arched in expectation.
“What about my incident?”
He stopped tapping and folded his fingers together on top of his desk. “Why is it you were the only student targeted? An attack like this hasn’t happened in years. Certainly not during my time as headmaster.”
I gaped at him. Was he implying I’d faked the attack? For what purpose? What did Grayson report to him and why was this the first he was bringing it up to me?
“Well?” he demanded.
Anger flared inside me. “How should I know? I thought it was the school’s duty to find my attacker and ensure the safety of its students.” I threw his formality and properness back at him.
His face darkened. “We are doing everything in our power to find your alleged attacker. In fact, I have a very important meeting tonight and tomorrow with the council in L.A.”
I glared at him. He did think I was faking. Was this about
