Page 28 of Poet & Protector

“Of course not,” I lied through my teeth. “I said you have to kiss me if I win, not that I want you to kiss me.”

His disbelief ebbed away only to be replaced by outrage at the implicit insult. “Why would you make me kiss you if you don’t want me to?”

I shrugged, then answered, “Because you said you my last offer was boring. Are you bored now, Mason?”

He shook his head, then swallowed, but he didn’t say anything else. When he went back to staring at me, I decided this tete-a-tete had gone far enough. I didn’t want to get to the inevitable conclusion where Mason told me he’d rather eat a cat than kiss a Bane, especially me.

“Don’t worry.” I offered him a flat smile. “I was only trying to get a rise out you, which I did. Watching you panic is a good time. Thanks for that.”

Mason bared his teeth and I laughed.

“We’ll go with my original suggestion. I’ll type up the notes for you when I win. Boring is fine with me.”

“No.”

I frowned at him. “I’m sorry?”

“No,” he said again, glaring at me. “If you win, I’ll kiss you. You’re only taking it back because you think I won’t go through with it.”

My mouth went dry. “No, I’m⁠—”

“That’s the bet, Nev.” He took a step toward me, jabbing my chest with his index finger. “If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t have put it out there.”

I did not see that coming and I had to take a moment before I could reply. He jumped on my hesitation.

“I knew you’d back down,” he said, far too pleased with himself.

“I can handle it, Mason.” I shot back. “The bet is on. You lose, you kiss me.”

It was obvious he’d expected me to take the out and his eyes widened before he sputtered, “Fine, but I want to change what I get when I beat you.”

“Nope,” I said quickly, stomping out the flare of curiosity about what he would ask for. “It’s not my problem you didn’t have the guts to go high stakes the first time around.”

“That’s not fair!” Mason got in my face, so close I could feel his breath on my skin.

“Again, not my problem.” It was a small miracle my voice held steady.

He was brimming with anger, but I could see fear flitting through his eyes. I was afraid, too, and hoped I was hiding it. We were both daring each other to back off, and doubtless knew we should, but neither of us was willing to turn away from a challenge. That was my problem, and yet I refused to solve it.

“Let’s do this,” I said. Getting away from Mason as soon as possible was the only reasonable decision at this moment. “On three. One.”

“Wait a second.”

“Two.”

“Why do you get to count off?” Mason tensed, realizing I wasn’t going to stop.

“Three!”

We bolted in opposite directions. Behind me, Mason yipped. I glanced over my shoulder.

He’d shifted into wolf form, which gave him a serious speed advantage.

Cheater.

We weren’t supposed to become wolves at school, but we were in a walled garden. Mason must have weighed the likelihood of getting caught against increasing his odds of winning and decided it was worth the risk.

I shifted, too, and dashed to the southwest corner. When I reached my destination, I lowered my muzzle and sniffed for unusual scents. The normal things were there. Grass, decaying leaves, earth, fungi, insects. Then something out of place. Brass. I tracked the scent to a spot next to the wall. Whatever I smelled was buried and I hurried to dig it up, my paws blurring as dirt flew out of the rapidly deepening hole.