Chapter 75 Surface Rivals
ARDEN
Cade didn’t come back the next day.
Or the day after that.
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And now on the eve of the Academy Wars Finale, the match that would ultimately decide which Academy would claim victory for the year–I still hadn’t seen him. His seat in class remained conspicuously empty. He didn’t respond during the roll call. Even his friends didn’t seem to know where he was.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
I tried to shake it off. I attempted to focus on the big match ahead, but everything around me became nothing more than noise in the absence of Cade.
As I rounded the corner of the east hall, lost in distraction, I collided with someone tall and cold.
“Oh–sorry,” I muttered, instinctively pulling back.
But the scent that came from him froze me in place.
Mr. Winters.
He looked down at me, a polite cruelty.dancing in his smile. “Arden Stone,” he said smoothly. “I remember your name this time.”
“Good job at the eliminations last time. I didn’t think you’d be so… smart.”
I pursed my lips, feeling a prick of annoyance. “Thank you,” I replied quietly, forcing my gaze downward.
“If you’re looking for extra credit,” he continued, “I have a few projects coming up. Something a little more advanced. Post–break, perhaps. I think you’d be quite useful.”
I didn’t respond.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Just come to my office anytime, Arden. We can raise your points higher with the project I have in my mind.”
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Fortunately, working at the café provided a brief escape for my mind, even if it was just for a little while.
However, by the time my shift began, my thoughts were an even bigger mess than before. I tied my apron, wiped down the counters, and smiled at the customers, but it felt as if I were dragging my feet to perform these small tasks.
The afternoon dragged on. Dishes clanked in the background. Owen sang off–key in the kitchen. And at closing time, as I pushed the last chair onto the table, I noticed someone standing just outside the glass.
Rowan.
He waited silently until I stepped out, then fell into stride beside me like it was completely natural.
“You don’t usually come here these days,” I remarked, glancing up at him.
“I don’t usually have anything to say.”
I raised an eyebrow but chose to remain silent. We passed beneath the dim yellow lights spilling from the café windows and wandered into the stretch of quiet leading toward the school gates. The silence hung heavily between us–awkward but not unbearable–until he abruptly stopped walking.
“I like you,” he declared suddenly.
So, this was what he came here for?
I turned to him slowly, letting out a deep breath.
“You don’t like me, Rowan.”
His brows knitted together in confusion. “I just told you I did.”
I shook my head firmly. “No. You like that I don’t bow to you like everyone else does. You like that I’m not scared of you.”
“That’s not true-”
“It is,” I said gently. “You’re not used to people treating you like an equal. That’s why this…
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feels so different to you. But you don’t like me.”
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His jaw ticked, a muscle twitching at my words. “Who are you to say that?” he shot back.
“I can see it,” I muttered, glancing away. “You don’t look at me like that.”
The way he looks at Tessa.
Rowan sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “It’s been a while since I poured out my feelings like this, and you’re rejecting it,” he grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. Then, to punctuate his frustration, he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it while leaning against the cold surface of the concrete wall.
I coughed when the smoke wafted into my nostrils. “See? I hate this. I hate the smoke. You wouldn’t be doing this if you actually liked me,” I pressed, hoping he’d take pity on me.
He didn’t put
it out.
With crossed arms, I felt the cool night air
I felt the cool night air wrap around my bare skin. “You don’t like me,” I stated more firmly this time, challenging him to respond.
“I do,” he insisted once more, a stubborn edge to his voice.
“But not like that, Rowan,” I pressed, my heart beating a little faster.
He looked up at the stars, an infinite stretch of darkness dotted by pinpricks of light. “Why does it have to be so complicated?” he muttered, sounding defeated.
I smiled faintly. “Because people are complicated,” I replied softly.
He didn’t respond, his eyes still trained on the heavens above.
I turned my attention back to him, seeing a man who didn’t know how to be anything other than detached. Maybe he did like me, in his own twisted way. But that wasn’t the kind of love I sought.
After a long moment of contemplation, I asked, “Do you know where Cade is?”
Rowan stiffened at the mention of the name.
The cigarette burned down slowly between his fingers, its ash accumulating like unspoken words.
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Chapter 75 Surface Rivals
Then, to my shock, he smirked. “So, he’s the one you like, huh?”
I was taken aback, momentarily speechless. “What?” I stammered, trying to process his casual revelation.
“Cade,” he said easily. “Figured as much. Elias is going to be heartbroken. Not to mention Jaxon, but that guy’s an asshole anyway.”
I stared at him, bewildered. “What are you talking about?”
He turned to me fully, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity I hadn’t encountered before. For once, there was no teasing, no smugness–only an unsettling honesty. “To answer your question… I don’t know where he is.”
I let out a deep breath, feeling the cold air sting my lungs. What had I expected?
He took another drag from his cigarette, and the smell made my nose crinkle, but I stayed silent.
Then he spoke again, his tone shifting to one of subtle seriousness. “But just know—out of the True Alphas, Cade’s the one I don’t mess with.”
“What do you mean?”
Rowan met my gaze. “Because he’s the one I respect the most.”
“I can’t even blame you,” he added, letting out a dry laugh, the sound almost bittersweet. “For liking that bastard.”
My lips parted in surprise, but I didn’t know how to respond. “Are you… close with Cade?” I finally managed to ask.
Rowan scoffed, shaking his head in dismissal. “Hell no. We’re not close. We’re not even friends.”
He exhaled smoke slowly through his nose. “But I don’t mind him.”
And that–somehow–meant more to me than if he had said yes outright.
A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Despite being poised as rivals, there seemed to be no real hatred between them. Beneath the surface, it felt like they understood each other more than anyone else did.
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But then, Rowan’s expression shifted.
His voice took on a more somber tone. “Cade’s been through a lot, Arden.”
I looked at him, curiosity piqued.
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“There are things you don’t know. Things that would break most people. And he’s still here, standing. Still fighting. That alone is admirable,” he added.
A tightness formed in my throat.
“You’re in for a wild ride if you’re planning to fight his demons with him,” he said, his eyes steady on mine.
I met his gaze and whispered, “But I want to.”
He looked away.
His cigarette trembled slightly in his fingers, then, with a resigned sigh, he flicked it to the ground and crushed it halfway under his boot.
“I lost then,” he murmured.
I stared at him, stunned by the admission.
“I didn’t think it’d annoy me this much,” Rowan admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture of vulnerability. “But… I get it.”
Silence settled between us like a heavy fog.
I turned toward him. “Maybe you can also find someone. Someone close.”
His eyes met mine, and for a fleeting moment, I swore he understood.
Tessa.
He didn’t say her name, but his jaw tightened and his eyes darkened like storm clouds gathering on the horizon.
He took a step toward me. “Focus on yourself, Arden.”
I furrowed my brows.
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“Don’t meddle with me anymore,” he added, his voice strained. “I won’t with the two of you.”
There was unmasked pain in his voice that he was trying hard to bury beneath a facade of indifference.
He gave me one last look, heavy with unexpressed thoughts, then turned and vanished into the night.
“Have a good one,” he called back, his voice distant, echoing as he walked away.
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