Playing Dangerous

XIII

Tate's POV...

Today's my birthday. I turned seventeen. And no one actually knows it.

"Ahh, last day of November. True winter is coming." Mr. Storm stretches and tilts his head to follow him.

"I can't do this anymore, the forest is never going to end." I groan, at this point dragging my feet to follow them.

"For real, my heels are aching." Lilian whines.

"This is pure torture. It's freezing." Clare cries out. This definitely isn't how I imagined my seventeenth birthday. We walk behind everyone, panting and sore.

I stumble back but end up falling in Silas' arms. "Just a little bit more, I promise." He purrs. He followed us behind the whole road, time by time chatting with Lilian. He was prepared behind as if he was waiting for this moment, as if he was ensuring our safety whole time.

"I don't need your help." I groan, trying to step on another steep slope. Frozen snow has absolutely zero grip and I slide back into his arms.

"It seems like you need." I shrug his hands off.

"Aren't you tired? You look quite energetic."

"Not really," he tells Lilian.

"Interesting, does anything ever tires you?" I ask.

"Sex," Lilian answers for me. "If he pulls all nighter—" my mouth dries up at the thought of being with him all night.

"Lilian," he warns as she chuckles. And then passes us without hesitation, for now walking ahead.

"All right, 10 minutes break. Then we're back on the track." Mr. Storm announces.

Silas stands unbothered, not tired a bit. "This guy is like a vampire. He never gets tired." I tell to particularly no one.

"Oh babe, you don't know half of his strength. He's basically a machine." Lilian says.

"What do you mean?" Lilian pours cup of tea from her thermos. "Can you tell a little about him?"

"Well," she shrugs. "I know him since he was six. He was one skinny boy, quiet and uncommunicative, but then started growing like a tree. His physical appearance became more apparent and attractive, not only his gorgeous face but his body started to shape in a way that captivated most of the ladies. He always has been the quiet one of his group, but also the freakiest. Ask anyone, they will tell you they fear him for some unknown reason. He's just a prick with extremely high self-esteem." She chuckles.

As if he doesn't have a good reason for it.

"What else?" I smile at her, honeying to hear more.

"Everybody wants him, but no one seems willing to love him romantically. If I were him, it would actually piss me off. Even elder bitches are looking at him like a piece of meat. But he handles it with a I-don't-care attitude. His mysteriousness interests everyone, not that he wants this image, he truly has a lot to hide. Once he was drunk and barely mentioned his traumas. When I tell you I was flabbergasted, I mean it."

"So you two... I mean, are you interested in him?" I ask carefully.

She barks out laugh, her straight white teeth shining. "What? Silas? No, no. I'd be more interested in you than I'll ever be in him." Oh. Oh. So she's into girls.