Perfekt Order (The Ære Saga Book 1) by S.T. Bende Page A

underfoot
in his house. Spending the night at his place would be more awkward
than being caught in white shoes after Labor Day.
    “But you were just saying a week was too long
to sleep on the living room floor,” Brynn argued. “And Heather’s
going to explode when she hears it’ll last another week.”
    “Why are you sleeping on the living room
floor?” Henrik asked.
    “Uh, well…” I glared at Brynn.
    She shrugged. “I think it’s all pretty
ridiculous.”
    My eyes scanned the sidewalk outside the gym,
looking for an excuse to get away. The way Tyr looked at me was
unsettling. “Um… well…”
    “Mia and the girls are scared.” Brynn reached
up to straighten her ponytail.
    “Really, prinsessa ? The Super G champ
is afraid of mice?” Tyr raised an eyebrow.
    “They’re rats , they’re over my
bedroom, and I like to sleep alone, thank you very much.”
    “Mmm.” Tyr stared me down, and I flushed.
    Oh .
    “You do realize the rats are going to make
their way to your kitchen eventually, right? I’m assuming you’re
not as uptight as Tyr, and you leave the occasional crumb on the
counter. And your living room floor is probably closer to the
kitchen than your bedrooms.” Henrik raised an eyebrow.
    Oh, crepes. Why hadn’t I thought of
that? I whirled on Brynn. “There has to be another exterminator.
Someone who can fit us in today .” Note to self: scrub the
kitchen top to bottom the minute you walk in the door.
    Henrik chuckled. “I might know another guy.
His methods aren’t exactly conventional, but he can rid the house
of pests pretty quick.”
    “We’ll take him,” I blurted.
    “I’ll give him a call and see if he can fit
you in.” Henrik punched Tyr in the arm. “We’d better get going. I
have to turn in grades to Professor Antoise by nine. You guys both
passed your quiz, by the way.”
    “Are we talking an A or a B?” I pushed. It
was never too early in the semester to obsess.
    “I think you both got As.” Henrik furrowed
his brow. “Or A-minuses—I can’t remember. Oh, and you guys got the
internship spots. Congrats.”
    “Fabulous!” Brynn trilled.
    My grin was so big my cheeks pinched, my
irritation with Tyr and rodent-induced paranoia both forgotten.
“Really?”
    “Really. Mia, you have a really good resume
for a freshman. Volunteering at the Space Center must have been a
great experience.”
    “It was. I mostly just collated data for the
scientists, but it was fun getting to read their research papers
before they were published.” I beamed. “Wow, I’m really
excited.”
    “Great. Can you start tomorrow? I’m thinking
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons will work, unless you have classes
then.” Henrik pushed the thin-framed glasses up his nose.
    “I’m free after two,” I offered.
    “Me too,” Brynn chimed in.
    “Excellent. See you both in the engineering
lab.” Henrik offered a wave and turned in the direction of the
engineering building. “Tyr! Stop staring at Mia and come with
me.”
    My eyes darted to Tyr as he finally
unclenched his fists. He gave me a look that lingered a second
longer than absolutely necessary, and held more than a hint of
sadness. What did he have to be sad about? The corners of his eyes
turned down and his gaze softened, earning a familiar tug from my
traitorous heartstrings. The look in his eyes told me more than the
sum of all our previous conversations, making it clear my illogical
Tyr infatuation wasn’t entirely one-sided. I knew it! But as
quickly as the change came over Tyr, it was gone. In one swift
movement he turned on his heel and walked away. “ God natt ,
girls.” He threw the words over his shoulder.
    “Ni-ight!” Brynn sang back.
    Tyr sauntered away with the confidence of a
seasoned athlete, as I once again tried not to stare at his
unnaturally glorious backside. It was an absolute thing of
beauty.
    And it was completely out of my reach.
     
    ****
     
    “Mia, you’re the organizational whiz, right?”
Henrik