A Deeply Concerning Amount of Awareness

Mara continued staring at Alaric several seconds longer than socially advisable. Unfortunately…He noticed. Of course, he noticed. That man noticed everything involving her like it personally offended the laws of physics not to.

The corner of his mouth shifted faintly. Not enough to qualify as a smile. Enough to make Mara immediately look away before her nervous system filed a formal complaint. She concluded that being near Alaric was very dangerous. She cleared her throat and reached for her coffee instead but it was now cold. How tragic.

“Great,” she muttered. “Now the coffee tastes like regret.” Dave looked grateful for the conversational shift. “That’s the cafeteria’s signature flavor profile.” “Do they roast the beans over active resentment?” “Mostly economics majors.” Mara snorted softly.

Across the table, Alaric watched her with quieter intensity now. Less sharp than before but almost thoughtful. Which somehow made him feel even more dangerous. Because Mara was beginning to suspect something unfortunate...Alaric Arden was trying not to scare her. And considering his natural personality seemed carved entirely from winter storms and intimidation… The effort itself became strangely visible.

That realization sat oddly beneath her ribs. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked suddenly. Dave physically froze. Alaric remained calm. “Like what?” “Like you’re trying to solve advanced mathematics emotionally.”

Dave made a strangled noise into his sleeve. Mara pointed immediately. “See? He understands what I mean.” “I absolutely do not,” Dave lied. Alaric’s gaze stayed fixed on her another second before he spoke quietly. “You say unusual things.” “That sounds judgmental.” “It wasn’t.” “That somehow feels more suspicious.”

A nearby student stood from their table and hurried away carrying three books and visible anxiety. Mara watched them leave. Then slowly looked back toward Alaric. “Did that person just evacuate because you existed near them?” Dave answered too quickly. “No.” “Yes they did.” “No they didn’t.” “Dave.” He sighed. “People find Alaric intense.”

Mara stared at him flatly. “You say that like he occasionally uses too much eye contact instead of radiating final boss energy.” This time even Alaric looked briefly caught off guard. “Final boss?” Mara waved vaguely. “You know. Tall. Mysterious. Looks expensive enough to own private islands. Probably emotionally devastating.”

Dave lost his battle with composure entirely and laughed hard enough several students glared openly again. Alaric, meanwhile...Actually smiled and Mara’s entire brain derailed for one horrifying second. Well...That was unfair.

Nobody should look like that accidentally. The expression transformed him completely. The cold sharpness remained, but warmth flickered beneath it now. Human warmth. Rare enough to feel intimate. Mara looked away immediately, mentally chiding herself.

Nope. Absolutely not.

She did not trust men who looked frightening while smiling. That felt evolutionarily irresponsible. “You should do that less,” she muttered into her coffee. Dave blinked. “Do what?” “That.” Alaric’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Smile?” “Yes. It creates confusion.” For one suspended moment, silence settled around the table again. It was not awkward but worse...Comfortable.

Mara realized it abruptly and disliked it on principle. Comfort led to attachment and attachment led to disappointment. Grandma Ruth used to say trust should be handed out carefully because people treated loyalty like borrowed money. Easy to take but hard to recover.

Mara shoved the thought away sharply. No reason to get philosophical in a library surrounded by emotionally malfunctioning rich people. “You know,” she said suddenly, “I think Larkin might secretly be a cult.” Dave groaned softly. “Again with the cult theory?” “You all behave strangely.” “We really don’t.”

“Dave, I watched two girls apologize to Alaric this morning because they stood too close to his parking spot.” “That feels made up.” “I wish it was.” Alaric finally spoke again. “You pay attention to me often.” The quiet observation landed harder than expected. Mara looked toward him immediately. “That sounded accusatory.” “It wasn’t.” “Then what was it?” His gaze held hers steadily. “An observation.”

Heat crawled traitorously along Mara’s neck. Which was ridiculous. Entirely ridiculous. This man could turn basic eye contact into a structural problem. Dave noticed too and his expression dimmed almost imperceptibly before smoothing again. And for the first time since meeting him, Mara saw something sharper beneath his usual warmth. Not anger but jealousy and it was gone almost instantly.

Interesting. Mara mused. No. Not interesting but very dangerous. She mentally corrected herself. Before Mara could think too hard about that unpleasant realization, her phone buzzed loudly across the table. She grabbed it quickly. There was one unread message from an unknown number.

WELCOME TO LARKIN, MARA VALE.

YOU SHOULD LEARN WHEN TO STOP ATTRACTING ATTENTION.

Mara’s expression flattened instantly. Dave noticed first. “What happened?” Without answering, Mara turned the screen toward him. His easy demeanor vanished immediately. Beside him, Alaric looked down at the message and the atmosphere changed instantly. Cold pressure rolled through the table hard enough that Mara physically felt it this time. Not metaphorically but actually felt it.

The nearby lights flickered once and several students looked around uneasily. Dave went very still. Alaric’s expression became something terrifyingly calm. “Mara,” he said quietly, “who else has your number?” The question should not have sounded dangerous but it did. She frowned slightly. “Not many people.”

Dave took the phone carefully. “Blocked number.” Mara leaned back slowly. Oddly enough, she wasn’t frightened. Annoyed, mostly. People threatening others anonymously always felt cowardly to her. “If this is Celeste,” she sighed, “she’s becoming theatrically committed.” “It isn’t Celeste,” Alaric said immediately with absolute certainty.

Mara’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You know that very fast.” His gaze remained on the screen. “Yes.” The single word settled heavily. Dave looked toward him sharply now. Something silent passed between them again. There it was....That weird invisible communication. Mara was officially sick of it. “Okay,” she announced, standing abruptly. “That’s enough cryptic rich people behavior for one evening.” “Mara,” Dave started carefully.

“No. Absolutely not.” She grabbed her bag. “One of you keeps looking at me like I’m involved in ancient prophecy and now mysterious people are sending dramatic villain text messages.” “They might not be dangerous,” Dave said quickly. Alaric looked at him and Dave immediately stopped speaking. Mara noticed.

Something beneath the surface here kept moving when she wasn’t looking directly at it. Like hidden machinery. And somehow, every path seemed to lead back to Alaric Arden. Her pulse behaved strangely again. Stupid pulse. She cursed inwardly. “I’m leaving before this place develops background thunder,” she informed them.

Then she turned and started walking away. Three steps later, she stopped. Without looking back, she scolded. “If either of you follow me again, I’m reporting you to whatever government department handles emotionally suspicious behavior.” Dave covered his face briefly.

Behind her, silence lingered. Then Alaric spoke quietly enough that only she heard it. “I would follow you anywhere.” Mara kept walking because turning around after a sentence like that felt catastrophically unsafe for her emotional stability.