Sebastian's POV
She was avoiding me.
Ray Lin, the human sunbeam who yapped at everyone from janitors to birds, was actively dodging me like I was a walking restraining order.
At breakfast, she "forgot" to come down.
In the hallway, she turned around and walked the other way so fast she almost tripped on a rug.
In the garden—my garden—she saw me from a hundred feet away and dived behind a hedge like a badly trained spy.
I wasn't amused.
Not at first.
Now? I was…confused.
Last night, she fell—again—and I caught her—again. She'd looked up at me with that wide-eyed, pink-cheeked, lost-in-the-moment look and said something about gravity lying. Then she stammered out a sentence that ended with "apparently only trip when I'm around you," and all I could do was stare at her like she'd just kicked me in the chest.
And then she ran. Like a bunny. A bunny who knew she'd messed up and was too soft to face the fox.
"Morning, boss."
Kai's voice broke into my thoughts as he walked beside me, hands in his pockets, smirking like he knew something I didn't.
"Girl skipped breakfast. Again. What'd you do? Step on her Hello Kitty slippers or something?"
I gave him a look. "She's embarrassed."
"Embarrassed?" Kai blinked, clearly thrilled by the concept. "You? You embarrassed someone? Oh this I gotta hear."
I didn't answer. Because I didn't have an answer.
She'd tripped, I'd caught her. It wasn't the first time. But this time, she looked at me like… like I mattered.
And then she bolted.
Kai glanced sideways at me, eyes narrowing like a predator circling fresh gossip. "Wait. Wait-wait-wait—don't tell me she likes you."
I stopped walking. He didn't.
"She does, doesn't she? Oh my god. Ray Lin has a crush on Sebastian Blake. And now she's avoiding you because she can't function around you without turning into a tomato in pajamas."
"I will end you," I said flatly.
Kai snorted. "Too late. I'm living for this."