Chapter 165

As a rogue, Jordan was accustomed to scoring critical hits; doing so was a cornerstone of her class. Even by her standards, though, this one was gory. Sofia went red, facing Jordan with an expression of pure shock. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, too caught off-guard to even sputter.

Accusations like those made in the heat of the moment were one thing, like Jordan’s taunting that morning, but in the sober light of day, at class, Jordan’s words hit Sofia with far more impact.

“Or are you hoping to be more than just her sex pet?” Jordan continued in a serious tone, making sure to seem over-the-top worried. She squeezed her arm, again, play-acting the earnest friend. “Getting it into her thick skull that you want to be her girlfriend will be an uphill battle—so you’ll need a plan. That’s where I can help.”

“What are you talking about?” Sofia finally stuttered out, stumbling an impressive three times over the first word—sounding half-strangled. “Have you lost your mind? Her sex pet? Her girlfriend?” she hissed, shooting frantic looks around, though nobody was nearby. “We have a bet! And, and the collar! That’s it! And, by the way, the collar was the dungeon’s fault.”

“So you don’t want it there?” Jordan asked—and this time, the seriousness in her voice was genuine. “Did that happen too fast? Or is anything else too much? Like the bet you two made? And what happened this morning—did I go too far?”

Those had, of course, been the actual questions Jordan wanted to ask. Teasing Sofia would always be fun, but her ultimate goal was to check up on the girl.

The pivot from over-the-top accusations to sounding genuinely caring caught Sofia doubly off guard: she reeled, again trying to orient herself.

“If you want Natalie to slow down, you can tell her,” Jordan said. “She’ll listen. I know that for a fact, even if you disagree. Or if you don’t like something you two are doing, or where your relationship is going, tell her—she will ease up. Without making a big deal of it. I promise. Above everything, she cares about you, Sofia. And so do I.”

Sofia’s mouth opened and closed. Words didn’t come out. Finally, her strangled response came. “Jordan. This isn’t necessary.” Her face somehow turned an even deeper shade of red. “I do have a spine. If I don’t like something, I am more than capable of standing up for myself. Especially to that aggravating woman.”

Jordan bit down on an instinctive response: something along the lines of, ‘not from what I saw, this morning’. It wasn’t the time. She’d gotten the honesty she’d wanted—and also made sure to hammer home that Natalie did care about her, and would drop the bet, or collar situation, if asked. In case the woman was deep enough in denial that she didn’t believe that, it had to be said.

So Jordan nodded, then dropped the topic. Sofia looked kind of close to melting where she stood, anyway.

“So what about threesomes?” Jordan asked. “I mean, real ones. Not like this morning. Are those on the table?”

Sofia made a choking noise.

Jordan laughed, then eased up. She faced forward. There were a few things she wanted to talk about that weren’t about their love lives—relevant topics for their team’s future.

“Anyway, we’re a few weeks in,” she said. “School events are gonna start soon. And we should probably look into doing some quests. We’re performing well in the dungeon, but that’s not all we have to worry about.”

Sofia was more than happy to accept the pivot, if, once again, she had to visibly orient herself. Her pale cheeks were dusted pink, and she pointedly didn’t meet Jordan’s eyes. She really was way too cute. Jordan had always been fond of Sofia, though Natalie’s rivalry had made it hard to be friends—especially since Sofia had had her own friend group, back home.