Chapter 25. Solace

ARDEN

“Are you alright?” Tessa asked, her brows furrowed with concern as we sat together in the library, waiting for Cade and Rowan to arrive. I was feeling increasingly under the weather, a sense of heat creeping up on me.

She placed her hand lightly over my forehead and hissed, “You’re hot.”

“Thanks,” I muttered jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Well, you are hot—literally,” she replied, her expression shifting into one of seriousness. “Are you sick?”

“It might have been the party yesterday,” I suggested with a slight shrug. “Or perhaps it’s the cold showers we take in our dorm.”

She chuckled softly, but her worry didn’t entirely dissipate. “Are you really okay? Do you need any medicine?”

I shook my head firmly. “We have a presentation in two days, and I can’t afford to miss it.”

But despite my determination, I couldn’t shake the growing heat from my body. “Do you mind if I splash some water on my face? I think it might cool me