Authors: Jennifer Sucevic
Is this guy for real?
His eyes widen at the insinuation. “No,” he finally snaps with just a bit of heat, “that’s not what I meant at all.” Looking frustrated, he quickly runs a hand through his messy brown hair.
I’m momentarily distracted by those rich chocolate colored strands of his. Yep, totally dangerous.
“But that’s what you just said.” Thankfully this conversation is going exactly where I need it to- right down the tubes. Like I said before- gorgeous guy, total asshole behavior. Guess I’m not as far off the mark as I’d originally suspected. But this is exactly what I want. For him to expose himself as a douche and for me to move on without so much as second thought.
So why does him doing exactly what I want leave me with a feeling of disappointment sitting in the pit of my belly? I force that thought away before I’m able to examine it too closely.
Looking exasperated, which yeah, is a totally adorable look on him as well, he finally snaps, “Damn it, I know that’s what I said. All I wanted to do was apologize for Alex pissing you off.” He actually glares at me… with those amazing golden eyes of his. “I’m apologizing on behalf of my friend. That’s it. Okay?”
Not knowing what else to do, I shrug my shoulders. “Fine. Apology accepted.” It’s definitely time to leave. If this guy has any self-preservation skills what so ever, he’ll let me go about my business without trying to detain me again. “Bye.” Turning, I give him a half wave, before continuing to search through the thick press of bodies for my roommate.
Make that my former roommate…
“Hold up!”
Christ Almighty!
All I want to do is shake this guy loose. Can he seriously not take a hint? I’m not interested! I don’t want to be interested. I don’t need the distraction. And he’s definitely a distraction.
“I need to find Brooklyn so I can get the hell out of here,” I mutter to myself.
“What?” His breath feathers along the back of my neck making goosebumps ripple across my arms. I grit my teeth trying to suppress my body’s natural reaction to him.
With heat flaring in my narrowed eyes, I careen towards him for a third time. “Are you following me?” My gaze locks on his. As annoyed as I am right now, I still find him completely dreamy. Which only exacerbates all those feelings of frustration and annoyance that are roiling through me right now.
“Um… yes?”
He sounds none too sure. His eyes continue to hold mine and even though I don’t want him melting the thick sheath of ice protecting me, he kind of is.
Inhaling a deep breath before blowing it slowly out, I try to calm the raging mess inside me once and for all. “Look, you seem like a nice guy.” Well, as nice of a guy as I’m going find at an ass grabbing kegger. “But this isn’t going to happen.”
His thick brows instantly slide together and it’s kind of… argh, adorable. Aw hell, it’s completely adorable. Damn him for being completely gorgeous and adorable. That is such a lethal combination. I’m sure he has all the girls at Western swooning at his feet.
But I’m not one of those girls.
“What’s not going to happen?” His utter confusion only adds to his adorableness.
Seriously… I just cannot catch a break here.
Slowly I point my finger between the pair of us. I have to stifle a groan because he’s so damn close. And yes, I probably should have known that he would smell completely amazing. Like the ocean on a perfectly sunny day with just a hint of a breeze. I want to inhale a great big breath of him but I don’t. I don’t dare because he’s much too dangerous for the likes of me.
“This.”
“I just want to know your name,” he replies quietly as if he actually means the words. And I can’t deny that a very teeny tiny part within me wants to tell him.
Holding firm against all that cuteness packaged neatly in front of me, I force myself to give him a long patronizing look. “
Right
.” I stretch the word out for a good five seconds before adding an exaggerated eye roll. “Sure you do.” Then I go in for the kill. “Look, I’m not going to fuck you. Not tonight or tomorrow night or ever.” Instead, I point to all the scantily clad girls that surround us. Of which there are many. “There are a lot easier marks around here than me. Go find one of them to play with.”
That being said, I spin back around but don’t get very far. Surprised by the sudden grip on my upper arm, he swings me back around. His brows are scrunched together and low over his eyes as he glares. Sounding irritated, he bites out, “I’m not interested in getting laid for Christ’s sake and it’s a pretty shitty assumption on your part for thinking it.”
With widened eyes, I freeze beneath his touch as my heart jackhammers painfully. A sudden release of adrenaline careens through my veins. Sweat pops out across my brow as my chest instantly tightens.
Even though his grip isn’t biting, it has every cell within my body seizing up with panic.
I don’t like being touched. Or grabbed. Or manhandled.
In all honesty, I’d been nice to Alex. I’d let him off easy. But this…
this
isn’t okay. I don’t even realize that I’m baring my teeth until I’m already doing it. When my words finally tumble out, they’re nothing more than an angry hiss from between tightly clenched lips. I can’t stop the fine tremble that slides its way through my now taut body.
“Take your damn hand off me!”
Eyes flaring wide, he immediately drops my arm as if I’ve burned him with the heat of my words. Silently we stare at each other for a long painful heartbeat… or maybe it’s more like twenty. The rowdy laughter and pulsing music surrounding us fades into the background as our eyes hold. My ragged breath hitches as I suck in a great big gulp of oxygen before forcing it slowly out.
Even though he’s dropped my arm, I’m still gripped by a tidal wave of anxiety as it crashes over me, threatening to drag me under. The slight trembling turns into bone shaking tremors. My chest feels like it is being squeezed by a vise.
I can’t breathe.
I have to… I have get out of here.
In another moment I’ll be choking on my panic. I can feel the familiar tendrils coiling inside me. The last thing I need is to lose my shit in front of all these drunken strangers.
Without another word, I spin on my heels before frantically shoving my way through the thick press of bodies until I find myself at the front door. Staggering outside into the brisk night air, I inhale deep gulps of fresh oxygen as I stumble my way down the sidewalk like some drunken idiot. I need to put as much distance between me and that God awful party as I can. Even though I try desperately to settle the frantic thoughts rolling through my head, it’s impossible.
It’s way too late to rein in all my out-of-control emotions.
Bending over, I promptly vomit my dinner onto someone’s overgrown front yard. The only bright side I can find in this mess is that my pile of puke probably won’t be the only one gracing the lawn come morning.
A low groan rumbles its way from deep within the mountain of covers and quilts. “I don’t feel so good,” the voice finally croaks, “I think I might have the flu.”
I snort with about as much derision as I can muster. Which actually is quite a bit. “What you technically have is called the twenty-four hour booze flu.” I singsong the words gleefully just before yanking open the thick, ugly blue curtains covering our dorm room window which allows bright sunlight to filter in. I seriously can’t summon one ounce of pity for someone who knowingly inflicts this kind of pain onto themselves. Brooklyn whimpers in response before trying to burrow even further down into the abyss of blankets and pillows piled high on her dorm issued twin bed. “Come on, up and at ‘em, sunshine. You’ve got class in forty.” Then I pretend to wince, not that she can see me do it, as I add with false pity, “Oh, and don’t you have calculus this bright and fine Friday morning with Professor Ling? Yeah… that’s really going to suck for you. He’s difficult to understand on the best of days. Good luck with that.”
“No,” she continues to moan or maybe she’s groaning, who can really tell? “No class. Can’t go. Not today. Too sick. Head pounding. Might throw up. Must sleep.”
“I do believe you told me that your partying wouldn’t get in the way of attending classes, Brook. Remember? I made you promise me that before agreeing to move in with you.”
And yes, I really had secured a verbal agreement from her regarding just this sort of situation. After last year, I’m not interested in partying at all. My sole objective is to focus on my classes. But moving in with Brooklyn, who I’ve known forever, seemed like a far better choice than playing Russian roulette in regards to random roommate assignments.
“No,” she mumbles before smashing another pillow over her face, “I never promised any such thing.”
“Sure you did. I’ve got it in writing somewhere around here.” Eyeing her, I move loudly around the room as I prepare for my nine o’clock class. Finding a protein bar, I open the wrapper and take a big bite.
“Bitch,” she mutters from under the covers. Well, I think that’s what she mutters.
I grin at the mound of pillows and blankets. “But I’m a lovable bitch, right?”
Most of the time.
Probably…
She grumbles something unintelligible that I can’t quite decipher. I’m not sure if she’s agreeing or disagreeing with that statement. But since she’s in the midst of a killer hangover, I’m going to guess that she’s in disagreement.
“You’re down to thirty minutes now. Tick tock, tick tock.” I set a big glass of water and two acetaminophen tablets on the table beside her bed. “Take the pills and guzzle the water. It’ll help.” Because honestly, it can’t hurt at this point. The only good thing I have to say about Brooklyn this morning is that the girl can definitely hold her liquor. I thought for sure when I’d texted her last night to meet me outside the house and then proceeded to carry her drunk ass home, that she would be puking all over the place.
Much to my pleasant surprise, that hadn’t turned out to be the case. Nor had she died of alcohol poisoning either. So, win-win in my book.
Ignoring me, she grumbles, “I think you’d be a much happier person if you got laid once in a while. Just something to consider.”
“I’m already a perfectly happy person.” My sunny disposition nosedives at her words. Yeah, I tried that trick last year… it hadn’t worked out so well for me.
After ten more minutes of trying to cajole Brooklyn from her bed, she finally, rather reluctantly pulls the pillows and blankets off her face before blinking at the harsh sunlight pouring in through the large bank of eastern facing windows. She covers her eyes with a hand as if the bright light might actually scorch her retinas. “You’re a horrible person for forcing me to get up when I feel like such crap.”
My eyes slide over the little bit of her I can now see. Her long blonde hair is in total disarray. Her skin is waxy looking instead of the enviable creamy glow it usually has. Actually, she’s looking a little green around the gills. “Well, if it’s any consolation, you look just as bad as you feel.”
“Bitch,” she mutters again.
Completely unaffected by her new pet name for me, I shrug. “Alright then, I’m off.” Wrapping a turquoise scarf around my neck, I grab my oversized messenger bag and sunglasses before heading out. “See you later, alligator.” Just as I’m about to close the door, I whip it open before poking my head back inside, “Get your lazy ass out of bed right now,” I bellow at the top of my lungs.
In answer, she hurtles one of her hot pink pillows at the door. It falls pathetically short of its mark. By about five feet. I shake my head at such an embarrassingly sad attempt.
“Has anyone ever told you that you have really shitty aim?” Because it’s completely true. A future softball competitor, she is not. It’s doubtful she’d even do well in an over forty beer league.
Her second attempt almost hits her intended target. “Better.” I smile as one of her hands snake out of the thick pile of blankets to flip me off. I can’t help but snicker as I shut the door.
Hustling my way across campus for my nine o’clock class which, thanks to Brooklyn, I am now running late for, I try multitasking on the fly as I read a text sent by one of my professors. Even though this bad habit is always ill-advised when trying to maneuver through a large herd of students who are also trying to haul ass across campus, I do it anyway. I’m certainly not going to deny my own stupidity as I smack rather embarrassingly into a wall. With a loud ouff, I stagger back a few steps before strong arms reach out to steady me. And to the best of my knowledge, walls don’t have arms.
Almost instantly my belly hollows out because I think I might know that hard muscled chest…
Crap.
Could life seriously be cruel enough to throw this guy right into my oblivious path within twelve short hours of our previous meeting?
The answer to that question is a resounding
yes
. My gaze arrows right to his smiling golden brown eyes. A slight wind ruffles his gorgeous hair as we stand in the middle of the cement walking path that snakes its way through campus.