back to being just cold. It’s difficult to even follow myself.
“Do you have any plans this weekend?” he asks me, ignoring my cold tone.
My insides do a weird thing. My breath catches in my throat. I swallow with some difficulty and give him a warning with my bluish-green gaze that I hope is menacing enough. I don’t like the sound of his question.
“Why?”
“Calm down, I just wanted to know. There’s a party Friday night and I wanted to know if you’d like to go with your roommate.”
I want to slap myself hard. For a second I thought he was about to ask me out, which is a crazy thought. I mean, this guy must have high standards when he’s interested in girls and I obviously don’t match them. Why do I even care?
“I’m not a party girl. I’ll ask Kate, though. She’ll probably meet you there,” I finally answer evenly, able to mask the wheels turning in my head. I even contain the cringe that was about to creep on my face at the thought of Duke and Kate together.
“You don’t have to be a party girl to go to a party.”
I cross my arms and my eyes flare. “Are you always this patronizing?”
“Never, actually.”
“I bring out the worst in you then, I guess”
He smiles softly at me and waves at another TA walking in. “You sure bring something out in me, but I still don’t know what it is.”
I sigh and glance around us. Almost every seat is now taken. Dr. Dills won’t be long. I think about Kate and how she didn’t even hesitate for a second to leave the party last weekend and to follow me to our dorms. She didn’t say anything, and somehow I feel indebted to her because I ruined her night out.
“Give me the stupid address and we’ll be there,” I mumble without looking at him. I don’t want to see the triumph in his dark gaze. No need to feel even more ridiculous from letting him lead me like the weak girl I don’t want to be anymore.
“Do you have any paper?” His voice sounds upbeat and I cringe.
I put my hand in my jeans pocket and give him my phone. “Just type the address in there and I’ll text it to Kate.”
His long fingers brush mine as he takes my iPhone. Quickly, too quickly to be unnoticed, I escape his touch. He frowns heavily and I don’t like that. How many more signs does he need to understand what happened, what I let happen to myself without doing anything for so long?
He types the address fast, his long and strong fingers agile on the screen, and he puts my phone back on the desk, careful to not touch me. “Don’t forget that I know where you live now, so if you and your roommate stand me up I’ll come and drag you to the party,” he says, his voice openly teasing.
I briefly glance up as he stands and shrugs. It’s my signature move around him apparently. Lame. “We’ll be there, but I won’t stay long.”
“Fine by me.”
Then he walks down to talk with the other TAs while we’re all waiting for Dr. Dills to make his huge entrance for the lecture. My eyes wander around the room, but I often find myself gazing at Duke, really observing his tall frame, which is both intimidating and reassuring.
As Dr. Dills walks in, I receive an enthusiastic answer from Kate apparently delighted about our plans for Friday. At least she’s eager; I’m already thinking of a way to cancel. All I want is to be left alone, to be invisible.
* * *
“You should have changed, Skye,” Kate says for the third time as she parks in front of a typical house outside of campus. Some people are milling around on the lawn in front of the wraparound porch, nursing red cups of alcohol while smoking and laughing. This party doesn’t seem as wild as the one at the frat house. Which, when you think about it, is not that surprising.
I glance down at my old blue jeans that hang tight on my hips, hips now more generous than they were when I was a freshman in high
“Do you have any plans this weekend?” he asks me, ignoring my cold tone.
My insides do a weird thing. My breath catches in my throat. I swallow with some difficulty and give him a warning with my bluish-green gaze that I hope is menacing enough. I don’t like the sound of his question.
“Why?”
“Calm down, I just wanted to know. There’s a party Friday night and I wanted to know if you’d like to go with your roommate.”
I want to slap myself hard. For a second I thought he was about to ask me out, which is a crazy thought. I mean, this guy must have high standards when he’s interested in girls and I obviously don’t match them. Why do I even care?
“I’m not a party girl. I’ll ask Kate, though. She’ll probably meet you there,” I finally answer evenly, able to mask the wheels turning in my head. I even contain the cringe that was about to creep on my face at the thought of Duke and Kate together.
“You don’t have to be a party girl to go to a party.”
I cross my arms and my eyes flare. “Are you always this patronizing?”
“Never, actually.”
“I bring out the worst in you then, I guess”
He smiles softly at me and waves at another TA walking in. “You sure bring something out in me, but I still don’t know what it is.”
I sigh and glance around us. Almost every seat is now taken. Dr. Dills won’t be long. I think about Kate and how she didn’t even hesitate for a second to leave the party last weekend and to follow me to our dorms. She didn’t say anything, and somehow I feel indebted to her because I ruined her night out.
“Give me the stupid address and we’ll be there,” I mumble without looking at him. I don’t want to see the triumph in his dark gaze. No need to feel even more ridiculous from letting him lead me like the weak girl I don’t want to be anymore.
“Do you have any paper?” His voice sounds upbeat and I cringe.
I put my hand in my jeans pocket and give him my phone. “Just type the address in there and I’ll text it to Kate.”
His long fingers brush mine as he takes my iPhone. Quickly, too quickly to be unnoticed, I escape his touch. He frowns heavily and I don’t like that. How many more signs does he need to understand what happened, what I let happen to myself without doing anything for so long?
He types the address fast, his long and strong fingers agile on the screen, and he puts my phone back on the desk, careful to not touch me. “Don’t forget that I know where you live now, so if you and your roommate stand me up I’ll come and drag you to the party,” he says, his voice openly teasing.
I briefly glance up as he stands and shrugs. It’s my signature move around him apparently. Lame. “We’ll be there, but I won’t stay long.”
“Fine by me.”
Then he walks down to talk with the other TAs while we’re all waiting for Dr. Dills to make his huge entrance for the lecture. My eyes wander around the room, but I often find myself gazing at Duke, really observing his tall frame, which is both intimidating and reassuring.
As Dr. Dills walks in, I receive an enthusiastic answer from Kate apparently delighted about our plans for Friday. At least she’s eager; I’m already thinking of a way to cancel. All I want is to be left alone, to be invisible.
* * *
“You should have changed, Skye,” Kate says for the third time as she parks in front of a typical house outside of campus. Some people are milling around on the lawn in front of the wraparound porch, nursing red cups of alcohol while smoking and laughing. This party doesn’t seem as wild as the one at the frat house. Which, when you think about it, is not that surprising.
I glance down at my old blue jeans that hang tight on my hips, hips now more generous than they were when I was a freshman in high
Similar Books
Footsteps on the Shore
Pauline Rowson
The Stranger
Kyra Davis
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes
Melissa Myers
Street Fame
K. Elliott
Sixteen
Emily Rachelle
Nightshade
Jaide Fox
Burnt Paper Sky
Gilly Macmillan
Dark Debts
Karen Hall
That Furball Puppy and Me
Carol Wallace, Bill Wallance
Thirty-Three Teeth
Colin Cotterill