“You okay?”
I turn to find Aldo standing at the back of the truck.
“Yeah,” my voice is surprisingly steady.
“What are you doing?” He cocks his head to the side, studying me. I’m sure I look half-insane standing here beside my truck, nearly out of breath from Mascen’s shocking presence.
“I … needed to breathe in the fresh air.”
It sounds plausible enough.
“Nobody’s giving you trouble out here are they?” He looks around for someone hidden in the shadows, but Mascen’s gone, slipped away to whatever cave he hides in. “We get some homeless folks out here from time to time. I always slip them some food—don’t tell Izzy, though. She’d have my head.” He gives a soft smile.
“I won’t say anything.” Tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, I locate the key to my truck. “I better get going now.”
“’Night, Rory.”
“Goodnight.” I raise my hand in a wave when he does the same.
Hopping in my truck, Aldo watches as I pull away before heading back inside the building.
I should stop and grab a meal from one of the 24-hour drive-thrus in the area, but I’m suddenly not hungry anymore.
The closer I get to campus, the angrier I become. If Mascen thinks he can tell me who I can and cannot go out with, he’s about to learn how wrong he is.
Chapter Eighteen
Mascen
Running normally clears my head, but today it’s fucking pointless.
“Dude, slow down,” Teddy wheezes behind me. “You’re worse than Coach.”
“If you can’t keep pace that’s not my problem.”
And it isn’t. He’s the one that asked to go for a run with me so I’d push him. If he pussies out that’s on him.
“My sides are cramping.”
“Then walk.”
“You’re not even winded,” he complains behind me, his steps heavy.
“Because I do this every day.”
“And it’s too fucking early,” he coughs. “It’s not even light out. How do you stand getting up this early?”
I don’t tell him, but I didn’t even go to bed. After I got home from Marcelo’s I couldn’t go to sleep, too busy cursing myself for hanging around and telling Rory not to go on a date with Cole. Right then and there I showed her and myself that I care.
Not about her, surely not about her.
I let out a growl and Teddy chokes on a laugh. “What the fuck, dude? Are you a bear?”
“Just sick of listening to your whiny ass.”
He grunts in response, falling farther behind me. I don’t know why he’s complaining so much. The loop is only eight miles around town and back to my townhouse.
“Come on, man. Stop being a wuss. You can do this.”
When I look over my shoulder he manages to raise his hand and give me the finger.
Shaking my head I pick up my pace again.
Teddy’s expletives pick up and I smile.
* * *
“Remind me to never run with you ever again, you crazy motherfucker.” Teddy shakes his head before gulping down the glass of water the waitress only set down moments ago.
“It’ll keep you in shape.”
“I am in shape.” He lifts his shirt, showing off his muscled stomach. “I just fucking hate cardio like a normal, sane person.”
“Well, good for you, since you’re not invited back. You disturbed my me-time.”
He shakes his head, repeating, “Your me-time?”
“Yeah, the time of the day I reserve for me, myself, and I.”
He arches a brow, shoving his hair out of his eyes. “Isn’t that pretty much every moment of the day for you?”
I wish.
I ignore his question, looking at the menu for the café down the street from my house. I’ve only been here once before since I normally cook my own breakfast, but Teddy talked me into eating out—claiming I owed him for torturing him.
Apparently I’m a sucker, since we’re here.
The waitress comes back with a fresh glass for Teddy and takes our order.
“What’s been going on with you?” Teddy asks, picking up the water glass. “You … seem different this year.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I lean back in the chair. “I don’t know, honestly. Things feel different than they did before.” I guess that’s what happens as you get older and grow up, but it’s a weird feeling. Like I’m off balance somehow, waiting for things to feel right again.
Teddy’s eyes narrow, his head cocking to the side. “I mean, I know we don’t do the whole feelings and shit, but we’re friends. You can talk to me if you need to.”
“Yeah, I know, man. But really, it’s nothing serious. Just life.”
Our food comes and talk moves to a safer topic, our shared interest of baseball, because fuck knows I don’t do the feelings bullshit.
* * *
Walking down the stairs into the classroom, I take my usual seat. Stretching my legs out in front of me I set up my laptop. My mind is elsewhere, definitely not on the lesson that’s about to take place. It’s unfortunate since I actually like school. It’s always been easy for me and something I enjoyed, because the way I see it you can always learn something new.
A few minutes later, almost everyone’s filtered into the room, and we’re just waiting for the professor to appear. Professor Franks likes to take his time starting class. It’s obvious he’s one of those teachers who hates teaching.
“Hi, can I take that seat?”
I look up into the pale round face of a girl I haven’t seen in this class before.
Wordlessly, I move my legs to let her squeeze into the empty seat beside me. Looking around I find that the rest are indeed full.
“Sorry,” she says when her bag hits my leg as she sits down.
“It’s okay.”
“I just transferred into this class. Is the professor a hardass?” she whispers under her breath.
“Not really, he’s lazy which means the class usually has the bare minimum of work so he has less to grade.”
She gives a small laugh, setting up her computer. “Well, that’s better than what I was expecting. I’m Mallory, but the way.”
“Mascen,” I mutter, looking at her out of the corner of my eye.
“Nice to meet you.” She smiles up at me. There’s nothing flirtatious in her gaze which is a nice change.
“You too.”
The professor finally comes into the classroom, coffee cup in hand from the stand that I know is on the opposite end of campus. After puttering around for at least five minutes he finally starts the class.
At the end, Mallory and I get up together, walking out at the same time.
“Did you just change classes or are you a transfer from another school?” I find myself asking.
She tucks a piece of brown hair behind her ear and adjusts her bag after some douche bumps into her. “Transferred schools. I just wasn’t happy where I was before. Being here brings me closer to home.”
“That’s cool.” Fuck, I’m not good at small talk.
We walk in the same direction in silence. I ignore the stares from girls on campus and I hope Mallory doesn’t let the glares aimed in her direction bother her. It pisses me off that if I’m even seen speaking with someone that possesses a vagina it’s suddenly news and a reason to put a target on some poor girl’s back. I’ve kept my head down this year, only gone on a few dates for appearances sake more than anything else. I won’t lie, the last two years I went a bit wild, but things changed this summer and mindless screws don’t sound appealing.
“Do you mind pointing me in the direction of coffee?” Mallory asks, her voice breaking into my thoughts.
“Sure,” I mutter.
The dining hall is closest to where we are, and there’s a separate coffee area there.
Mallory somehow keeps up with my stride, not bothering to make small talk. Opening the door wide for her to go in, I
follow behind, pointing to the area where you can order coffee—these rich kids, like myself, are all too lazy to make their own—there’s already a line of ten or so students.
“Can I get you anything?” Mallory smiles up at me as we head toward the line. “It’s the least I can do for you showing me the way.”
Her words could be taken in a flirtatious way, but the way she looks at me with an aloof expression I know she’s genuinely trying to be nice. It’s an unexpected change that takes me by surprise.
“Nah, you’re new here. My treat.” I wasn’t going to bother getting a tea before my next class, but since I’m already here why the hell not?
Mallory is quiet beside me. I get the impression she doesn’t talk much, which is fine by me.
The line moves slowly, and I try not to let my aggravation show because I don’t want Mallory to think it’s about her.
Eventually we’re able to order, she gets a latte and then gives me an amused expression when I order my tea.
Dropping a few dollars in the tip jar, Mallory and I wait at the side for our drinks.
“What class do you have next?” I ask her.
“Oh … um…” She looks up from her phone, brow furrowed. “Anatomy with Keppler.”
“Me too.”
Heading toward the doors, I open them wide, stopping dead when I see Rory on the other side.
“Thanks,” Mallory says, going through.
Rory looks from Mallory to me as Mallory steps to the side to wait for me.
I can’t decipher what’s in Rory’s gaze, whether it’s irritation, or hurt, or something else. She pushes past me, into the dining hall, bumping me as she does.
“Hold up,” I tell Mallory.
I don’t know what makes me follow Rory, but I can’t seem to stop my steps as I go after her.
“What do you want?” She doesn’t look at me as she says it, refusing to acknowledge my presence.
She’s in line for lunch, picking up items and placing them on her tray. I don’t think she’s even paying attention to what she’s getting. At least, I don’t picture her eating a whole burger, pizza, and some weird pasta salad looking thing.
“I don’t know.” The answer is surprisingly honest.
“Come to warn me away from dating your friend again?” This time she does look at me, raising a brow. “I love the irony of how you seem to go out with everything that walks, but I can’t go on one date with your friend.”
I grind my teeth together. I look for words for a response but keep coming up empty. She’s seen me on multiple dates now at Marcelo’s because I’ve kept stupidly coming back after I learned she works there. She doesn’t realize it, but I’m there for her, not the date. I enjoy our verbal spats way too much.
“Why don’t you go find someone else to bug, Dracula?” She pushes her glasses up her nose. “Because I’m not in the mood. By the way, I think that girl is waiting for you.”
She points to the doors where Mallory is, indeed, waiting for me. I feel bad as the girl shuffles from foot to foot, clearly unsure if she should keep waiting for me or not.
“She’s new,” I tell Aurora. “We have the same class.”
“Whatever, I don’t care.” Rory swipes her student ID card, carrying her tray to a table. She pulls out a chair and sits down. I stand, hands braced on the chair across from her. “By the way, Cole asked me on a date this morning.” She says this all while looking at her bottle of flavored water. Finally raising her brown irises to mine she adds, “I said yes.”
It suddenly feels like I’ve been stabbed in the chest. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t care.”
She smiles but there’s nothing friendly about it. “Aw, Mascen, that’s so cute, but you can pretend all you want. Both of us know you care very much.”
She winks, taking the top off her bottle and swallowing down some of the liquid.
Shaking my head with my jaw pulsing I mutter, “See you later, Princess.”
“Bye, Dahmer.”
Walking out of the dining hall, I have to chase down Mallory who got sick of waiting.
“Sorry about that,” I say, blowing out a breath as I slow to a walk.
“Girlfriend?” she asks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”
“Uh, no.”
“Hmm,” she hums.
“What?” I prompt.
She gives a shrug. “It’s just … call it girl intuition or whatever, but trust me, whoever that girl was, she was jealous to see me with you.”
I look over my shoulder, back in the direction of the dining hall. “Interesting.”
Chapter Nineteen
Rory
Standing in front of my closet with my hands on my hips, I glare at the contents.
It’s official, I have nothing cute enough for a date. Holding my robe tighter around my body I peek out into the hallway. “Kenna?”
“In my room.”
Padding down the hall, I lean into her bedroom. She looks up from her laptop to find me nibbling on my lip with nerves. “I need your help.”
“Sure, with what?” She closes the laptop, setting it aside as she climbs from the bed.
“My date with Cole is tonight and I have nothing to wear.”
She squeals so loudly I’m sure the girls on either side of our dorm have to hear. “Oh my God, why didn’t you tell me? Li, come here! Our girl is finally going on a date with Cole.”
Seconds later, Li appears looking far too put together in a simple pair of cotton shorts and loose tee, while I’d look like a hobo in the combo.
“Ooh, does that mean we get to dress you up?” She claps her hands, her dark hair falling forward like a curtain.
I throw out my arms. “Yes, I’m your doll. I’m clueless. I’ve never gone on a real date,” I admit. “I have no idea how to do this.”
Kenna’s jaw drops. “You’ve … never …?”
I roll my eyes. “I have, but not a date.”
“Hmm,” she muses, moving around me. “Well, we’ll have you fixed up in no time.”
She isn’t lying either, an hour later she’s picked out my clothes, done my makeup, and Li did my hair.
“Go check yourself out.” She points to her floor-length mirror in the corner.
My jaw drops at the sight of myself. The dark green satin slip dress she put me in makes my skin look tanner and like I have an inner glow. The gold jewelry around my neck helps ground the look, while my long hair curls around my shoulders. For the makeup she kept it simple with a gold and brown smokey-eye, nude lips, and pink blush.
She looks me up and down. “I did good. Cole’s going to die.”
Smoothing my hands down the front of my dress, I exhale a deep breath. “I’m nervous.”
I’ll be the first to admit, I agreed to the date to piss off Mascen more than anything, but Cole does seem like a genuinely nice guy and I think he’s worth giving a shot. Nothing is ever going to happen between me and Mascen, not that I want it to anyway, he’s an asshole. Besides, just because you don’t feel a connection with someone right away doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Sometimes you have to get to know people before you feel something.
Kenna squeezes my arm. “It’s okay to be nervous. I think that’s normal before any date. No matter how confident you are, nerves are still a thing.”
“What will we talk about?” I blurt, my panic rising and with it my temperature. I’m probably going to start sweating profusely in twenty seconds.
Kenna turns me around, leaving her hand on my shoulders so I’m forced to look at her. “Stop overthinking it. Let conversation happen naturally and go with it. Don’t force anything. Okay?” She looks me square in the eyes, waiting for me to agree.
“I’m being dumb, aren’t I?”
“Very,” she responds. She straightens my dress and tucks a loose piece of hair back into place. “You look beautiful. You are beautiful—and smart, and pretty funny when you let loose. Be yourself. It’s the only thing any of
us can be in the world that’s not already been done before.” She winks. “Any words of encouragement, Li?”
“Girl, you’ve got this.” She leans against the doorway. “And when you get home Kenna and I will be waiting with snacks so you can tell us all about it.”
“Unless of course you go home with him,” Kenna adds, sticking her tongue out slightly. “Then ride that stallion all the way into the sweet, sweet morning.”
“Oh my God.” I stifle a laugh.
“But let us know if you’re not coming home.” Li grabs my arm so I turn toward her. “We’ll worry if you don’t.”
“I’ll keep you updated.”
Just then there’s a knock on the door.
“Show time.” Kenna claps her hands. “You stay here, take a breath and calm down, and I’ll get the door.”
Kenna breezes past me and Li moves out of her way. The dorm is small enough that in only a few steps I can hear her opening the door.
“Have fun tonight.” Li surprises me by pulling me into a hug.
“I’ll try.”
Giving my hand a squeeze she encourages me out of the room and I step out to find Cole standing just inside the door with a bouquet of flowers, all different kinds and colors. He smiles wide when he sees me. “Hey,” he greets, moving toward me.
I meet him halfway, hugging him. “These are gorgeous.” I take the flowers when he offers them.
“Here, I’ll take them so you can go.” Kenna swoops in, my own personal fairy godmother.
“Are you ready to go?” Cole asks, while I’m busy checking him out.
Boots, a nice pair of jeans, and a black fitted button-down shirt tucked into the jeans. Thankfully, I don’t feel overdressed.
“Yeah.” My voice is a little higher than normal.
Cole’s hand glides down my waist to take my hand. “We should go, I have reservations.”
I let him lead me to the door, looking over my shoulder to find the girls both grinning at me like fools. Kenna gives me a thumbs up before we’re gone.
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