“Hey, Ali,” I called out to her. Her eyes immediately flicked to me and I gave her a big-ass grin. A reluctant one formed on her lips as I nodded her to come closer. She anxiously glanced back at Evy and I chuckled, shaking my head.
I watched Ali’s tiny figure as she walked towards me. Jesus, she had to be suffocating in those pants and that long-sleeved shirt. I found myself wondering what clothes Evy had chosen for her. If I knew Evy well, there were probably plenty of shorts in Ali’s new wardrobe. I imagined Ali’s soft legs on display underneath a hot pair of shorts and my cock twitched. The bastard really needed to learn how to behave.
“Well, what do we have here?” Luke muttered, eyeing Ali.
A growl of unexpected anger emanated from deep inside my chest. Huh. Weird. “Don’t even think about it, asshole,” I warned Luke. Even weirder.
He turned to look at me with a cocked eyebrow and a lopsided smirk. “Is she your girl?”
I scowled at him. “No. She’s a friend.” I lowered my voice. “That doesn’t mean she’s for you.”
Luke’s smirk turned into a full-sized grin. He leaned closer and whispered, “If she’s not yours and you don’t fancy her, then why are you looking at me like you want to rip my head off my shoulders?” He smacked my back – hard enough to make me wince – and then turned to Ali, who stopped right in front of me as I was straddling the flat bench.
“Hi,” she whispered. “Shouldn’t we stop Evy? She looks as if she’s about to eat that girl alive.” She glanced up at Luke and gave him a small smile.
Luke grinned at her. I’d expected to see Ali shrink beneath his stare – Luke could come across looking very intimidating with his size, the steely-grey eyes and that beard he was sporting. I’d seen girls coming into his gym and running back out scared half to death. But Ali didn’t seem fazed by any of that. Her smile widened in response to Luke’s grin, and I felt my stomach clench and my blood starting to boil. Why the fuck was I acting like this? Why was I feeling possessive over Ali? She wasn’t my girl. She was a friend and I didn’t want anything more with her – or anyone for that matter. So why was I feeling like I literally wanted to rip Luke’s head off?
“Don’t worry, little thing. Evy has every right to claim her man from every little slut that walks around.” He draped an arm around her shoulders and turned her to look at the ongoing show. I caught Luke’s eyes through the mirror as he sent me a pointed look, and I curled my lip at him. Asshole. “By the way, I’m Luke.”
“Um, Alicia.” She tried to wiggle her way from under Luke’s arm, making me smile, but he was persistent. He lowered his hand to the small of her back, and I clenched my jaw. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Just watch.” Luke pointed towards where Evy was currently chewing the ears off of the blond. “Dammit, I wish I had some pop-corn.”
I watched for another two seconds at his hand on Ali’s back, until my control just snapped. I got up, stood behind Ali, grabbed Luke’s wrist without her knowing what I was doing, and I squeezed as hard as I could. Luke turned to look at me with a smirk that grew wider the longer I kept squeezing. Finally he pulled his hand back with a low chuckle.
“Um, can someone explain to me what just happened?” Ali asked, snapping me back to reality.
I turned to look at her, half-scared that she’d seen the little display of fucked-up possessiveness on my part. But she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at Kay and Evy. The blond had burst out of the gym, and Kay had pinned Evy against the wall. They certainly weren’t fighting anymore.
“Jesus, fuck,” I groaned. “Luke, do something before they start screwing the brains out of each other right in front of us.”
Luke burst out laughing, and it effectively stopped the two horny teenagers from humping each other right then and there. “Come on, lovebirds. There are kids here. You don’t want to scar them for life now, do you?”
I watched as Evy pushed Kay off her, blushing while scowling at him.
Ali giggled. I liked that sound. “Are they always like this?”
I smiled and walked backwards to straddle the bench once more. “All the time. They’re a pain in my ass.”
Ali laughed and turned to look at me. Her golden eyes were sparkling behind her glasses, and her full, bow-shaped lips were pulled up at the corners in a beautiful smile. “You’re so lucky. I don’t have any brothers or sisters and you have both. I wouldn’t call that a pain in the bottom.”
I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up my throat. “Bottom? Fuck, that’s cute. You’re really awesome, England, you know that? What other British words do you have?”
She grinned mischievously. “Well, I don’t know if I should tell you. Last time I did, you thought I was calling you a bender.”
I laughed again. “I’m pretty sure this morning I proved to you I’m not one.” Oh, fuck! Why had I said that? What the fuck was wrong with me, flirting when I didn’t really want to flirt?
Ali’s eyes sparkled with interest and she lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I cannot be certain. You did stop rather quickly when you realized what you’d been doing.”
Her playfulness fogged my brain. With a quickness that startled us both, my arm shot out and wrapped around her slim waist, pulling her to straddle the bench in front of me. “Careful there, England. You keep on pushing and I might have to push back.”
Our faces were inches apart, and I felt my heartbeat speed-up at the sound of her short breaths. I grew harder in my sweats instantly, and my arm around her tightened, pulling her even closer. Now we were close enough for our breaths to mingle, and I felt drunk by her sweet scent of peaches and honey.
Her eyes kept darting between my eyes and my lips as I watched them intently. Her pupils were dilated, turning the golden shade to a deeper brown that reminded me of warm bourbon. Her pink tongue came out and slid across her lower lip and my eyes caught the movement, sending the reaction straight to my cock, which was now granite-hard.
“Nate,” she whispered and that small word brought me out of my lusty images, bringing embarrassment in their place. What the fuck was I doing?
I pulled back my arm and pushed myself backwards in the small space I’d left. “I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I shouldn’t…” I drew in a shaky breath, my cock still throbbing painfully. Fuck! How was I supposed to hide that now?
“Not to worry,” she mumbled, pulling herself out of the seat and giving me space. She gave me a small smile. “I should go. Evy will come with me as we’ll try to barge back into my dormitory room. It should be fun, no?”
I let out a short laugh, which sounded a little strangled. “Yeah, should be. But, hey, if it doesn’t work out don’t go sleeping on the sidewalk again. I can take the couch.”
She nodded, passing me another small smile before turning around to walk towards Evy. I glanced at my best friend and my brother, the former eyeing between Ali and me with interest, and the latter smirking with a raised eyebrow. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK! What the hell is wrong with you, Nate?
I opened my eyes again, and watched as Ali and Evy walked out the door. Luke was leaning against the reception counter, with his arms folded and a smirk directed right at me. “Fucker,” I muttered and he probably read my lips because he chuckled and shook his head.
Kay walked past me, muttering, “Pussy.”
“Shut up,” I groaned. I needed to get a fucking grip. Ali was not a toy, and I couldn’t keep sending her mixed signals. I had to clear things up and make sure she knew we were nothing more than friends.
And I somehow had to pass that information to my throbbing dick as well. Jesus, fuck!
Chapter 6
Alicia
“Spill it, girlfriend,” Evy said as soon as we were sitting in her car to drive towards the campus. We’d loaded all my new clothes in her washing machine and were now on our way to ‘reclaim’ my right to my room, according to Evy. With an inner sigh, I thought how I�
��d only met the girl once and she was already reminding me of Oli – I’d bonded with her just as quickly too. Maybe I was bound to attract the mental ones! Not that I was complaining.
“There is nothing to spill, I assure you.” I looked out the front windshield.
“Bull-crap,” she exclaimed. “He almost kissed you, right there in front of everyone. What did you do?”
My mouth dropped open and I stared at her. “What did I do? Why would I have done something?”
She gave me a sideways dry look. “I never said it was wrong of you to do something, Ali. I’m just asking you to tell me what happened.”
I sighed and pushed my head back against the head-rest. “I haven’t the foggiest. One minute we’re teasing each other, the next he’s pulling me down and getting within a millimeter of kissing me, and then he pushes me away, as if I was the one to throw myself at him. Maybe I got the entire situation wrong. I thought he was flirting with me.”
Evy sighed. “I told you he likes you. You didn’t get it wrong, he was probably flirting. Only…”
“Only what?”
She took a deep breath. “Only, if I know my brother well – and trust me when I say I do – he probably doesn’t even know what he wants. He’s attracted to you and he doesn’t want to be, because in his fucked-up mind he doesn’t want to risk getting hurt again. He thinks he’s not ready, but he’s wrong.” She sighed again. “Maybe you should tell him how you feel. Be straight with him.”
I gawped at her. “How I feel? Evy, I don’t even know how I feel. I like him, a lot. I’ve never been attracted to anyone before and… I don’t know how to do this. I don’t even know how I feel. I don’t want to try anything only for it to turn out wrong. I’m new around here, and what little friends I get I would like to keep them. So, in my opinion, pushing Nate to admit feelings he might not have and that I don’t even know if I really want them, is not within my immediate plans.”
She stayed silent for a moment and then “You’re full of bull-crap, you know that? Feelings you don’t know if you want? Let me ask you something. You’re always aware of him, aren’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t pardon me, missy. You heard me. Are you always aware of him?”
I sighed, giving it a second of thought. “Yes.”
“Does your stomach clench and flutter whenever he’s around?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Does your pulse pick up when he gets close?”
“Yes.”
“And one last thing. How does he smell?”
“Like the ocean and something sweet I cannot really place.” What had I just said? Bloody hell, this girl with her quick questions/answers!
She chuckled. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you know now you have feelings for him. Maybe they’re not too strong yet, but they’re obviously strong enough to frighten you, which is probably the reason for your denial.”
I shook my head as she turned to the parking lot under my dormitory. “It matters not. I won’t compromise my friendship with him, not while he still doesn’t know if he feels the same way or if he even wants to. We don’t even know each other properly, Evy.”
“Jesus, I think you may be even more stubborn than me, Ali. Again. Knowing someone is not a requirement for you to develop feelings. Hell, liking them is not a requirement. I wanted to slap Kaylan every which way from Sunday for a whole week before admitting to myself that I wanted him. Well, in my defense he was a total jackass, but it’s not the point.” She took a deep breath and parked the car, turning fully to me. “The point is, your mind doesn’t always have to be there with your body. You both have doubts, but you can’t deny you’re attracted to each other. It’s so damn obvious I noticed since the moment I first saw you, today if I may add. Kaylan saw it. And if you ask Luke, who only saw you two for about five minutes, he’ll tell you the same thing.”
I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. “Well, right now, I don’t want to think about this. Can we go upstairs and bust into my room?”
She looked at me for another long moment before finally nodding. “Fine. I’m not talking about it again unless you bring it up first. But I promise you I’ll keep thinking about it.” She smirked. “Now, remember. The more British cursing you can get into your interaction with Julia the better.”
I snorted a laugh. “I don’t make it a habit to cuss at people, Evy. It’s not polite.”
“Fuck politeness. The bitch locked you out of your own room. Twice.”
The oddest thing was I was actually feeling very in the mood of bitch-slapping Julia and her wally friend. All this talk with Evy was making me feel like I had Oli right there with me, and those had been the only times in my life I’d been brave enough to do exactly what I wanted. How could I’ve possibly formed a friendship so deep with this girl I’d only met this morning?
We went up to my room and I tried my key-card again. Surprisingly, it was unlocked and the light flashed green. Turning the knob almost immediately, if only to make sure it wouldn’t suddenly turn back to red, I pushed the door open. The room inside was empty of people, which actually made sense about finding the door open. Julia simply hadn’t been there to lock it.
“Dammit, I wanted her to be here. I would have loved to shove my new flip-flops up her ass.”
I grimaced at the idea. “Wouldn’t that have ruined your flip-flops?”
Evy’s eyes widened before she launched herself at me and squeezed me in a hug. I was so startled it took me several moments before I hugged her back. “Oh, Ali! Just with that comment, showing that you care about my flip-flops’ feelings, promoted you into best-friend status! You’re currently ranked higher even than Nate!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You scared me, you daft cow! I thought I’d definitely stepped onto your little toe or something on our way in.”
Evy laughed loudly, but it was interrupted by a squealing “What the hell is going on in here?” coming from the door. Julia had just returned.
Evy pulled back from me, and twisted to look at Julia with what I imagined had to be a truly vicious glare, because Julia seemed to shrink slightly. “Are you Julia Walters?”
Julia narrowed her eyes, seeming to regain some of her lost courage. “Yes. And who are you?”
Evy planted her hands on her hips. “I’m Evy Williams, you bitch. If you’re not sure of what that name means, maybe you should ask your sister? Macy definitely remembers me.”
Julia pursed her lips and glared. “I’ve heard of you. I know who you are.” Her words made me wonder what could possibly have happened between Evy and Macy to make Julia so wary. I needed to remember to ask Evy about it.
“Well, then I’m sure you have an explanation for locking Alicia out of her own room,” Evy continued.
Julia’s eyes flared and fixated on me. “This isn’t her room. I had everything planned and I was supposed to have this room to myself. She can’t stay here. It’s not her room.”
Anger like nothing I’d ever felt before coursed through me, and I pushed past Evy to stand in front of Julia, so close that I had to tilt my head back to see her face. She was talking about me as if I wasn’t even there, as if she could decide what I’d do and what not. I’d had years of that in my life. Eighteen of them. No more.
“Listen here, you ignorant chav. I don’t know what you think you have arranged, but it’s obviously wrong. I was assigned this room, and even though I have to share it with a slapper like you, this is where I’m staying. If you have a problem you can talk to the administration about it. But until then, the next time you lock me out of my room, I’ll make sure you’re thrown out of the University, not just the dormitory. You haven’t the foggiest who I am and what I can do to make your whole existence miserable. Is that clear enough for you?”
Julia’s eyes had gone inhumanly wide, and I could clearly see something that resembled fear behind them. For a moment there I felt bad about being the one to make anyone feel like that, but then I immediate
ly dismissed the feeling. As Kay had said, the world did not revolve around her.
She finally took a step back and nodded. Feeling my hands still shake with anger, I stormed out of the room and went down the flight of stairs. I was vaguely aware of Evy following me, but I chose not to talk to her in that moment. I walked all the way to where she’d parked the car, and not caring about the mess I would make of myself, I sat on the ground, leaning against the front tire’s side.
Surprisingly, Evy followed me there too, sitting right beside me. “Can I just say something?”
I nodded, not feeling strong enough to talk at the moment. My anger was threatening to come out in the form of tears.
“I think you handled it pretty well, better than I would have done myself to be honest. And just for that… You’re officially the best friend I’ve ever had.”
I turned to look at her, stunned into silence for a moment, before I burst out laughing. “You cannot be serious!” I said amongst my breaths. “I just met you this morning and already earned myself two promotions? You’re completely mental!”
Evy laughed too. “I know. And also, I got at least two British expressions you used back there. What does chav mean? And slapper?”
I managed to tone down my laughter before explaining. “Chav is… something like saying ‘white trash’. Slapper is a slut.”
She brought her knees up and leaned her arms on them. “You know what I’ve noticed? While you certainly have the accent and a great talent on using British expressions, I’ve also heard you use expressions that are clearly American.”
I nodded. “My Dad was American. Hence the dual citizenship. He always said that, for someone who knows well both British and American expressions, it’s no fun using only the one or the other. So we made a habit out of deciding which expressions we liked most and using them, whether they were from one side of the Atlantic or the other. Of course the accent was something I couldn’t fight, having pure British teachers. And I have to admit after my Dad’s death, Oli has kind of ruined me in some parts. I have caught myself using British expressions over the corresponding favored American ones.”
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