“You look good, sis.”
“Thanks. How do you like your job?”
“Love it,” he said, then paused as if he was looking for the right words. “You and Dunn looked tense. I know you feel like he ratted you out, but you guys were like best friends.”
Um, no.
“He’s Gigi’s. He was never my friend,” I told my brother.
“They broke up,” Nick said as he took another fry.
I mean, I knew there was a slim possibility of them still being together, but hearing my brother confirm he that wasn’t hers anymore, well, I felt a flutter.
“He always came to the house and got you food, and at practice, he got you food too. I mean, I had girlfriends, and I didn’t treat them the way Gavin treated you.”
What the heck did that mean?
My brother left shortly after, but his words stayed in my mind. This was too much to handle on my fresh start, wasn’t it? I groaned and banged my head on the table.
“I’m guessing this is a bad time?” The voice sounded familiar and hesitant.
When I raised my head, I saw the pledge I’d given my panties to. Shit, I forgot all about that.
“Hey. What happened to my panties?” I asked.
He turned red, which would have been funny, but I was freaking out.
“Um…Gavin took them away. Don’t you remember?” he said as he took a seat across from me.
“Yeah, I know he took them, but what did you guys do with them?”
“Well, we were supposed to give them all to Jeff, but yours didn’t make it to that pile.” He scratched behind his ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys had a thing.”
“We don’t,” I snapped.
He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I thought he was going to beat me up.”
For a second, I’d thought so too. Gavin used to be very protective of me. He made sure no one messed with me because of Gigi.
“He wouldn’t have,” I said. “Gavin doesn’t care about me.”
“We’ll agree to disagree. Will you be coming to the party on Friday?”
Fuck that. I shook my head, and Isaac chuckled.
“I have to go. I think my next class is all the other way across campus,” I sighed.
“You don’t know?” Isaac asked.
“I’m new here. Just transferred.”
Isaac smiled at me. “I’m going across campus. I’ll walk you.”
My smile dropped, not because I was horrified at someone walking me to class, but it just hit me that for the last three years, it had just been me and my demons.
“So, you’ll give me your panties but get horrified by me walking you to class,” Isaac said before he got up and started to walk away.
I missed having friends. I didn’t think; I grabbed my shit and ran after him.
“Isaac, wait,” I shouted.
He stopped and turned around, giving me a hesitant look.
“I’m sorry. I’m not good with the whole friendship thing,” I mumbled.
He smiled and leaned into me. “Me neither.”
We walked in silence to the other side of the school. I watched people pass us, smiling, and running, throwing a ball, and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what that felt like. To be carefree and not let anything bring you down. I mean, I remembered being happy with no worries up until sophomore year. There was happiness, but it was filled with unease whenever Gavin was near. There was pain, but at least I had my parents then, so it was manageable. Isaac waved goodbye to me before I could walk into my next class.
Nick’s words still played in my head. I had girlfriends, and I didn’t treat them the way Gavin treated you.
I shook my head, not wanting to think about that.
My human behavioral science class was smaller, more intimate. I was somewhat fascinated to know what made all us do and/or act a certain way.
After my last class ended, I walked out feeling better about my week. More than I had since I came to college. It was a whole new world, and Gavin might be in it, but I could easily get lost here.
My weekend was spent finishing making my room mine, as in adding some decor and doing laundry. Audrey, Kenia, and Delia had to go to practice and whatever the hell they did after that. When I started to feel like I was coming out of my skin, I changed into jogging capris and a sports bra, then grabbed my iPod and walked out the door. I needed to clear my head; it felt like there was too much clutter.
I was sweaty and out of breath. My feet were killing me, and I was also lost. I ran and took turns, and by the looks of things, I was a lot closer to campus. Shit, how was I getting home? I’d left my phone at home and only brought my iPod.
Removing my iPod from the sleeve on the side of my arm, I tried to see if I could find some Wi-Fi. This was a fucking school for crying out loud; someone had to have their Wi-Fi open. This street seemed to be a little busier, walking around.
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going until I heard someone scream, “Watch out.”
When I looked up, I screamed and dropped my iPod. I held my hand out, trying to catch the ball that was headed my way. My hands stung from where I caught the football. Fuck, that hurt. As soon as I stopped the ball from hitting my face, I threw it to the side and bent to pick up my iPod.
Well, just my luck. The screen cracked.
“Damn, baby, that was hot.”
My skin itched with uneasiness. I had to bite my lip to prevent a groan from leaving my lips. Jeff was looking at me like he wanted to see me naked, and that made me feel really uncomfortable.
“Come on, baby, don’t be shy,” he said as he took a step toward me, and I took one back—only to collide with a body.
My breathing started to labor. Oh fuck me, I was having a panic attack in front of the frat house.
It was like I was in my body, but I wasn’t. My brain was focusing all the energy on keeping me breathing that I forgot about my other four senses.
“Mamas, you need to calm down.” I heard a raspy voice say, but I couldn’t concentrate.
Next thing I knew, I had a wall of muscle hugging me tightly. Not in any sexual way, nor even soothing, but more clinical.
“Breathe,” he said soothingly.
My heart started to come back to normal, and it was like I could see and feel again. I saw a chest covered in a tight black shirt, and I smelled cologne. I slowly craned my neck to see a guy holding me. He was dark-skinned and tall, very muscular.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
He stopped holding me immediately, and God, was he gorgeous. His face was smooth and lashes curly and long, fanning light green eyes that made a striking combination with his dark skin.
“Guess the whole Oxytocin shit isn’t bullshit,” he mumbled.
“What?” I asked.
“Oxytocin causes a reduction in blood pressure and hormones that stress you; therefore, it calms you down enough for the panic attack to subside.”
Well, I didn’t know if that was true, but that was really sweet of him.
“Thank you,” I told him as I wiped my sweaty hands on my leggings. “I’m Scarlett.”
“I know.” He grinned at me.
My mouth pulled into an O, and I wondered how he knew me.
“I’m Quincy.”