There’s nothing to worry about. I forced my hand to reach for Jacob’s. Let’s go eat some lunch.
Jacob nodded, and we headed to the door. I could still feel Aidan’s eyes on me.
Without thinking about it, I glanced over my shoulder. Our eyes locked, and my heart skipped a beat. Aidan attending school here was going to change everything.
Aidan
I was playing with fire. Emma should’ve held her ground and forced me to switch seats, but she hadn’t.
However, when she’d said my name—damn, it had been like a drink of water after a long drought.
The fact she’d given me her number even though that prick hadn’t been thrilled gave me false hope. I had to get my head on straight. We would both get hurt or killed if we continued down this road.
But I needed her number for class. The professor had made us exchange numbers, and I’d given mine in return. I pulled out my phone and quickly typed out a text. I knew I shouldn’t send it, but when did I ever play by anyone else’s rules?
Chapter Six
Emma
“I don’t like that guy,” Jacob grumbled as we left the classroom.
It took everything I had not to turn around and look at Aidan again. I’d honestly almost convinced myself it wasn’t him. Yeah, stupid, but it was me trying to survive. Knowing it was him made a huge difference, which pissed me off. He’d left me. Why in the world had he popped up now?
“Did he say something to you?” Jacob squeezed my hand, bringing me back down to reality.
“Huh?” It wouldn’t help things if he knew I wasn’t listening.
Jacob paused. “I asked if he said something to you.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head hard.
“You do realize I can smell your lie, right?” Jacob growled and pulled me to a stop. “What did he say?”
I would have to tell him. He deserved to know the truth. “Look, I know him.”
“What? How?” Jacob glanced at the ground, and he pursed his lips. That was his tell when he was trying to figure something out and wasn’t happy.
“He’s part of the Murphy pack.” This wouldn’t go over well.
His eyes jerked to mine. “Back home?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to get into all the details yet. I needed to work through my feelings before I told him everything.
“Wait, we don’t interact with them.” He rubbed a hand down his neck and displeasure radiated through our mind link. “How did you meet him?”
“We ran across each other by chance.” I shrugged. “We were kids.”
“Okay…” He blew out a breath, and his jaw clenched. “Why didn’t you tell me in the cafeteria when you saw him?”
I was getting angry, so I had to keep my calm or he’d realize there was more to the story. “I hadn’t seen him in over four years. I didn’t know it was him until we talked in Chemistry.”
His shoulders sagged. “Good. For a second, I was afraid you were keeping things from me.”
“No, it just shocked me. He doesn’t look like the boy I knew, so it threw me.”
“There’s my roomie,” Beth called loudly.
Thank God. I needed to get out of this awkward conversation and quickly.
“Is there trouble in paradise?” Beth arched an eyebrow as her eyes bounced between Jacob and me.
“No.” Jacob shook his head, but a frown marred his face. “Apparently, someone from back home is here and causing problems. I shouldn’t be surprised with him being a Murphy and all.”
“Someone from back home.” She mashed her lips together and huffed. “Interesting.”
Her face screamed, ‘You’d better tell me everything soon.’ It wouldn’t be an issue since I needed to talk to someone, and she was the only person who knew everything.
“We’re heading to grab lunch before going to the library.” His usual good-guy demeanor returned. “Want to join us?”
“Sounds great.” She grinned, and the three of us headed toward the Student Center.
Beth, Jacob, and I got situated at a table in the library, and as I pulled out my books, my phone vibrated. I glanced at the number but didn’t recognize it.
Enjoy your time with Lover Boy.
No, it couldn’t be.
I put my bag on the floor to fish out the number Aidan had given me. I looked at the paper and back at my phone, and it sunk in. Yeah, it was definitely him.
There was no way in hell I was responding to that. He’d ignored me for four years; it was his turn to see how it felt.
“Emma? Are you okay?” Jacob’s gaze landed on my phone.
“Oh, yeah.” I stuffed the paper back into the small pocket of my bag and tossed my phone on the table. “Just distracted.” That was the total truth there. I pulled out my English book and set it on the table.
The three of us hunkered down and began working.
About an hour later, Jacob lifted his arms in a stretch. “I’d better head back to the dorm to get ready for football practice.”
“Okay.” I kept my focus on my textbook. I’d read the same sentence at least a hundred times. My eyes kept getting drawn to my damn phone.
“I should be done around six.” He kissed my lips. “I’ll drop by and get you.”
I nodded, trying not to frown. It would be nice to have one evening not dominated by him. At least, when he’d gone to college back home, he hadn’t come over for dinner every night. He’d come over most nights, but his parents wanted him home some, too.
“See you.” Beth waved as he headed to the door. “Okay.” She stood and took over Jacob’s spot. “Ew, it’s warm.”
“Well, he just left.” I needed the laugh. “So… kind of your fault.”
“Oh, shush.” She moved so she was close to me.
The tables around us were pretty much empty except for two people working on a project five tables over.
“Jacob wasn’t his warm, carefree self.” Beth pointed to her ear. “So let me have it.”
“So, the guy who reminded me of my first love…” I still couldn’t believe it myself.
“Yes…” She grabbed my arm and widened her eyes. “Tell me before I have to kick your ass.”
“Patience.” I hoped to be able to say it straight up. “It’s him.”
“What?” She leaned back and touched my arm as her mouth dropped open. “No way. How are you sure?”
I filled her in on everything that had happened earlier.
Her eyes widened. “So, why were you acting strange when we first got here?”
“He sent me this text.” I unlocked the phone and showed her.
“Wow. He has some balls and called Jacob Lover Boy also.” She shook her head. “Are you going to respond?”
“No, he can kiss my ass.” The more I thought about it, the more pissed I became.
“I agree, girl.” She fidgeted in her chair and nodded. “He’s damn fine and smells like heaven, but he did you wrong.”