“Your class is in this building.” She pointed to the stairs. “On the first floor.”
It was time to reel it in. I huffed and closed my eyes for a moment. “You’re right. It’s just nerves. I was thinking the building was across campus, but that’s tomorrow’s classes.”
“My class is actually a few buildings over, so I have to go.” Her forehead was creased with worry. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Promise.” No, no I wasn’t, but she didn’t need my shit dumped on her. No one knew about Aidan. I’d never told Libby or Grace. The less I talked about it, the better.
“Okay, I’ll meet up with you in a couple of hours.” She paused before turning and heading to the stairs.
“See ya.” The crowd had dispersed, and no one was paying me any attention.
I pushed my legs forward and headed to the first floor for Precalculus. My phone buzzed in my backpack, so I paused outside the classroom and pulled it out.
Hey, Babe—Hope your first few classes are going well. See you soon. <3
Even though I didn’t love him like I’d loved Aidan, he was loyal, dependable, and crazy about me. That counted for something. It had to.
I sat at the very back and smoothed out my dress as I crossed my legs. I was getting ready to respond to Jacob’s text when the piney scent hit me all over again.
I glanced up and found the same guy sitting right next to me.
“Is that your boyfriend or something?” His sexy voice caressed my ears.
“Uh… a friend.” The words were out, and I couldn’t take them back. I should have just said yes. “I… mean, yeah.” My eyes flicked at his, and it was like I was paralyzed.
He arched an eyebrow. “Which one is it?”
Wrong move. I needed to abort my gaze before I started drooling, but dammit, I couldn’t. “One what?” Smooth. Real smooth, Emma. But could this really be Aidan?
“Do you have a boyfriend or not?” His eyes moved to my lips.
And, I licked them inadvertently.
Aidan
Her tongue was doing awful things to me, and she wasn’t even trying. I shouldn’t have been flirting or showing any interest, but I couldn’t stop myself. When I’d spied the message, it had made me want to scream and punch someone, so I’d let my guard down with her.
I was only making it harder on us. I needed to stop, but for some god-awful reason, I couldn’t.
“All right.” The professor entered the classroom and clapped his hands. “Who’s ready for math?” It effectively cut off our conversation.
Emma
Math was something I couldn’t fall behind on, so thankfully, I was forced to keep my attention elsewhere. I enjoyed numbers, so time flew by, and before I realized it, class was over.
My body stiffened, and I took a deep breath. I had this. All I needed to do was pack up my books and walk out the door. It couldn’t be that hard. I’d never struggled with it before.
I zipped up my bag, threw it over my shoulder, and headed out the door. Luckily, he hadn’t said anything, so my escape was easy.
Outside the building, I sucked in the fresh air, trying to forget his all-too-tantalizing smell.
“Emma,” Jacob called out, and I turned to find him and Scott heading my way.
“Oh, hey.” I hadn’t expected to run into him here. He still had one more class. “What are you doing here?”
“My last class is in this building.” He smiled as he reached me.
“Right.” His last class was Composition II, so it made sense for him to be here. I looked over my shoulder, hoping that guy wasn’t out here. “Gotcha. I’m done for the day.”
“Yup. You want me to swing by and get you on the way to the Student Center?” He lowered his head and tried to kiss my lips.
Fearing that Aidan was behind me and watching, I moved out of the way. Dammit, I wasn’t being fair, and I’d hear about it tonight from Jacob. “Or I can meet you there if it’s easier.”
“Yeah, meet us there.” Scott nodded, but his brows furrowed. “Maybe you could get there before the lunch crowd and save us a few seats. There should be about six of us.”
“Sure, I can do that.” I pulled him into a hug as my skin buzzed. I needed to get away. “See you soon.”
I hurried toward the dorm, needing a few minutes to myself.
I ran to my room within minutes and slammed the door.
Beth dropped her backpack to the ground and turned around. “Are you on something?” She looked at me as if I had two heads.
I’d expected to beat her here, so I probably looked crazy, especially considering the way I’d hurried out of the first class.
“Let me start by saying you are not normal.” She snorted and sat on her bed, watching me.
Under these circumstances, I had to agree with her there.
“It was after that smoking hot guy—” She paused and pointed at me. “—shifter entered that classroom.”
“What?” My voice sounded strangely high, and I winced. “No.” I waved my hand out toward her and flung my backpack on the ground.
“Right…” She leaned back on her elbows. “That’s what you’re going with.”
For the first time in my life, I wanted to tell someone everything. It was crazy. I’d known her only about twenty-four hours, but she didn’t hate his pack and wouldn’t judge me like the others.
“Look, I get it.” She tilted her head in my direction. “You don’t know me that well, but you can smell a lie. And I promise, if you tell me anything, I won’t say a word.”
“Why do you think there’s something wrong?” Other than me acting like a nutcase, I wanted to add, but I didn’t.
“Let’s see. You started acting strange right around the time big, dark, and broody entered the room.” She bounced her leg. “And he stared at you so hard I was surprised laser beams didn’t shoot out and kill you.”
“He was staring at me?” No, stop. I couldn’t let myself hope. He’d left me. “He reminds me of someone I used to know, but I’m not sure it’s him.”
“Yeah… so what’s the story?” She sat straight up and pointed at her bag. “You’d be helping me. I don’t feel like studying right now.”
“I’ve never told anyone.” It sounded so ominous.
She slapped the bed. “That’s usually how the best stories go.”
“I found my first love six years ago. We were drawn to the boundary line one day.” I didn’t want to get into my whole backstory about being adopted. That wasn’t the point. “We stared at each other for a few minutes before he finally said, ‘Hi.’ That’s when things clicked, and we became fast friends.”
“So, you got to play with each other?”
“Oh, no. Our packs aren’t friendly.” All other packs were okay for us to intermingle with if I found someone or even my fated, but not his. “We had to stay on our own side of the line.”