Taya blushes, and damn, could I get used to seeing her cheeks go all pink. “I don’t even know if that’s true, haven’t seen all the available options in the library right now.”
Neither of us is addressing that I kind of walked away from her at that party. But I know she’s cautious because of it. We were drunk, and either of us could use it as an excuse, but I don’t think we know each other well enough to actually talk about it. Plus, it’s awkward on both sides. What am I going to say? Well, you mentioned my last name and how I used to act in high school which is a big turnoff for me …
Yeah, no. I’ll settle for her thinking I’m kind of a jerk, if that’s what she thinks. Once we hang out more, she’ll see it’s not true. And maybe I can determine if she was just drunk and saying shit, or if she’s actually like everyone else back in Webton.
“Yeah, I don’t think you need to do all that. You know who is sitting across from you.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Maybe I said that I’m sitting at a table with the cockiest guy in the library.” She chuckles, biting the tip of her tongue where it sticks out.
In the most smug, suggestive moves of all, I look down at my lap and back up at her innocently. “Maybe.”
But instead of blushing, Taya throws her head back and laughs. The tinkling, infectious sound sends goose bumps from my shoulders down to my wrists, and my heart does some weird lurch thing.
When she bends forward, clutching her chest and shaking her head, all of those brown waves fall into her face.
As if my arm is mesmerized, it moves to reach out to her. My fingers connect with her cheek, the smooth skin something I want to feel all day. I want to run my hands all over her naked body but will settle for this since there are at least a dozen other people on this floor.
“Your hair is like silk,” I murmur, almost to myself.
Taya’s dark eyelashes flutter closed, almost kissing her cheeks, and she sucks in a breath. I pull the lock that’s shadowing half her face and tuck it behind her ear, my fingertips curving down to the lobe.
“There. Now I can see you.” My voice is a whisper.
Hypnotizing hazel eyes blink at me, dazed, and I want to launch myself across the table and fuse my mouth to hers. My cock hardens in my pants as I imagine grabbing her hands and leading her into the stacks. We could get lost in there for a while.
But this time, it’s Taya who pulls back. She clears her throat, fumbling her fingers through pages in her textbook.
“We really should get back to studying. I have so much to cram into this brain.” Her laugh is nervous and skittering.
Okay, I get the message. I backed off at the party, and now she’s the one playing hard to get. That’s okay, we can get to know each other, play the long game.
Even if my dick is screaming at me to get the fuck up and get lost in the depths of the library with her.
10
Taya
Another Saturday night, another party.
College is a bit repetitive in this way, what with us busting our ass all week in classes and then letting loose like animals on the weekend. But it’s a cycle that everyone can get behind. These are the crazy years, right? At least they’re supposed to be.
Drinking to excess and experimenting with our bodies is the fun part. And tonight, I plan to take part in both. Because I aced my Mandarin exam and I had an unofficial date with the guy I’ve been crushing on forever. I chalk that up to a pretty good week.
The house is in full swing, and I’m sitting on the kitchen counter with Amelie and Bevan.
“Remember the time we drank gin from that water bottle at the basketball game in high school?” Am cackles.
We’re all about four shots deep and feeling like a million bucks. I bop to the song that Scott just put on over the loudspeakers and shimmy my shoulders. Which causes me to almost fall off the counter, and Bevan snorts a laugh at me.
“Oh my God, and Bev nearly puked on the floor! She would have made some poor varsity player go sliding in her vomit.” I clap my hands, remembering the exact moment.
“Not funny! It was the first time Callum and I broke up and I was devastated.” She pouts.
“The first of many.” Amelie toasts her heartbreak, and I giggle.
“You are the worst friends.” She sticks her tongue out at us.
“We’re the best, and you know it.” I try to kick her, but it just ends up sending me off-kilter, and my heel goes flying across the kitchen.
Scott grabs it, runs over, and places it back on my foot. “Cinderella, your glass slipper.”
We all laugh at that, tossing our heads back.
“Who the hell are all these people?” Bevan looks annoyed.
She’s the angry drunk who tries to fight other girls if they bump into her.
“Do we care? It’s a party, relax.” I roll my eyes.
Although, the one person I am looking for hasn’t entered my orbit yet.
After our coffee “date,” there was some intense flirting going on with Austin. It has been three days, and we are doing this odd mating dance. Circling around each other, coming close, but never quite committing. I feel it in the air, this is going to come to a head. Yes, I’ve thought that about the first party we had at the house, but this is different. We’ve spent time together, and he’s been the one to pursue it.
Pressing a palm to my chest over my rapidly beating heart, I try to calm the organ.
“Have you found your man yet? I think you just need to drag him upstairs and see if he’s packin’,” Amelie suggests.
Bevan slurps from her red cup. “I heard from Kimber Teltol that he’s big.”
“When?” I narrow my eyes, not loving that Kimber has been with him.
“They hooked up the summer before our senior year of high school. She said he’s a perfect gentleman.” Bevan nods her head.
“Is perfect gentleman code for he made her come first?” Amelie deadpans.
Bevan and I both simultaneously unhinge our jaws, then start hilariously laughing.
“I love how dirty you are when you drink.” Bevan hooks an arm around Amelie’s neck and pulls her in for a hug.
That’s when I spot him just outside of the doorframe to the kitchen. Austin is leaning against the wall, bracing himself with a hand, and a tall, thin redhead is standing with her tits pushed out. Her chest is practically brushing his, and he’s whispering in her ear. I can’t see his face, but I imagine his eyes full of lust as she runs a purple fingernail down his bicep.
Rage, and something like the cracking of a heart, rings out in my chest. Again, I’m more ticked off at myself than I am with him. Although, no. This time, I am pissed at him. He’s the one who brought me for coffee, who wanted to drive me to the library. He’s the one who sat across from me and couldn’t keep his eyes off me and then brushed my hair behind my ear.
Austin is the one who has been giving off vibes; I’m not crazy. And here he is flirting with some girl in front of me days later, in my own house.
It’s just like it always has been. I’m cute, but not enough to notice. Not enough to put first or have as his only option, even for the night.
“Oh, fuck this.” I hop off the counter, and Bevan and Amelie’s eyes follow me.