A girl could hope, anyway.
And I was right about the nice girl thing.
Solana came out that night, and she was an ace shot at beer pong.
She also hooked up with Miles that night. I was glad for the dude.
* * *
Blocked calls (42)
3
Mid-September
We had high hopes for Solana, but it didn’t work out with her and Miles. Neither seemed to mind, but on the pro side, all three of us remained party friends. Miles got the memo not to ask me any personal or deep questions, and I’m thinking he must’ve shared his insights with Solana because she stopped trying after our second hang out. So, yay me. They were perfect hang-out and party friends.
Mid-September was when the first drama reared up.
We were doing a study group session at the library, and I was asked to join by one of Miles’s friends. Gavin Miller. I could say he was somewhat my friend, too, but he was more Miles’s. I’d met him a few times at the Alpha Mu parties since he was in the fraternity, and he was also on the football team.
Miles was not on the team. He was just friends with a lot of the players.
Gavin invited a few others from class.
Sabrina Burford. She knew Gavin because she was a sorority sister, a Kappa girl. A guy named Cruz Styles, and the third person didn’t show. Miles was in the library with us, so he plopped his books next to me, and took off to go and socialize. The drama happened an hour into studying when Gavin was flirting with me, or trying, and Sabrina was obviously not liking it.
I started getting the nasty looks, the undercutting comments, the snide remarks, and trust me, there was a difference between a snarky retort and a statement that just cuts you deep.
I took it for ten whole minutes.
She’d coughed ‘cunt’ for the second time in my direction and I was seeing red. Dropping my book, I stood and reached for her, or for her hair. Twisting it in my hand, getting a real good grip, I jerked her off her chair. She screamed, but I was there, covering her mouth with my shirt.
She didn’t know me.
I’d been prepared.
Fallen Crest wasn’t a physical or violent school, but Roussou was, and we partied enough with Roussou students to learn how to get tough when the situation called for it. Or somewhat tough. Some of this take no bullshit also came from my family life because I. Was. Not. Having. It.
It helped that we were on the fourth floor, too. It was known as the ‘ghost’ floor because hardly anyone studied up there, with good reason. Word was that it was haunted. But at that moment, I gave no fucks as Sabrina fell to the ground, and I was expecting her to start fighting, swinging, struggling. Something. But nothing. She went limp, but she kept screaming.
I let her go but knelt down and grabbed her chin. “Stop fucking calling me cunt, you cunt. I don’t give a shit who you party with, or what house you belong to, or who your friends are. If you think I’m going to take your bitchy attitude, I will make your life hell.”
Maybe it was the same shock as what Sabrina was feeling, but the guys hadn’t moved.
Until then.
I heard their chairs scrape back and knew I had one second to get my final point across.
I leaned down, making sure she could see in my eyes how much I didn’t care. “You fuck with me, I will end you.”
But that was it. My moment was done.
An arm grabbed me and yanked me off of her. I was being carried to one corner while I saw Gavin scoop her up and take her to the other side. I could hear her screaming and crying, and Gavin crooning to her when Cruz set me down. I shoved him off of me, turning and starting to pace.
He started to come after me, but I shot a hand out. “Don’t.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that, but I know Sabrina, and you should not be here. Gav is talking her into not making a big deal out of what you just did, but it’d help if you took off.”
I was mid-step, but pivoted sharply.
He was right. She could press charges. Who knew if there were cameras around.
I passed him, going for the table to get my things.
Cruz grabbed my arm, hauling me back. “Oh whoa. Chill, girl.”
I was snarling. His touch set me off again, but he backed up, his hands going in the air. “Let me grab your stuff. I’ll get mine. I still need to study, so maybe you and I can go somewhere and study? Yeah? You can cool off. Sabrina wants Gavin anyway. That’s why she was going after you.”
Fuck.
Fine.
Whatever.
I growled, pressing my palms against my forehead, and I bent forward, trying to squash a scream.
Cruz must’ve taken that as his sign to get the hell away from me because he disappeared. Thirty seconds later, after I heard him murmuring to Gavin, he was back. He had his backpack on, and he was carrying mine, putting my computer inside.
I snatched it away from him, checking to make sure he got everything. Phone. Keys. My wallet. Psych textbook, and yeah. Everything was inside. Even my wireless mouse.
He was standing, watching me as I went through everything, but he didn’t seem disturbed by what just happened.
I eyed him, frowning as I zipped my bag up and pulled it on my back. “Something wrong with you?”
He laughed, giving me a half-grin and a half-smirk. “I’m not lying. I really do need to study, and I know if I go back to my house, I’ll be fucked. The guys will want to party, and I’ll end up doing that. I figure I’ll stick with the chick who can take down Sabrina Burford, though you know she’s going to rally her sorority sisters to come after you, so heads up. You might want to start thinking about who you know who can pull strings against her. But yeah.” The grin was more just a smirk by now and damn, it was a hot smirk.
I hadn’t paid him a lot of attention at first.
He came in last, sliding into the last chair, and I’d already been studying, bent over my computer. Gavin and Sabrina were in the middle. Miles distracted me and dropped his books next to mine—ugh, Miles.
I cursed, pulling my phone out and sending off a text.
Me: Gotta take off. Your books are still at the table. Sorry.
A second later,
Miles: Okay. I’ll grab my stuff. Party this weekend?
I sighed.
Me: Depends on where it is. I need to avoid the Kappa Gamma girls.
Miles: Do I want to know why?
Me: No.
Miles: Sounds good. Party later.
Cruz was still waiting when I finished, and I eyed him. “You seriously still want to study?”
He gave me a firm nod. “Fuck yeah. I’m not wired to understand psychology shit, but I know I learn better around others. You seem to only care about studying, so you’re perfect. Where do you want to go…and can I request we don’t study in a bar?”
I gave him a look. “Who studies in bars?”
“My tea—”
I shot a hand up. He was about to give me personal information. I didn’t want to know anything. I didn’t want to be his friend. “Whoa. I don’t want to know.”
His smirk grew wider, and his eyes got all dark and smoldering. “Fuck. My dick just got hard for you. Let’s go and study.”
I felt a twinge inside, and I stared at him for another beat.
Cruz was pretty.