I’m halfway down the block before I hear a call. I turn to find Keanen behind me, leaning up against a black Mercedes. The kind of car I’ve never even dreamt of riding in.
His eyes travel up and down my body, his smile widening. “You look incredible.” He pushes off the car to stride toward me just as I’m walking toward him, meeting me halfway and wrapping both arms around my waist. He dips to press his lips to mine, and for a single, delirious second, I can let myself forget about what he just said.
But then we break apart, and reality rushes back in. My mouth twists. “What, because I finally look like everyone else here?” I reply, unable to disguise the sour note in my voice.
His eyebrows rise. “Missy.” He leans back to look at me again, doing a pointed sweep of my whole body this time. “You could never look like anyone else here.” He tilts his head. “And I mean that in the best possible way.” His eyes catch mine. Hold on. “You’re unlike any girl I’ve ever met.”
My heart skips, and my belly tightens. I don’t know what it is about Keanen, but he can make a terrible day melt away at once.
His hands skim my waist again, and I lean into him, smiling. “Why do you always know just what to say, huh?” I arch an eyebrow.
He grins. “Guess I’m just good at reading you.” Then he leans in to kiss me again, and this time I don’t pull away. Warmth spreads from my stomach all the way down to my core. His hands shift lower, gripping my ass, pulling me against him, and I laugh softly against his mouth.
“Is this date in your dorm room?” I murmur. “Because I wouldn’t complain.”
That seems to draw him back to himself, and he twists away. “Nope. Come on.” He catches my hand and pulls me toward the car. I trail after him, laughing.
Inside his car, my breath catches again. The seats are leather, the console looks like something that would be more at home in a spaceship. And when Keanen starts the engine, the hum is so quiet I almost don’t know it’s on until we glide away from the curb, light as if we’re floating on air.
“So do I get any hints?” I ask.
He holds out his hand, palm up, and I drop my hand into his. I love the way my hand feels inside his. When he weaves his thick, strong fingers through mine and squeezes tight, I feel so much safer. Protected.
Then he glances over at me, that enigmatic look on his face. “Of course not. That would ruin the surprise.”
I roll my eyes, although secretly I’m loving this. In all my past flings—not anything that even really lasted long enough to be called a relationship—I had to suggest everything, plan everything, lead the way. I enjoy how Keanen takes charge.
Even if sometimes he can go over the top.
“You know, you didn’t have to buy me an entire outfit.” I glance down at what I’m wearing. “I can take care of myself.”
He raises my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of my palm. The touch of his lips sends a wave of heat along my arm. “I know that,” he says. “But you shouldn’t have to. I plan to treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”
I fall silent as the car weaves effortlessly through traffic. Tanglewood University is located a little ways outside of the nearest city, Amherst, which is in and of itself small. I haven’t ventured into the town yet, though, so pretty much anywhere in the area would be a surprise for me.
I haven’t had a lot of free time.
I steal a glance at Keanen. The glow of the brake lights ahead of us casts his face in sharp relief—all shadows and sharp lines. I’m seized by a sudden urge to touch him. I reach over to take his hand, marveling at the simple fact that I can do that. That this boy, entrancing and dangerous as he seems, is treating me better than anyone else at this school.
Better than almost anyone in my life, in fact, my mother and Jake aside.
“You’re thinking something,” he says. “What?”
I stifle a startled laugh. He shouldn’t know me this well already. Not after only around a week of… well. Is this dating? Hooking up? Hanging out? Whatever it is we’re doing. And yet…
“I was just thinking that you’re also unlike anyone else I’ve met.” I tighten my grip on his hand.
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, well. You must be biased. Most people would disagree.”
My eyebrows rise. “Really? Because it seems like everyone on campus loves you.”
He snorts.
I glance at the road. Back at him. “Your sister seems like she does.”
He rolls his eyes. “My sister is just jealous. I’m sorry that you got caught in her crosshairs. She’s pissed at you because of me—because she always wants anything I have. Or resents me when I’m happy.”
“Are you sure it’s resentment, and not just…” I shift in my seat. “I don’t know, wanting to spend more time with you or something?” I’ve thought a lot about Bette, on the long nights lying awake in my bed wishing I still had friends to talk to. There’s no way she’s actually furious at me just for being here on scholarship. She didn’t lash out at me until Keanen showed interest. I think about Jake, about how protective I am over him, and try to imagine if our roles were reversed. If he were the older sibling. “Maybe she just misses you, and this is her way of trying to get attention.”
Keanen blows out a long sigh. “You’re probably right, unfortunately. My…” He clears his throat. “My father’s not the easiest man to get along with. And he takes it out on Bette even more than he does on me.”
I’ve gathered, from small hints here and there, that Keanen has struggles with his father. But I didn’t realize it was this bad. I shift in my seat to watch him in the passing glow of streetlights. “Is it hard being at the same school where he works?” I always assumed it would be an advantage, to have a parent in such a high position where you study. But maybe I have it all backwards.
Keanen’s grip tightens on the steering wheel. “He doesn’t make it easy, no.” Keanen lets out a little laugh. “People always assume Bette and I have it easy. Like we don’t even have to try at school because we get free passes from Dad. But actually it’s the opposite. He makes us work three times as hard as anyone else to prove ourselves to him. To prove we’re worthy of being here. He’s always warning us about what he’ll do if either of us disappoint him.” Keanen rolls his eyes at that.
I lean back in my seat, feeling a reluctant rush of understanding toward Bette. She’s still been shitty to me, no doubt about it. But how would I act in her shoes, if I thought Jake was turning against me too, and if my father treated me that way?
Well, I can kind of understand where she’s coming from. Even if I don’t like it.
8
It doesn’t take long for Keanen to find where we’re going. The car slows, and I look out the window, my lips parting.
We’re outside what looks like an old red brick Victorian-era manor, except it’s been transformed into a high scale restaurant. Fairy lights glow from all the trees around it, and as we pull up, a valet raps smartly on Keanen’s door, dressed in a tux.