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“Really?” His voice hitched on a note.
I frowned. That couldn’t have been panic. Jesse
Hunt did not panic. He did not grovel. He did not feel anything except for lust. The memories of two years ago flooded back to me. Every time he looked away, every time he walked past without a hello, every time I saw him touch another girl, all flared in my memory. I cringed and clenched my teeth to keep from sobbing before I could stop the memories. They were haunting me.
“Alex?”
“Just take me home.” I’d been put through the emotional wringer. I wasn’t about to sign up for round two.
For the ride over, he kept looking at me. Every look sent my nerves on edge. My blood was already boiling, but if he kept that up, I was going to snap again. The only thing that held me back was the car. I didn’t want to die in a car accident like Ethan. A harsh laugh ripped from me at that last thought. Just like Ethan. God, Ethan.
Paralyzing pain filled me again. I hadn’t thought about Ethan in so long. He’d been buzzing around me at home. All day long, every day, every night, I felt his presence. I hadn’t felt him once since coming to Grant West.
I missed him.
Closing my eyes, I bit down on my lip and tried to keep from crying. I hadn’t let loose tears over him since coming here. I knew that if I did now, I wouldn’t be able to stop. Too much else was going on. I was barely holding it all in.
The ride took too long and not long enough. When Jesse got to my dorm, he had to go to the front door. The backdoor was locked from midnight to six in the morning.
He parked and started, “I know that I haven’t—”
I clambered out of the car and shut the door before he could say anything more.
Hurrying into my dorm, I ignored the startled front desk clerk and shot up the stairs.
I avoided everyone for another week. Or, I thought I was avoiding them. The truth was that no one probably cared. I hadn’t heard or even seen Beth in the hallways. Since the professor hadn’t given us a group project, there was no reason to interact with Cord. I caught a few glares from his friend, but after the third one, I realized they were directed at the girl in front of me. She still snickered together with her two other friends, but that was the only interaction between them and Jamie. It’d been quiet from Jesse too. I didn’t know if that was good or not. I didn’t want to contemplate that.
It was Hannah that broke the week of isolation.
My books were spread out on a table in the outside food court when her bag made the first arrival. It was sent soaring through the air until it landed on the seat across from me. My head jerked up, but before I could look around, Hannah plopped down next to her bag.
She began riffling through her bag as her blonde hair slid over her shoulder, masking her face from me. When she glanced up, the same aviators were on and she grinned at me. “Heya stranger. I heard some interesting tidbits about you this weekend.”
I stiffened.
Her lips curved up in a smirk. “Relax. It’s nothing real juicy.” She paused for a second, her mouth pursed in a thoughtful frown. “Is there something juicy? I’m intrigued…no. No, I’m not. Never mind. You’re all closed off and sheltered. I’d have to kiss your ass for you to spill. I don’t care enough to do all that work.”
Did she dismiss me?
And I wasn’t sheltered.
The strap of her top slipped, showing off her bare shoulder and a tattoo design of birds flying down her collarbone. “You can stay all elusive and shit. Fine with me.”
I frowned. This girl was something else, but my own interest was piqued. “What’d you hear this weekend?”
Her lips curved in a sultry come-hither smile. “That you told my sister off. High marks for that one.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t been aware of holding. I thought she was going to say something else, maybe about Jesse, but it was about Tiffany. That wasn’t something I cared about. “Oh.”
A deep chuckle came from her.
As she laughed, her head tilted to the side and her shirt slipped farther down her arm. The girl was oozing sexuality and I glanced around. The guys around our table had taken notice. A few seemed ready to join us. I sent them a glare. That stopped them in their tracks. Nope, I saw one reinforce his smug grin as he strode towards us.
“Heads up. Pick-up Line at three o’clock.”
Hannah glanced over and the sultriness went up a notch.
The guy stumbled in his footing. He almost tripped and fell, but caught himself. Normally this would’ve ended the approach. Not with this guy. His smile never budged. His shoulders rolled back and his cockiness rose.
He was a determined little bugger.
A low deep-throated chuckle came from her again. It was loud enough so I heard, but no one else did. I had to give her some credit. She was good.
When he stopped at the table, I heard one of the worst pick-up lines I could imagine.
“Do you come here often?”
I snorted.
He shot me a glare. It was gone in the next second when Hannah teased, “You mean to this exact table or to this school? Because I do. I go to this school.”
“Oh.” A flush spread from underneath his shirt.
Hadn’t thought that one through, buddy? I shook my head. I was betting that he used that one at the bars. We were in a city with three other colleges. His chances were better off campus.
“Hannah, this guy bothering you?”
Her sister’s boyfriend to the rescue. From the gloating in his voice, I could imagine his entrance. White horse, metal armor, and maybe even a javelin? I shook my head. When I snuck a peek from underneath my eyelids, he wasn’t alone. Cord was with him, along with Kara’s boyfriend. No Jesse. Why did I never see Jesse with them?
I ignored the disappointment that fluttered in my chest.
“Keep going, guys,” Hannah clipped out.
She was annoyed and glaring at both Cord and Jamie.
“Walk, numbnuts.” Jamie warned the guy with a dark look. “She’s off-limits.”
“Shut up!”
Blood drained from Pick-Up Guy before he left. If he could’ve run without looking like an idiot, I knew he would’ve. Instead, his power walk rivaled some housewives I had witnessed in the mall. They wanted to burn rubber in bright spandex and would’ve been envious of his speed.
“You shut up, Hannah. I’m not going to listen to your sister bitch at me because I didn’t stop another guy from climbing in your bed. That’s all she complains about now. You! I’m getting sick of it.”
Derek clapped him on the shoulder. “At least she’s not bitching about you, man.”
Some of the tension lifted from Jamie, but not much. He continued to glower down at Hannah. “Stop being a whore on campus.”
My eyebrows shot up. The guy had balls.
Cord frowned. “Hey, man. We should get going.”
Hannah slammed her hands on the table and shoved to her feet. She glared right back. “Are you kidding me? You are a bigger whore than me. Why don’t you stop dicking around on my sister?”
He moved back a step, but the glower never left. “Whatever. You’re such a bitch.”
“And you’re an asshole. We’re even.”
Derek stepped between them. “I think it’s a good draw. Let’s call it, hmmm? Jamie, march.” He jerked his head in the opposite
