Page 22 of Big Man on Campus

“You can check it out later,” he says, watching me, waiting for an explanation. I give a subtle shake of my head. No way am I going to talk about this now with Glory here.

The person who posted the video clip and made the dangerous accusations is using the official IG account of SPU’s chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving. Fucking SADD. That’s all we need, all Glory needs, to have SADD lined up against us, another complication and another layer of guilt laid on top of her already heavy load. Fuck, this sucks. A sharp pain shoots across my shoulder blade, I’m breathing hard with frustration, but I need to calm down.

It’s too late to turn the clock back. We can only go forward and deal with this.

“What the heck, Kace?” she says, putting her hand on my chest, right over my heart. “What’s the problem? And don’t tell me it’s nothing because you don’t go around saying motherfucker for no good reason, not unless SPU has changed you—”

“It’s a video clip of your car getting towed. Don’t ask me who took the video because I didn’t see anyone else around besides the guys from the house.”

Her mouth opens, her big brown eyes get bigger and when her lips quiver I want to kick myself. She doesn’t need any more stress pushing her to drink again. I squeeze her hand because that’s all I can do to reassure her right this second.

“Good question,” Dooley says. “I wonder who could have taken the vid? One of your BMOC guys?”

“No fucking way. They’re not shitheads. Besides, they know I’d beat the crap out of them.”

“Isn’t there a sorority house not far from your house?” he asks.

“Shit.” It’s Phoebe’s sorority and I wonder for a fleeting second, but I dismiss the thought. She wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t take the video, much less give it to the SADD group. But someone did.

“Someone saw it and filmed it,” Glory says, “But it’s only a car wreck. We shouldn’t over react” She turns to her food. “Aren’t you going to eat? I swear the burgers aren’t bad. Not gourmet like I hear your magic cook makes, but still.” She smiles, dismissing the IG video, thank fuck. But she hasn’t seen the caption or commentary yet.

I watch her and my breath is taken away by the lively glow in her eyes, the sparks jumping, the way I remember them. I want like fuck to dismiss the social media, to get past the mistake of the crash and my well-meaning fuck-up to cover for Glory, so we can get on with our lives, so we can have what we lost, or at least part of it. The part without Sky.

But the involvement of the SADD group in the IG post worries me.

Without a thought, I cup Glory’s cheek and pull her face to mine for a spontaneous kiss, deeper than it should be for the middle of a cafeteria.

“WTF, Kace. I’m trying to eat here,” Dooley says. Glory laughs into my mouth and I catch her tongue with mine and suck it in for a last taste of her before I let her mouth go.

“It won’t matter what the hell the burger tastes like now,” I say and it’s true.

“It’ll taste like the stars and the moon and forever,” she says. “I could be eating sawdust now and it won’t matter. And it’s a good thing because I was exaggerating about the burgers being good before,” she adds with a wink and then takes a big bite, staring at me, daring me to disagree.

I shake my head and Dooley groans. “I may need to eat at a different table. As much as I enjoy you both separately, together you’re a porn show and not the kind I’m interested in.”

“Feel free to leave,” I say, not looking at him, still in a staring contest with Glory Sunshine because I can’t drag my eyes away, don’t want to.

“Not on your life. You’re the king and queen of this cafeteria,” he whispers.

“What are you talking about?” Glory says.

“You wouldn’t notice because you’re too busy ogling the hockey star, but everyone in this place is either openly staring or taking subtle peeks at you, not to mention pics and vids and whispering in between.”

She looks around and I say at the same time as Dooley, “Don’t look around.”

“Don’t worry, Kace,” she whispers. “It’s part of what I need to do, to get back to who I was before. I can’t hide forever. I did enough of that the last three years.”

I throw an arm over her shoulder, fiercely wanting to protect her from campus gossip, needing to keep her from harm of all kinds. It’s going to be a full-time job if the car crash issue doesn’t calm down. I wonder who took the video and decide I need to find out. If it turns out to be someone from my house, heads will fucking roll.

But I don’t want to believe that. No way. I’ll have Brick and Fitz help me. We’ll conduct a little investigation and get the identity of whoever took that clip. And find out why the fuck they gave it to the fucking campus chapter of SADD.

“So, Glory Rose, my little flower,” Dooley says like he’s about to crown her princess, “how about joining the hottest sorority on campus?”

“Not the one Phoebe’s president of.” I say.

“Of course,” he says. “None other. Don’t let your personal issues interfere with Glory’s rise to campus fame and fortune.”

Glory hoots out a loud laugh, the kind I haven’t heard since senior year of high school and it quickens my pulse, tightening my chest against the onslaught of old memories, good and bad. I hang on to the good.