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I stood up and Riley made strides toward me moments later. Riley and I were getting used to each other’s rhythm. I felt guilty about coming late most nights when I knew that she was used to being abandoned, and needed to feel safe. I couldn’t have gone to my empty home without her that day. Riley nuzzled her neck against my calf and then she looked up at me. Chase ran his fingers through her much thicker dark brown coat when I strode to the sink and washed my hands.
“Has she stopped letting other dogs climb on her back?”
I exhaled a breath. “Annette said that Riley pushes them off now. No barking or growling, though.”
Chase kept petting Riley while I took the leftovers from my lunch at La Caridad out of the fridge to microwave for our dinner.
Mariska
EVERYONE LEFT THE CLASSROOM, but I stayed behind. I didn’t ace the pop quiz I’d had forty minutes ago, but an eighty-five was good, since I hadn’t read the last three chapters assigned for class today. After Beth and Jake had gone to sleep last night, I wanted to catch up on my romance novel that I’d had to set aside for over a month, because of my required readings for my classes. I’d turned on my night lamp and imagined that I was the woman who the man with dark skin and eyes that sometimes looked greener wanted. I’d aimed to read only three chapters, since it was one of the longer romance novels I’d kept in my hidden collection, but I’d been so engrossed and lost that I’d read the last chapter. Mom had thrown out what she’d called my “trashy” novels whenever I’d bought them. She returned the ones I’d borrowed from our small library in Franklin Parks. It’d been a thrill to read what I enjoyed.
I saw someone in my peripheral version. I angled my head to the side and Scott was by the door, a half-smile lifting the side of his face. He was in another one of his formal button shirts and boot cut jeans that reached his alligator shoes.
“Scott,” I greeted him when he was seated at the desk next to mine.
“Mariska,” he said, his intent gaze directly on me. I studied him, but I didn’t move the rest of my body. I felt like I was early to class and another classmate had come in. My alone time was over and I couldn’t get lost in my thoughts anymore. The door was open.. “I wanted to say I am sorry for a being a dick at Beth’s party.”
“I really think you owe Hunter the apology.” The cocky smile he had skidded from his features. With a deep sigh, Scott nodded and shifted in the seat. “I don’t care how much will power Hunter thinks he has to not drink, it was shitty of you to bring beers to La Floridita. Beth said she didn’t want that in her invite. Chase was going to ask you to bounce, but Hunter had asked him not to.”
“I know,” he acknowledged. “I’ll talk to him.” He casted a glance at the door, the sound of the other students in the hallway dwindled away. “I was thinking about taking you out—whenever you want.”
“Are you asking me out?” I asked in a mocking tone and he began smiling again. Scott was a senior and I knew that he’d been with many girls. None of those factors bothered me, because I noticed that he hadn’t bragged about it, or talked badly about other girls. He was the quarterback of our football team; very easy to look at, and had enough confidence that didn’t border on arrogance. Despite being a little pushy when he was tipsy, I’d never gotten a bad vibe from him.
“I am.”
“I’ll tell you when it’s a good time for me.”
***
“I AM GOING BACK to the dorm with Raquel. Come with us, since it’s dark out,” Jennifer said. She was in my introduction to statistics class and lived in the same residence hall as Beth, Jake, Pierce, and I. After my Bio classes, I’d gone straight to the library. I would’ve read another romance novel if I’d went to my room after my classes.
“I need to do this next prep exam,” I told her, flipping through the pages of the fifty-five questions I had to know for my People & Society course. The course title may have sounded like the class was a breeze, but it was just the opposite. Professor Jesky was an expert in the field of sociology & anthropology. We not only had to know the various people in history who were not found in mainstream textbooks, but also facts, theories and suppositions she spewed out without taking in a breath between her sentences. “I’ll text Jake when I am ready to leave.”
A look of relief flashed across her face and I gave her a lopsided grin. “See you Saturday!” I feigned excitement and swung my arm forward.
“Now, why did we register for a stats class on a Saturday?” She asked rhetorically.
I made a wide gesture with my hands. “Oh, because it takes up our entire morning.” Jennifer pursed her lips and lifted an eyebrow. “But we’ll be done with it before the end of this month. That’s one less class we have to think about for this semester.”
Jennifer regarded me mutely and then walked toward the front to leave with Raquel.
After answering all of the questions within the time I’d set on my alarm and I’d checked my answers, I scanned the room. Fewer students were here than before, and Peggy, the only Librarian working tonight, was putting back books on the shelves. A tall guy with a thick head of hair stood up and started gathering books in his arms. When Peggy came to the other side of the library to get the books that some students had left behind, a deep flush infused her face. In front of her, Hunter set the stacks of books on top of her small cart and I watched as she told him “thank you”. When had he gotten here?
“May I sit with you?” Hunter asked me formally in Spanish, when he approached my table. A flicker of amusement sparkled in his hazel gaze that pissed me off. His hair hung on the sides of his face. He had on his black leather jacket, a worn shirt, and jeans that were lived in and, yet, didn’t detract from his appeal. And how did he accomplish that? I canted my head at all of the empty seats at the table. He pulled up a seat, with a dangerous glint in his eyes. My face grew warm as my pulse raced.
Chapter 4
Hunter
MARISKA HADN’T NOTICED THAT I’d been in here before she’d arrived and sat down with some girl with short wavy hair. When her friend had left, I’d photo-copied pages from one of the reference books that I needed for my paper that was due on Monday. I’d considered going over to her, and had decided against it. Mariska looked so elegant with some loose strands framing her face, while the rest of her hair was held in a colorful metallic clip. Shoulders and arms bared in a strapless dress, Mariska could entice any man in here who liked women.
She was a weird one. At Anderson’s car dealership, she’d had no idea that Mike had said that he wished she’d worn shorter dresses and that she was one of the prettiest women in Franklin Parks. Mariska had been the reason I’d whirled around, and, in that moment, Beth had been staring at me like she’d seen a ghost.
“You should leave now, since the library closes soon. I know it’s a pain to drive late at night after reading, or whatever it is that you were doing here, ” she told me with a soft sigh and placed her papers in the middle of her textbook.
I smirked at her attempt to subtlety get rid of me. “I was doing some research. Way before you came to sit with your friend at the table. And I am used to driving at all hours, but thanks for your concern.” She gave me a hesitant nod of her head, shifting her gaze around the library like she was worried that someone she knew would see her with me. While the bl
ush she’d had on her face had been fleeting, it’d been unsettling for her—and, truthfully, it’d been unsettling for me, too. What had caused her to have that reaction?
