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"Well. That was unexpected." I breathed a sigh of relief because that could have been way worse. He needed to expend some energy and I would catch up with that end later. The server was back, and I placed my order. I said, "She's...probably going to just have some soup."
He put some extra napkins down and left us. She reached for one and then broke down crying over there. I took a sip of my water. I was not about to be manipulated by lady tears. I put the glass on the table and asked, "How did you get that hoodie?"
She said, "He gave it to me."
"Last night, right? After the pool. You went back there?" I waited.
"To get my phone. He saw me. He... brought me to his room—"
"Brought? More explanation, please." I did the same hand-roll motion.
"I have an NDA." She suddenly looked up and around. "She'll—"
"Harpy. No. I work for her. It's better we do this here. Help me help you, Holly." I looked at her and admitted, "I want us to be friends. I don't think either of you were trying to hurt each other. I just know for a fact you aren't the only person who got hurt just now."
She looked up then at the empty seat at the table. "He..."
"I don't know him. Not really. Don't have to know a man to see when a woman breaks his heart. Been watching it happen since I was a kid." It was one of the reasons I was especially qualified to infiltrate the Divas. I wouldn't get attached to any of them. Only. Here I was, sitting at a nice little place to eat, dealing with Diva drama that extended directly into my own house. "You're a freshman, right?"
She nodded. I was a junior when she was a freshman back then. Only, a little different. I said, "Seventeen, right?" She shook her head. “Eighteen?” I asked and she nodded, wiped her nose, tried to pull herself together. The waiter returned with the food and once he was gone again, I said, "Me, too."
She looked up. I smiled. "I was small for a junior then because I was actually supposed to be in eighth grade, age wise. Too advanced. My parents wanted me to get ahead of the pack."
I did my dad's voice for that part. I shook my head and said, "Maybe if they hadn't tried to lead the pack, I wouldn't be an orphan."
Apollo's family stepped in, and I started working for Apollo my freshman year of college because he knew I needed a family. He needed someone he could trust. I would not fail him, or my new Momma, Harpy.
She said, "I'm so sorry, Winston."
"I've survived. But now you know why I was such a scrawny little shit back then." I put my hand up like I was telling her a secret and said, "I'm still growing."
She tried not to laugh, but she did. She looked at me and said, "He wasn't trying to hurt me. I... didn’t know that when it happened the first time."
I gulped. Things like this were hard to hear, but I was getting better at hearing it. "First?"
"I forgot..." My brow shot up. She amended with, "I'd never even kissed someone and then he... kissed me... there and... I'm all messed up now."
Me, too. I had to clarify, "Did he or did he not have sex with you?"
She shook her head. "No. Just..."
Damn. I was going to order him a basket of protein bars for him. She should have at least sent the man flowers. "He performed oral on you and you're afraid he might what? Not give you multiple orgasms?"
"No, he did that." She went wide-eyed and slapped a hand over her mouth.
I snickered, shook my head, laughed. "Oh damn. And still no sex?" She looked at her soup. I asked, "Like... you haven't even kissed him? That is the guy you are freezing up around? Hell, the math team is more of a threat, Holly. What the fuck?"
"I don't know how." She was getting all spun up again.
I laughed, which did not help the situation. "I'm sorry. It's just... I mean look at you. How the hell did you get to college completely untouched?"
"I didn't want to be touched. Plenty of other girls did. I'm not a diva. Not a real one." She frowned. "I don't know what is going on in my head right now, Winston. I don't know what to do."
I considered what my mentor would do in this situation. Fragile woman, delicate situation. I should totally take advantage of this. I sent an update on this situation. I hated this for her, but some people had to learn the hard way. I said, "I do. We will...practice a few things. You can talk to me, right?"
She nodded, smiled with so much relief. She didn't see me as threatening. It had been my greatest skill to date. To be the grey man in the room. Unnoticed. Unsuspecting.
I got up, moved to his vacated seat, and looked at her with a smile that she didn't know was predatory. She just chased off the safest man on this campus because he literally represented everything she was supposed to grow up and become. Married to a prominent man, from a good family, with an intact fortune, and a blemish-free record. She was part of the future feminist club. I remembered that. Never understood why they looked down on women living life on their own terms. Harpy lived life on her own terms and since she had filled the role nicely, I had decided well before the big situation happened last year, I wanted a girl like that. I looked at this pretty redhead and knew, she was not like that. I had hoped she would be, but this girl was a mess, and she was making a mess that impacted the frat, the football team, and the family I made which was tied to both.
