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He’s not my typeat all,which is exactly what she’s thinking at this very moment. Other than the fact that he’s much younger than me, there is nothing about Pax that would have led to me trying to get into his pants before he forcibly found his way into mine.
“Don’t say it,” I snap, before tossing my napkin on my plate and looking at my watch. “We better get going. It’s almost seven.”
Everly and I walk together across campus and head toward where the rugby players are finishing up practice. I keep my distance, not wanting Pax to see me with Everly or Cullen. It's bad enough I’ve shown up at his school and in his class; he doesn’t need me popping up at his games and hanging out with one of his senior teammates.
It would seem that if avoiding being seen by someone was a skill, I would be terrible at it, because as I cross between the cars in the parking lot and head toward Everly’s car, I nearly slam right into all six and half feet of muscled, Adonis-body, Pax Smith.
“Shit,” I mutter, clutching my chest. “You scared me.”
Before I have a moment to collect myself, I’m being slammed against the backside of a van. But not the good kind of slammed. When I look up at Pax, he’s snarling at me.
“What are you doing here?” He growls through clenched teeth. His hair is wet, hanging in his face, and he smells like Irish Spring soap. Even being fucked by him I wasn’t close enough to him to really see him like this.
“I’m walking to my friend’s car,” I reply, pointing toward Everly’s SUV. He turns and glances at the car, letting out a heavy exhale as if he’s putting it all together now. “Until I get my car back, looks like I have to catch a ride everywhere.” I try to sound casual, but it’s a weak attempt.
When his gaze lands back on my face, he looks as if he’s trying to maintain his composure. His hand is no longer on my chest, but he’s still crowding me, only inches away, and I can tell it’s an intimidation tactic, as if he needs one.
“Did you know last night that I was a student here? That I would be in your class?”
I flinch. “What? No! How would I know that?”
Voices carry across the lot, and we realize that Cullen and Everly are heading this way.
“Did you?” I ask.
He looks shocked, his teeth clenched and his nostrils flaring. “Of course not.” He glances up, hearing the happy couple only a few cars away. Pax then leans in toward me again, and I breathe in his clean scent, my senses feasting on his nearness, even while he basically threatens my life. “Don’t tell a fucking soul about yesterday, understand? I don’t know you and you don’t know me. You even think about telling anyone and I’ll—”
“Pax, I won’t,” I whisper.
“Oh, there you are,” Everly says, approaching me from behind. Pax leaps away from me, and when Ev’s gaze lands on his face, she does a very poor job of hiding what she knows. “Oh, hi. Hello. Hey, Pax.”
I wince.Real smooth, Ev.
Quickly, I try to salvage the situation. “Pax is my mechanic,” I blurt out, and she tries to look surprised, but it’s awful. This whole situation is awful.
Now Pax basically knows that I’ve told Everly about us, which is exactly what he just threatened menottodo.
Even though I wasn’t in the closet for very long, I remember the agony of feeling like the most vulnerable, most private part of myself was at risk of becoming everybody else’s business; it was terrifying. People are cruel, and they don’t have compassion when it’s not their own heart they’re ripping to shreds.
Footsteps approach again, and I freeze when I see Cullen’s short black hair come into view. He slaps Everly on the ass. “Let’s go. I’m fucking starving.”
His eyes land on me and Pax, who is suddenly sucked into this whole situation, standing with the three of us and looking like he wants to evaporate into dust.
“Hey, Smith,” Cullen says, greeting his teammate.
Pax replies with a curt nod. I notice the way he keeps his head tilted away from people, sometimes facing down, and when given the chance, he seems to blend into his surroundings rather than try to stand out. It pulls at my heart a little, to see him try to hide himself. And try as I might not to stare, I sort of love his scars.
“Car, now,” Cullen tells Everly, “I’m starved.” It’s taken some getting used to hearing the way he talks to her, and at first, I’ll admit, I hated it. But I’ve never seen a guy so enamored by a woman fourteen years older than him. Plus, I think in some weird way, she likes his crass attitude and bossy ways.
“We have to drop Thomas off at the shop,” she replies, calling after him. Anxiety settles in my bones when I realize what is about to happen.
“His shop?” Cullen replies, pointing to Pax. “Why doesn’t Pax just take him. He’s got a better car, anyway.”
“You don’t have to drive me,” I say immediately, trying to break the tension before it even builds.Dammit, Cullen.
Pax looks tense, his jaw is clenched and he’s fisting his bag in one hand so tightly that his knuckles are white. I want to tell him to relax, that no one will suspect he’s gay just because he gives me a ride to his shop. Then again, maybe he’s tense because he doesn’t want to be alone with me again. Maybe he hated every minute of it, and is actually repulsed by me.
Okay that’s a dramatic assumption.
