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Walking into the library, I expect to be wonderfully bored. But today mustn’t be my day. Not only does every student under the sun need my assistance, so does all the faculty in the surrounding buildings. I skip lunch. There’s no time to leave and I don’t want to spend the money to have someone deliver it here. And honestly, I’m too busy to notice that I’m hungry until well past three.
When six o’clock hits, it doesn’t feel like I’ve worked an entire day. It feels like I just got here and blinked. Why, oh why, couldn’t this Friday be like all the other Friday’s in my life? The one day I needed to be dragged out the longest, and of course, it feels like the shortest day of the year.
“Got any plans for the weekend, Bri?” Dora asks, sliding into my seat behind the main desk.
I chuckle nervously. “No plans. I’m just going to let the universe decide my fate and go with the flow.” I don’t think I have any other choice on the matter.
“I wish I was as carefree as you. My mind won’t allow me to have a weekend of nothing planned. If I don’t go do something, I swear it feels like I might go crazy.”
I have three guys that drive me crazy, does that count as the same thing?
My stomach knots as I leave the building. My only saving grace about having a busy day is that my imagination didn’t have time to run wild and come up with all the horrible things the guys could have in store for me. Well, nothorrible.Most of the time being around them, I feel more alive than ever and my body practically hums with contentment, if not a little from embarrassment too.
I frown as I round the corner and head toward the parking lot in the back of campus. How is it that I can feel so torn about my current situation? The fact that I didn’t sign up for any of this should make my feelings on the matter quite clear. Instead, my stomach is in knots for entirely different reasons than worry and fear.
As the parking lot comes into view, I force my gaze away from it.I’m not excited, I’m not excited, I chant over and over even as my feet pick up the pace. My feet falter though when a shadow beneath a tree catches my eye. I turn my head and find a man standing deep within the shade of the tree, watching me. He looks older. Even with sunglasses on and a hat, I can tell by the hard press of his mouth and the slight beer gut that he’s not a student. Maybe he’s a teacher just hanging out? Or maybe he is a student, an adult coming back to school. I suppose that’s plausible.
So why is it that the hair on the back of my neck is beginning to stand up? Is it because of the intensity in which he’s watching me? I know he’s wearing sunglasses, but there is no doubt in my mind that his gaze is locked onto me.
Stop freaking out, maybe it’s nothing…
My gut is always something that I’ve listened to in the past, and it’s never led me astray. Student, faculty, or hell, even a parent, I don’t want to deal with anyone right now. Pulling my purse close, I quicken my pace. I skip down a few steps, hoping that I look more excited than terrified, and hold my breath as I draw closer to the parking lot. There are a few more cars here than normal.
None belonging to the guys though.
As casually as possible, I look over my shoulder. The strange guy is there, following lazily behind me. His hands are in his pockets now and a cigarette sits in his mouth. When he notices my attention, he smiles at me. It’s not a friendly one. Turning back around, I try to assure myself that maybe it’s just a coincidence. He could be heading to his car to go home. At the exact same time I am. To the exact same quiet parking lot. That no one ever uses…
I refuse to look back over my shoulder. This is just paranoia. Right? My resolve wavers. Maybe I should look over my shoulder. What if he’s right behind me? My breathing comes in rapid succession. I blame Joey for this. Before him, I was never a jumpy person. That night, when I came to help Pianna escape his wrath, I never hesitated. I ran into her house. I struck him with a baseball bat…
But then I hit him with my car and left his body in his trailer.
The roar of an engine causes me to jump. I breathe a heavy sigh of relief at the sight of Trip’s motorcycle as it roars into view. He pulls up right in front of me as my feet hit the pavement. He doesn’t even take off his helmet as he unhooks the second one off his side and hands it to me. As I slide the helmet on, I notice two things:
The first is that the guy who’d been coming up behind me is giving us a wide berth as he heads further out into the parking lot. The relief I feel is short-lived when I notice the second thing: my skirt is not made for straddling a motorcycle. I yank the helmet off quickly.
“I can’t ride your bike wearing a skirt!”
Trip pulls up his visor and gives me a once over. “Then you shouldn’t wear skimpy skirts knowing there’s a possibility you’ll be riding with me.” He pulls off his backpack and hands it to me. “Throw your purse in here and carry it for me.”
I grab it out of his hand and do as I’m told even as my cheeks grow warm. “It’s not skimpy! It’s a respectable length—”
“Get on, dollface. You want to wear a skirt and ride a motorcycle, then let’s show the world what a slut you can be.”
Before I can argue, Trip lowers his visor. My cheeks grow warm with humiliation. I pull my helmet on and try, as gracefully as possible, to keep my skirt from riding up while I get on. It rides up anyway. Thankfully, I can manage to keep most of my butt from showing, though my legs are exposed to the elements. I lean forward, pressing my body against Trip’s, and wrap my arms around him.
The motorcycle roars to life and we take off. The vibration of the motorcycle ripples through my body. I bite my lip, trying hard not to think about who my arms are wrapped around or how my butt is nearly on display for every driver we pull in front of. The further we head away from school, the more my skirt rides up. At stop lights, I attempt to fix it, but to no avail. Trip and I are honked at, and at one stoplight a guy even rolls down his car window and whistles at me. I don’t think I could be any more embarrassed.
And what’s even more annoying is I know Trip is taking the long way back to their place. I haven’t been there much, but I have a general idea of where it is. Purposefully, he misses exits and turns, driving in large circles around town. I quietly seethe behind him. He’s probably getting a kick out of knowing that I’m freaking out and unable to stop this madness. Psychopath.
Finally, Trip takes another turn, and we head out toward a two-lane road with a stretch of trees on one side. Then we take another turn, then one more until we’re out of sight of the main road. When he cuts the engine, I immediately climb off the bike and pull the helmet over my head. The backpack is tossed to the ground next, not caring if anything inside it breaks.
“What do you think you were doing?” I shriek, yanking at the hem of my skirt to pull it down to where it’s supposed to be. Trip doesn’t reply right away as he pulls off his helmet, still sitting on the bike. “We could’ve been seen by my boss, other students. And what about your clients?”
“So?” Trip shrugs as he leans forward and hangs his helmet off one of his handlebars. He flings his leg over the bike and stalks toward me. I take a step back as I study his face. The hard press of his mouth and the clench of his jaw are his tells. He’s pissed. Something upset him during the ride around town.
“They could’ve seen you driving around with—”
“—a doll on the back of my bike?” He doesn’t stop walking until our toes hit one another. His eyes are burning with fury as he glares down at me. “Here’s the thing, dollface. While we were riding around, I came to the conclusion that while your ass is fucking delightful, I don’t want anyone to see it. It belongs to me, Grant, and Jay. You allowed everyone in the world to ogle you, and you did nothing.Nothing.dollface.”
