Page 9 of His Stubborn Girl

“Hey, Torre.” He finally turns in my direction and it almost looks as if there’s a hint of reluctance in his eyes. Or maybe I’m just projecting. He pulls me in against his rigid frame, wrapping his big arms around me, and stupidly, a shiver rocks through my body. I quickly step back, pretending like he shocked me, but static electricity is not the type of current running through my veins. “Did you get all moved into your dorm?”

“Yep. I’m all set.”No thanks to you. “I just have a couple things to get at the store later and then it will feel like home.”

“That’s great.” He turns back to our parents, and I’m grateful not to be under his scrutiny anymore. I’m sure my cheeks are bright red from the heat coursing through my body. It’s ridiculous that I have this kind of reaction toward him. “I put our name in for a table, but they said it’s a thirty-minute wait.”

And during those thirty minutes, I open my phone and pull up Pinterest, looking for cute ways to decorate a dorm room, while Walter and mom ask Lukas all about what he’s been up to this summer. I already know exactly what he’s been doing. The pictures tell a thousand words. None of which are the words coming from his mouth. He tells his tall tales about how he spent his time with his coach, ironing out the details for the season. Running through plays. Training with the guys morning, noon, and night. Failing to mention all his poolside fun and partying.

The more he rambles on, the more I want to pull up his profile and call him out on his bullshit. But I don’t want to give him the impression I’m jealous. I just want to sit here in my bubble and pretend to ignore his existence.

“How was your summer, Torre?”

“It was fine.” I shrug, adding another picture to my favorites. I don’t even know if I liked it or not, but I want to make myself look busy.

“Torrin spent a lot of time with her friends,” mom adds. “And a certain someone.” I raise my eyes, seeing her smirk. She’s referring to me spending time with Corbin. Who just so happens to be one of Lukas’s friends from high school. Corbin was my attempt at getting over my awkward feelings, and maybe my attempt at spiting my stepbrother, but it didn’t work. I could never find a spark with him, so we ended up leaving things as friends. He was fun to hang out with though and made for some seriously hot photos for my social media feed.

“Who were you dating?”

And now I know Luke never saw a single one of them. He never looked at my social media page. Clearly, he didn’t think about me at all this summer.

“Corbin,” I say, smiling up at him. “You remember him from high school, right?”

“Corbin Makerson?”

“Yep.”

“He’s too old for you.”

His sharp tone settles roughly against my nerves. I’m tired of him thinking of me as a little kid.

“He’s four years older than me. It’s not like he’s ancient.” I shake my head and go back to what I was doing on my phone. He can glare all he wants, but I’m done listening to his opinion.

“Yeah, well, he’s no good for you.”

“He’s a really nice guy,” I defend.

“Williams party of four,” the hostess calls for us, and I’m saved by a girl who happens to be blushing fiercely as she checks my brother out, unabashedly staring. But he’s too busyglaringat me to notice.

“Long distance relationships don’t work, Torre, so you may as well end things now.” Another shiver trembles though my shoulders as his gritted whisper hits my ear. I wish that would stop happening. He doesn’t deserve to have my attraction. And it certainly isn’t appropriate.

Things ended between me and Corbin before they even began, but I’m highly enjoying ruffling my brother’s feathers.

“I’m serious, Torre. He’s no good for you.”

“Don’t worry. They already broke it off,” mom spills the beans as she takes her seat at our table, and Lukas looks all too pleased with that response. I wanted him to stew on it for longer, watch his face turn redder. But she ruined my fun.

“Yep. I definitely agree that long distance doesn’t work. Besides, I want to keep my options open. There are way too many cute boys at this school.” I scan the restaurant, looking through the crowd, but there isn’t a single hottie amongst the men in the room. Except for the one sitting in front of me.

“Yeah, well, you’re here for school. Not to find a husband, Torre, so you need to focus on your studies.”

Wow. Says the one who has a different girl on his arm every other day.

“I’m not going to become a hermit, Luke. It’s college. I’m going to date and have fun.”

For emphasis, I’m tempted to pull up his Insta page and scroll through the images of all the fun he’s been having, but I leave it be and turn to the waitress, giving her my drink order.

“Yeah, well you need to be careful,” Walter says. Great. Now, they’re all ganging up on me.

“And always make sure you’re in a public place with a guy until you get to know him better,” my mom decides to side with the enemy.

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