Page 6 of Defend Me

Dean rolled his eyes. “Are you on campus or with your family?”

“Stupid question. I’m in my dorm.”

“Wanna do me a solid and make a trip to the airport?”

There was a groan on the other side. “You’re gonna be my thirteenth reason. Fine, but promise me you won’t ever have the audacity to call me again. It’s fucking 2025.”

“Got it, Tilian. Thanks.”

“Mhm.”

He looked up at me, then shooed me with his hand. I was inclined to steal his backpack and throw it out the car going eighty, but since that was the only thing he had- no luggage or even a duffel- that would give me way too much bad karma.

“Alright,” I said, taking a step back. “Make sure to thank Tilian. Sounds like you’re interrupting a… productive evening for him.”

He flipped me off and I laughed as I made my way across the mayhem to the parking garage.

I had to better vet the people I slept with. Sadie was trash. I was swearing off students for the foreseeable future. Making more enemies on campus was not the way to have a good year.

Chapter 3

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”

Brooks

Definitely Where I Shouldn’t Be… Legally Speaking

Fake IDs were easy when you had money. This one wasn’t some cheap piece of plastic that was easily sussed out. There were actually people who made legitimate IDs for a living who did some shady shit on the side. It was expensive as fuck, which meant it was lucrative for them. I didn’t think it was worth risking prison time, but hey, to each their own.

The bouncer had barely checked it before he waved me in. Sometimes, I liked to imagine it was because I was pretty. Some people called me hot and others thought I had ‘interesting features.’ My face was angular and I had cheekbones carved by Zeus himself. So yeah, pretty was a good term.

I wasn’t cocky about it. To me, looks didn’t matter. They were a bonus, but I was a vibes person. If I got along well with someone and our energies matched, sparks might start flying. Alcohol tended to muddle that, though.

The guy I was looking at was attractive but not exceptionally. Maybe he caught my eye because I’d found him ogling me. I’d been dancing for a while and had a few drinks, but not enough to get me fucked up. I knew that my shirt was plastered to my body with sweat, which might’ve been a bonus in this type of place. I’d kept my hair down since people always liked it, and I’d regretted it ten minutes in. The place was hot as hell.

Deciding to be bold tonight, I made my way over to Mr. Fuck Me Eyes. Would I fuck him? Totally. Was I going to? We’d see where the night took us. I was very open with my sexuality and I might’ve been called a slut by less fun people, but I was safe about it and what I did under cover of darkness- metaphorically- was none of their business.

The man eyed me hungrily as I approached. He wasn’t as young as me, but he couldn’t be more than mid-twenties. When I got close to him, I realized he was slightly shorter than me. I wondered what his preferences were. It might’ve made me a dick or something, but I had a hard time being topped by someone smaller than me unless they exuded some serious daddy energy.

“You’ve been looking at me for a while,” I called above the music.

“You’re easy to look at.”

The line didn’t do much for me. I’d rather people not put on a front or try to be smooth. Be real with me and we’d be much more likely to get along.

“Let me buy you a drink,” he offered.

Now that we were close, I was getting some weird vibes from this guy. He kept his hands in his pockets and didn’t look away from me for a single moment. Drinking with him was a bad idea. He seemed like the type to roofie someone.

“I’m good,” I replied. “Not trying to get wasted.”

When I backed up, he latched onto my wrist. I stared down at his hand. His nails were kind of dirty, which was definitely not a turn on.

“One drink,” he insisted.

“No.”

“You came over to me.”

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