Page 7 of Defend Me

“And now I’m leaving.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but I turned my forearm and yanked out of his hold. I immediately turned around and headed for the exit. The asshole had ruined my mood and I didn’t want to field any more advances at this point. He didn’t scare me; I was from a bigger city than this one and I was pretty damn good when it came to self-defense. It was just annoying to deal with.

It was raining, so I stopped under the awning outside while I waited for a ride. I’d come here on a weekday when it wasn’t insanely busy. That was one silver lining.

We had the first day of class today, which meant all of my friends were in good student mode. They’d chill out in a few weeks when they got into the swing of things again. It was annoying, to be honest. I was fine doing things alone, but going to a club hadn’t been as exciting as I thought it would be. If my favorite friend group was there, it definitely would’ve been a hoot.

A dull silver SUV pulled up to the curb. It matched the one on my phone, so I rushed up to it and hopped into the back.

“Oh my god, you’re a lifesaver,” I said. “I thought I’d drown out there.”

I stopped suddenly when I saw the driver. The universe really had a score to settle with me lately. I hadn’t even looked at the name on the app, which was clearly a mistake.

“Hey,” Sadie greeted a little awkwardly.

All I did was give her a chin up. She started driving and I distracted myself on my phone. There were a few things I wouldn’t tolerate from people. Racism or any type of prejudice, sexual assault, and cheating. Maybe there were some others, but those were big ones for me. So, no, I didn’t owe her pleasantries.

Well, I was tipsy and my night had been lame, so I pulled out my phone to make dumb decisions.

Brooks:Question.

Kai:Oh, god.

Brooks:What was that for?

Kai:Getting that from you is nearly as bad as West sending it.

Brooks:I’m nothing like West.

Kai:You’re adjacent to that fucker. You just operate from the shadows.

Brooks:Dramatic. Remember when I figured out you were doing naughty things with Sen and I was quiet as a mouse?

Kai:Yeah, yeah. What do you want?

Brooks:I need the number of every hot, single person on campus.

Kai:Why would I have that?

Brooks:Guys, then. That’s your specialty. I’m bored, compiling a list.

Kai:Sounds more like horny.

Brooks:Okay, no numbers. Names, though. You’re gonna introduce me when you get back.

Waiting.

Kai:Aiden, Parker, Linc, and Ben are the ones I know. Linc is obviously off limits since he and West hate each other. Trying to date or something?

Brooks:Dunno. Send pics.Or their Instas.

I smiled when he sent them to me along with a middle finger emoji. As I scrolled through their profiles, I decided the pickings were slim. One of them posted a picture of his bamboo plant every day to track its growth or some shit. I’d seen Parker around Kai before Sen locked him down and the guy was very clingy, even though Kai never showed any interest. The last one was on the university’s anti-drug committee and since he included weed in that category, I didn’t think we’d get along.

In suggested friends, I saw my scowling friend, except he didn’t look angry in his picture. He was beaming. In one of his most recent posts, he was sitting on a bed with a guy who had light blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the picture on his phone when he called that guy, Tilian, but I thought it might’ve been him.

He was beautiful. His tongue was out and it was pierced with a metallic purple ball. He was holding up two middle fingers, looking ready to fuck shit up.

I scrolled through Dean’s followers until I found him.Tilian. Tonight, he posted a picture of him lying on his back with messy hair and even though it was from the shoulders up, I could tell he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The caption said,You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.

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