Page 30 of Guarded Love

I read it over three times, removing any hint of personality or emotion. It's the most sterile email I've ever written, which is exactly what I need right now.

"There," I say, hitting send before I can change my mind. "Done. Happy now?"

Ari gives me a small smile. "Ecstatic. Was that so hard?"

"Yes. Excruciating. I might need medical attention."

"Drama queen." She takes another bite of the muffin. "Now you can focus on your housing article while you wait for him to respond."

Right. The housing article. The one with the blinking cursor that's been mocking me for the past hour. I stare at the screen, willing the words to come, but my brain keeps circling back to that email sitting in Blaise's inbox.

Will he respond right away? Will he ignore it? Will he make up another excuse?

"You're not focusing," Ari points out.

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

My phone buzzes, and I nearly knock over my coffee reaching for it. It's just a notification from social media. Not him.

Of course it's not him. I literally just sent the email.

"This is ridiculous," I mutter, shoving my phone into my bag. "I can't work here. It's too loud."

Ari gives me a knowing look. "The noise wasn't bothering you ten minutes ago."

"Yes it was. And it's bothering me now."

"Mmhmm."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?" She blinks innocently.

"The mmhmm thing. With the eyebrow. And the knowing look." I wave my hand in front of her face. "All of...this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She finishes her half of the muffin. "But if you really can't work here, why don't you try the library? Or your room?"

My room is the last place I want to be. And the library means potentially running into him, which is absolutely not happening until I'm mentally prepared.

Ari speaks again and distracts me from coming up with potential places I can go to. "Actually, I was going to mention something that might interest you."

I narrow my eyes. "What?"

"Remember that study abroad program to Puerto Rico I was telling you about a few weeks ago?"

"Maybe?" I vaguely remember her mentioning it, but it wasn't something I paid much attention to. Traveling is something I wanted to do more of, but I’m focused on the internship I’ll be doing in New York City this summer.

"Well, they've reopened applications. A few students dropped out, so they're looking to fill spots. It's open to non-poli-sci majors now."

I blink at her. "And you're telling me this because...?"

"Because it's a week in Puerto Rico during winter break. And you mentioned wanting to get away…sounds like a greatopportunity to do so." She pulls a folded flyer from her bag and slides it across the table.

I pick up the flyer. "When's the deadline?"

"Two days from now. It's tight, but doable."

---