Page 11 of Stay
I’ll ditch him as soon as we enter the lecture hall. After all, it seats well over two hundred people, so there’s plenty of room to put some much-needed distance between us. But now I’ll have to see him three times a week for the remainder of the semester.
Talk about crummy luck.
“Hey, Cole,” simpers a skinny blonde from out of nowhere.
Cole.
Crap.
I kind of like that name. And somehow, even though I don’t know him, it fits perfectly. Now I have a name to go along with his striking face.
Double crap.
He offers a friendly smile along with a chin lift. From the corner of my eye, I can’t help but watch their interaction. I want him to be flirty or maybe even stop and talk with her.
He doesn’t.
“Hey, Jules, how’s it going?”
A smile lights up her pretty face just before her eyes rove over him, eating the guy up alive. Jules isn’t trying to hide the fact that she’d like nothing more than to take a big bite out of him. Even though I’m walking beside him and it’s fairly obvious we’re together—although not together, if you know what I mean—she doesn’t spare me a glance.
Which is seriously fine with me…
But rude just the same.
“Are we gonna see you at the Alpha Sig party tonight?” Her voice lowers, becoming all sexy and sultry. At this point I want to roll my eyes. Doesn’t this girl realize that it isn’t even nine o’clock in the morning?
“Probably.”
“Then I’lldefinitelylook for you there.” She bats her thick, mascara-laden lashes at him, and it takes everything I have inside not to bust out laughing.
I’m almost embarrassed for her.
She skewers him with an intense look. Kind of like she’s attempting to use Jedi mind tricks or subliminal messaging, or something along those lines. I think she might be trying to convey that when she finds him tonight, there’ll be an extra special treat in it for him.
Of a sexual nature…wink-wink.
It’s entirely possible the protein bar I wolfed down might make an unexpected reappearance if I don’t get out of here pronto. I’m unsure how much of Jules I can take this early in the morning without becoming violently ill.
Maybe I’d be more tolerant if I’d had my morning cup of coffee...but then again, probably not. Rather than watch the pair of them make googly eyes at one another—all right, so maybe the googly eyes are fairly one-sided—I hasten my step, thinking this might be the perfect opportunity to execute an escape plan. I don’t like the way Cole makes the nerves in my belly tremble.
It’s disconcerting.
“Okay, well, I’ll catch you later.” I speed up as we reach Dorin Hall, the social sciences building. Actually, I have absolutely no intention of catching him later.
Just when I think I’ve shaken him loose, kind of like a sticky burr, he’s once again at my side as I push my way through the wide set of doors.
I do a double take before frowning.
Son of a?—
4
CASSIDY
“Did you really think you could ditch me that easily?” His whispered words send a shiver skating down my spine as something hot unfurls in the pit of my belly.
Or possibly lower.
