Page 49 of Brat Baby
Or my missing purple lace panties. I searched my entire room for them this morning while picking my outfit.
And all the groceries that were in the fridge Sunday afternoon, which Oakley confirmed she hadn’t purchased.
Were they all him too?
Also, do textbooks count as rewards?
Speaking of rewards, another one from Hudson arrived during breakfast this morning. An envelope had been shoved under the dorm room door while Oaks and I were eating, with nothing but my name written on it.
Inside there was a Netflix gift card, loaded with enough cash for a year-long subscription. I hadn’t even known you could get gift cards for the streaming service.
At least this one didn’t have a heart in its design.
“Emery, hey,” a male voice says from behind me as thethunkof a bag hitting the floor reaches me.
I flinch the smallest amount but mask it by turning around with a forced smile on my face. Honestly, if there wasn’t a quiz today, I would have skipped the class and stayed buried beneath my blankets until this hypervigilant state releases its grasp on me.
Instead, here I am, in class, pretending like I’m completely fine, when I am anything but. Yay. “Hey, Will. Are you ready for the quiz?”
He grins and leans a little closer, making it feel like we are in our own little bubble. “Yeah, should be easy. What about you?”
“Same, basically just confirming that we know everything that we say we know, right?”
“Exactly!” Will maintains some pretty serious eye contact. “So, I realize we’ve only had a few classes together, but I was wondering if you happen to have any plans this weekend?”
My stomach yo-yos uncomfortably, and I’m pretty sure my face doesn’t hide my reaction. “Ah, yeah, I do. Why’s that?”
The smile on his face dims the tiniest amount. “My team is throwing a party to welcome all the freshman, and I was hoping you would meet me there.”
I shake my head and force my lips back into a smile. “Sorry, like I said, I have plans. What team are you on?”
His green eyes light up. “Hockey. Are you a fan?”
My mouth takes control of the command center before my brain can stop it. “Nope, sports are so not my thing.”
Well, actually, that isn’t true. I have no real idea if they are or aren’t my thing. Besides the mandatory PE classes during middle and high school, I have never participated in anything athletic. Ever. I mean, my parents may have had me in ballet classes or whatever before they died, but I have very few memories of the time before the car accident.
His smile drops, but then he gets a mischievous look on his face. “Maybe you just haven’t had the right person to introduce you to them. Who better than the next highest scorer for the Newton Warriors?”
I laugh. “I have no idea who that is.”
Will freezes for a solid second. “You don’t know who the Warriors are?”
I bite my lip and shake my head.
His eyes almost bulge right out of his head. “Nope, that settles it. Dinner, one night next week. You can’t go to NU and not know who the Warriors are.”
I freeze, unsure how to proceed. Past attempts at turning men down have more often than not resulted in some sort of retaliation. Usually in the form of a raised voice with fucked words like,What, you’ll fuck old fat guys, but you won’t do me?
And on the rare occasion, something a little more physical.
But I remind myself, Will has no idea about my past. I’m just a girl and he is just a jock-type boy. There is absolutely no reason for him to be a dick if I shut him down. “Actually, I’m kind of seeing someone.”
Will’s face goes completely blank as he flops back in his seat, pondering my response. “You saidkind of?”
I nod, heat burning my cheeks. “Yeah, it’s a little complicated at the moment, but we are still trying to make it work.” Lies. Pretty sure, I’m the only one trying to make it work.
He takes a deep breath, then leans forward again, smile back. “I can work with complicated. Can I just say that the guy is a lucky bastard, and hopefully he figures out how to uncomplicate it. But on the off chance he doesn’t, I want to be at the top of the list of people you update if he fucks it up.”
