Page 7 of Nerdelicious
If this were New York, I could disappear into a hundred different bars or nightclubs to find a random hookup and then never see them again. But in Blue Falls, options are more than limited.
The house sits back from the street, facing a meticulously groomed lawn that’s now being trampled by coeds. It’s small and innocuous—at least it is when it isn’t stuffed with people and thumping with music. There’s a bay window, flower boxes, bright white shutters, and a cheery red door.
During the daylight hours, you wouldn’t imagine a Van Wilder type lives there with a bookworm and a giant, but that’s the truth. It’s like God being a writer named Chuck or Captain America saying, “Hail Hydra!” inSecret Empire. You just don’t expect it.
I crane my neck to see around the line. Normally, Beast mans the entry, taking money and letting people in and out, but he’s not there and the front door is shut.
The crowd around me is restless and excited, people chatting with each other, hooting and laughing. Someone yells out a plea to open the door and let them in.
Maybe it’s full, maxed out, and we’re all gonna be sent away. Then I can leave, with the perfect excuse.
A sigh of relief whispers through me.
Taking a slow step back, I run into a wall. A warm wall. I spin around and look up. And up. And up.
Beast.
My heart rate triples. I mean, anyone would panic a little. It’s like a biological instinct. I can’t control the lizard brain. He’s huge. Rugged. His eyes and hair are dark, matching his dark T-shirt and jeans. His lips are relaxed, unsmiling against his scruffy jaw.
“For a big guy, you sure do move like a ninja.”
He stares at me for a full beat before his head jerks to one side in the universal motion for “come on.” Then he stalks away, toward the house.
Bossy.
Commanding without words. Who knew that was possible? I follow. It’s not like I have anything better to do, and waiting in line alone isn’t exactly an enticing prospect.
“Are you gonna let us in?” someone whines as we breeze past.
Another calls, “Hurry up, we’re gonna miss all the games!”
And finally, a third heckler, “Hey, why’s she getting in?” And then louder, “Who are you?”
My response is a reflex born of being raised in a family where incorporating literary references into casual conversation is considered an art form. “I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
An awkward pause ensues and then a confused, “What?”
I don’t bother looking back. This is why I don’t have friends. No one understands my witty references to dead poets.
I trail after Beast up the steps of the narrow porch. He unlocks the door and motions me in ahead of him.
It’s not as crowded as I thought it would be. A few stragglers are in line at the bathroom down the hallway, and a couple is making out on the love seat in the living room. A sliding glass door at the back of the house yawns open to the backyard, where the crowd is congregating. I follow Beast through an open doorway on our right, into the kitchen.
He opens the fridge and hands me a can of something, his giant fingers obscuring the lettering.
I take it, reading the label out loud. “Delirium.” Surprised, I meet his gaze. “How did you...” He can’t answer an open-ended question, so I cut myself off. I’m forever regurgitating nonsense around Beast. “I like these. And you happen to have them.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. Beast is like this. Always watching, always handing people what they need without question. He’s always so observant. The first couple weeks after I came to Blue Falls, tissue and cookies would appear on my nightstand, but only on nights that Beast stayed over.
It’s unnerving. How much does he see? His dark eyes skitter from mine, and after a tripping heartbeat, he strides past, stirring up a small breeze in his wake and disappearing through the doorway.
“Thank you,” I call out, but he’s already gone.
I exit to the backyard right as Jude’s voice cuts through the air. “Babies! Let the games begin!”
Cheering and clapping meet his pronouncement. From the corner of the expansive patio, Jude lifts an air horn and squeezes. Tonight he’s wearing some kind of smoking jacket, per usual. His hair is longish and brown, his posture relaxed. He’s in his midtwenties, not much older than the college students he’s mingling with, but his aura is larger than life, which gives him the feel of an old soul.
Unlike Jude, Beast is actually a student at Blue Falls University, so I’d wager he’s around twenty. But it’s hard to tell since he’s physically bigger than anyone I’ve ever met.
