Page 16 of The Love Dare
“I, uh—” He glances around. “I think we’re in the same class, Win.”
“Really?” She perks up as an excited buzz zips down her spine. “Which one?”
He licks his lips and points to the schedule she taped to the side of her desk. “This one.”
Alex leans closer and reads the class name, his tone growing more and more dubious with each softly spoken word. “English 103: Introduction to Shakespeare?”
Tyler nods. “That’s the one.”
“What the hell are you doing taking Shakespeare? Are you trying to get an academic suspension?”
“What?” Tyler shrugs. “I needed an English credit. It was the only one available. I just have to pass.”
“Dude, have you ever read Shakespeare?” Alex arches a brow. “The guy makes English look like a foreign language.”
“I can help,” Winnie cuts in, wincing internally at how pathetically eager that comes out. But Tyler just glances at her, a small sparkle in his eyes.
“Yeah? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course not.” She grins like a buffoon. “It’ll be fun! I love Shakespeare.”
“I will never understand how we’re related,” Alex deadpans.
Winnie wrinkles her nose. “You love me.”
Alex scoffs, then pushes Tyler toward the door. “Let’s go.” A moment later, he reaches back to grab the cookies and catches her eye a final time. “Hockey house. Tonight. Be there.”
“Goodbye, Alex.”
She glances behind him, briefly meeting those soulful baby blues that have a choke hold on her heart. Tyler nods quickly as Alex shoves him down the hall. Winnie stares at the empty space where he was standing, already fantasizing about English 103 on Wednesday. No Alex. No parents. Sure, a class full of students and a professor, but still, it feels private somehow, illicit even. All her hope from the day returns.
College will be different.
She’ll make sure of it.
“Oh my god. Alex Rusu is your brother?” Maisie tears across the room, shattering the brief yet brilliant dream. “You have to come with us to the hockey house tonight.”
Just like that, Winnie is in, exactly as Alex intended. Of course, she has no idea if Maisie is the type of person she wantsto beinwith, but now that her brother is gone, she can admit this small truth. It does feel better to be included instead of iced out.
So, they go to the hockey house.
And Alex does introduce her to every one of his teammates with a, “Hey, this is Winnie. My sister. Hands off.”
Tyler ends up spending most of the night by her side since every other male in a one-mile radius is too afraid to even look at her, let alone speak to her—not that she isn’t used to it. The guys in high school were all the same way, and even during her senior year after her brother’s looming presence had vanished, most of them still avoided her like the plague. The one time she tried to get over her stupid crush on Tyler with a boy from her art class, he freaking walked in on them as if conjured by her subconscious. What are the chances? She hasn’t even looked at another guy since—and she certainly isn’t planning to start now, in the basement of the hockey house.
Girl time, it is.
Luckily, Maisie turns out to be awesome. They team up for a game of beer pong, then bond over a shared obsession with the greatest teen movie ever made—She’s the Man. Old-school Amanda Bynes was truly iconic.
The night is great. The morning after, less so. But everyone in the dorm commiserates together. The rest of orientation week flies by, between meetups and entrance exams and a slew of welcome activities meant to help new students find their place. By the time Wednesday morning rolls around, Winnie feels almost like a new person—no longer the high-school outcast, but a normal college student. One of the crowd. It’s lovely.
She arrives at Introduction to Shakespeare eight minutes early, telling herself it’s just because of her schedule and not at all because she practically ran across campus to get here. And no, she’s not out of breath, despite what the panting might make one believe. She stops outside the door and settles herself witha deep inhale. Then she walks inside, determined to pick the first seat she finds, planning to distract herself by organizing her pens so she won’t do the one thing she knows she wants to—stare at the door and jolt a little in her seat every time someone walks in.
“Hey, Win,” a familiar voice calls. She snaps her face to the side, unable to believe Tyler beat her here. But there he is, comically large in the tiny auditorium seat, gorgeous face shrouded in a university hoodie, strong legs bouncing as he waves her over. “I saved you a seat.”
“Thanks.” She sits next to him, sure he can hear the hammering of her heart in the quiet room, and busies herself collecting items from her bag so he won’t see how her fingers tremble. Tyler studies her. He’s always been comfortable with silence, but it unnerves her to knowingly have his undivided attention. Movements jerky, she accidentally knocks her water bottle off the small desktop. He catches it smoothly before it hits the floor.
“I can’t wait to see Winnie Rusu in action.”
