Awakening (Covenant College #1) (8 page)

“You want to come back over tonight?”

“I should probably wait and see if I get any homework.” I didn’t mention that I didn’t want to sleep in the dark basement room again. There was something about it that was giving me the creeps.

“Since when do you do homework?”

“Well, it hasn’t happened yet but I’m trying to develop a new work ethic.”

Will barked out a laugh, which he quickly bit back when I darted an angry look at him. “That’s a good idea.”

“You’re a horrible liar.”

Will watched me pack my book bag quietly for a few moments before speaking again.

“Your roommates seem nice.”

I raised my eyebrow at him questioningly.

“Okay, Paris seems nice. I think you’ll get along fine with her.
Brittany
is a little weird.”

“
Brittany
is wound a little tight.”

“You need to loosen her up,” Will agreed.

“I’m afraid if we do that then she’s going to go crazy.”

“What do you mean?” Will climbed out of bed and slipped into a pair of boxer shorts. I admired his muscular rear end for a few minutes – wistfully wishing we had enough time for a quickie – before returning my attention to my book bag. I could tell by Will’s sly smirk he’d seen me checking him out.

“I mean that she needs to get laid.”

“That’s for sure. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing is wrong with it. She just has one of those personalities where when she finally does get laid she’s going to go crazy and sleep with everything that moves for six months – and that’s going to be a whole other set of problems.”

Will quirked a suggestive smile in my direction.
“Is that what happened to you?”

Now it was my turn to let loose with a shrill laugh. “I was sixteen when I first had sex. Trust
me,
you were all I could handle. She’s treating her virginity like some prize, though. Nothing good ever happens when you make such a big deal about it.”

Will was quiet for a second.

“What?”

“I was just thinking about how hard it must be to be a girl sometimes.” I couldn’t help but smile at how serious his dark eyes were.

“Yeah, well, it’s easier than being a boy sometimes.”

“How do you figure?”

I figured that was a loaded question, so I decided to skirt it.

“You want to walk me up?”

“You’re not going to answer my question?”

“I’ll be late.”

I could tell Will was debating pushing me on the issue. Instead he merely shrugged and pulled himself up from the bed.

We climbed the stairs to the main floor quietly. I wasn’t sure how many of his frat brothers would be up – but I most certainly didn’t want to see
Aric
. Something was weird about that whole situation.

When we made it up to the main floor I took a look around the living room. It was littered with empty beer bottles and pizza boxes.

“Well, for one thing, girls are cleaner than boys.”

“Huh?”

“Why it’s harder to be a boy. You have to live in filth.”

Will smirked. He leaned in to give me a kiss goodbye. “Call me later.”

I nodded and let myself out the front door. I noticed Will making his way back downstairs. I figured he was probably going to get another couple of hours of sleep.

As I happily skipped down the steps I caught a flurry of movement coming up the driveway. I opened my mouth to say hi when I realized it was
Aric
. I snapped my mouth shut. I was hoping I’d be able to make my getaway without him saying anything. No such luck.

“Did you spend the night here?”
Aric
looked irritated. I found that fairly interesting – and by interesting I mean creepy.

“Why do you care?”

“It was just a question.”

“Yes, I spent the night.”

“You’re dating Will.” It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway.

“Yes, I’m dating Will.”

“Where did you meet?”

“When I was fourteen he came to my school dance.”

“What?”
Aric
looked confused.

“We know each other from home.” Sometimes you have to make things simplistic for men.

“So you’ve known him a long time?”

“Four years.”

“Have you dated him all four years?”

“What is this, twenty questions?”
Aric’s
busybody nature was starting to irk me.

“Are you embarrassed by your relationship?”

“No.”

“Then why not just answer?”

“I will when you tell me why you care.”

“He’s a friend. I’ve just never heard of you.”

My eyes narrowed as I regarded
Aric
. I could tell he wanted me to react to that statement. While it hurt, I wasn’t going to let him know it hurt.

“Maybe you’re not as close of friends as you thought you were?”

“Maybe.
Or maybe you’re not as important to him as you think you are?”

Well, that was low.

“Thanks for the morale booster.
If you’ll excuse me?”
I tried to push past the wall of muscle that was
Aric
. He didn’t budge.

I blew out a frustrated sigh. “What is your deal?”

“What makes you think I have a deal?”

“The fact that I’ve now met you twice and you’ve invaded my personal space both times.”

“Maybe I think you’re hot.”

“There are plenty of hot girls here.” God, I hoped my face wasn’t flaming red.

Aric
grudgingly took a step back to let me pass. “I’m sorry.”

At first I wasn’t sure he had said anything at all. I paused as I was moving past him and looked up into his eyes searchingly for a second. “What are you sorry about?”

“I shouldn’t have said what I did to you about Will.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Because my relationship isn’t contingent on you.
I know that’s mind boggling.”

Aric
smiled at me – a true smile – one that reached all the way up to his chocolate eyes. I couldn’t help but notice how much more attractive he was when he smiled.

“You think I’m conceited.”

“I think you’re used to women falling at your feet.”

“But not you?”

“No, not me.”

I decided now was the time to make my escape and continued down the driveway. I wanted to look back to see if he was still there, but I realized I’d look much cooler if I didn’t. It was hard, but I managed to make the trek out to the road.

I started towards the campus, all the while fighting the inner urge to look back. As I made it to the end of the street and started to turn, I risked a quick glance back. Not only was
Aric
still there but he was still staring.

I felt a little pride that he was still checking me out – at first. Then I realized that I had only met him twice and I’d been rude both times.

A wave of creepiness began to wash over me again. I made a mental note to find a way to grill Will about
Aric
, without making it obvious what I was after. A guy that chased a girl that was not only dating his friend but treated him like dirt might have some sort of personality disorder, after all.

Without realizing what I was doing, I raised a hand to wave at
Aric
as I drifted out of sight. Well, so much for being cool.

Nine

Classes that day were not only uneventful, they were ridiculously boring. I was actually relieved. Within the last three days I’d met three different men who had managed to unnerve me – and one of them was an extremely strange professor.

After my second class of the day, I happily trudged back to the dorms alone. When I made it up to the room,
Brittany
and Tara were in the bedroom studiously toiling away at their desks. Paris was sitting on the couch watching ‘General Hospital.’ I joined her.

“How was your night?”

“Fine.”
I wanted to talk to Paris about
Aric
, but I didn’t know how to broach the subject. How do you explain a feeling?

“You do anything fun?”

“Just each other.”

Paris smirked as I levied my attention on ‘General Hospital.’ We silently watched the soap for a few minutes before I turned back to her. “You spend the night at Mike’s last night?”

“Yeah.”

“
You going
back tonight?”

“No.” I noticed she grimaced.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Tell me.”

Paris sighed – one of those long ones that only
comes
when you’ve been dating the same guy for a long time and you’ve had to suffer through a lot of bullshit. “He gave himself a nickname.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he gave himself a nickname and he wants everyone to start calling him it.”

“What is it?”

“Boots.”

“Boots?”

“Boots.”

“That’s a stupid nickname. Why did he give himself that name?”

“Because he wants everyone to know that he’s constantly knocking boots.”

My mouth must have dropped open in surprise because the next thing I knew I was forcing it shut. “You’re shitting me.”

“Nope.”

“What is it with guys?”

“I know, right?”

We both turned our attention back to the television. After the show ended, everyone decided to have an early dinner. Tara and
Brittany
had “loads” of homework to fill their night.

“Do you have anything?” Paris asked curiously as we walked down the hallway.

“Nope.”

“Me either.”

We ended up eating dinner with the guys across the hall. They were excited because they’d seen one of the girls down the hall – Natalie I think her name was -- naked. Apparently she’d walked across the common room naked because she didn’t realize the door between the hall and the room was open.

“How did she look?”
Brittany
was appalled at my question.

“What do you mean?” Rick No. 2 asked.

“Does she stuff?”

“How should I know?”

“Her boobs always look lumpy. I assumed she stuffed.”

The conversation didn’t get progress from that point. Everyone started debating whether or not Natalie stuffed. I couldn’t wait until our conjecture made its way down the hall to her. She was already a bitch. I figured this would push her over the edge -- to raving bitch.

After dinner, Paris and I both lamented our lack of anything to do.

“You could go back over to
Will’s
,” she offered.

I turned to her
conspiratorily
. “His room is in the basement.”

“So.”

“So, there’s no window and it kind of creeps me out. It’s like being in a box -- or an animal den -- or something. It’s freaky.”

“Don’t tell him that.”

“I know. He’s so
fricking
sensitive.”

“He’s a man. They say we’re the only ones that get PMS – but they are definitely mistaken.”

We ultimately decided to go down to Mark’s floor and get him. “I could use a Slurpee,” I agreed.

Mark was eager to join us. I noticed he left the skateboard behind this time and purposely positioned himself between us as we made the walk to the 7-Eleven.

We chatted amiably about classes, home, the weather – anything that wouldn’t be considered heavy. After getting our
Slurpees
, we sat at the picnic table outside the 7-Eleven and continued to chat. Finally, Mark broke our unspoken rule and asked a question neither Paris nor I wanted to answer.

“So you both have serious boyfriends, huh?”

“I don’t know if you’d call them serious,” Paris answered. I had a sneaking suspicion that Boots’ days were numbered.

“Will and I are kind of serious,” I offered. I couldn’t help but notice that Mark seemed a little bit disappointed.

“How long have you been together?”

“Four years.”

Mark looked nonplussed. Four years was a lot of history to overcome. Of course, he didn’t know that we frequently took “time outs” during those four years – and I had no intention of telling him. As nice as he was, Mark just wasn’t my cup of tea on a romantic level.

After that, the conversation veered back into a safe area and I could see that both Paris and I had visibly relaxed.