Looking for Trouble (Nashville U Book 1) (24 page)

But, Kat’s been avoiding me since I pussied out, not telling her about the rumors, so it’s either skip my class and wait for hers to let out, or show up at either her parent’s or Anna’s. Neither is a good option because let’s face it, they’re obviously going to take her side and refuse to tell me anything. I don’t think even
my
mom would help me. How screwed up is that? I even tried cornering her at the dorms, but Becca keeps saying she’s not there, and while I know she has to be lying, at least part of the time, I can’t hang out there 24/7. Eventually, someone would complain, and I don’t need that kind of trouble.

“Hello? Earth to Clay? I asked you a question.”
Jesus
, he’s so fucking annoying. I’m having trouble remembering why I put up with him.

Scrubbing a hand down my face, I turn to him, irritated and absolutely not ready to bare what feels like my soul, but aware I don’t have much choice. “
I’m”
—I put emphasis on the word, because “we” are not doing anything.—“here to talk to Kat.
You’re
here to tell her how you ran your mouth about us and back me up about Aaron’s reason for asking her out in the first place.”

Liam huffs, but doesn’t move from where he’s sitting on the floor of this dirty hallway with his back against the wall. He looks as relaxed as I am tense, and I wish, not for the first time, that beating the shit out of him would make me feel better. I don’t know how this conversation will turn out, but if she blows me off, I’m going to lose the tremulous hold I have on my temper. “What’s your problem, man? Any other chick, you wouldn’t give a damn what people were saying about her. Why’s this girl so different.”

Fuck
. There’s no good way for me to answer that question. If I tell the truth, I sound like a pussy-whipped fucker like Wyatt. If I lie, I’m just going to feel even shittier. For what must be the tenth time, I pull my phone out of my pocket and hit the button to illuminate the screen. Class will be over in just a few minutes. As the clock ticks closer, I start to fidget more.

“Whatever,” he complains when he realizes I’m not going to answer. “I’m just here to watch you get your ass handed to you anyway.” I look at him out of the corner of my eye to see him smirk at me, but I only roll my eyes at his taunting.
Asshole
. When I still don’t respond, he continues with his new favorite topic. It’s all he’s talked about for the past two days. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything to him about Marcus wanting me to fight. “Fine. Since you won’t talk about
her
, have you decided if you’re going to take Marcus up on his offer?” I’m still practicing my ignoring tactics, but that doesn’t stop him. “Dude,” he groans, “just think about it. Money, pussy, notoriety … why would you pass that up? You’re a fucking moron if you do.”

This time, I do turn and glare at him. “I’ll tell you like I told him—I don’t need the money, I can get plenty of pussy on my own,” I sound like a braggy asshole, but it can’t be helped. “And, I don’t want the notoriety. The people on campus, the ones I
want
to know who I am, already do. What are Marcus’s fights going to do for me? Absolutely nothing.” He looks like he wants to say more, but the frustration in my voice lets him know I’m done talking, and he crosses his arms with a sigh, sulking as he slumps against the wall. Done with the conversation, I turn back to the classroom door, so I don’t miss her.

When they finally open, I shove my hands in my pockets to keep from running them through my hair any more than I already have today. This shouldn’t matter so much, but it does, it matters more than anything else. Kat has to stop hiding from me. I miss the shit she gives me on a daily basis.

Students stream out of the room, a large group of them talking and laughing, and because of them, I almost don’t see her. She’s not a short girl, but Kat is a master at being indistinguishable. She tends to blend into the crowd, and she goes out of her way not to be noticed. In that respect, we’re definitely opposites. I love attention, good or bad,—just not the kind that comes from illegal fighting—while she’d prefer no one know she’s even there.

Kat walks down the hallway, her bag over hunched shoulders with her eyes focused on her feet instead of her surroundings. I hurry to catch up with her, and when Liam mutters, “Yeah, right. There’s a piece of ass you’ll never get,” I raise my arm and give him the finger.

Pushing through the crowd until I’m behind her, I put my mouth to her ear and say, “How long are you planning to avoid me?”

She jumps at the sound of my voice and whirls around to face me, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped open in shock. “What are you doing here?” she asks, placing her hand over her heart and trying to calm her breathing.

I take a step closer, ignoring the way she backs up a step. She has no reason to be afraid of me. “Kat,” I sigh, “you’ve been avoiding me for days. I need to talk to you.” She rolls her eyes. “Look, it was this or camping on your parents’ doorstep until you showed up there.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but her eyes are more wide open and round than when she first noticed me. “My parents? Jeez, Clay, stalk much?” Her words make me bristle.

“I’m not a
stalker
, Kat.” The words come out harsher than I meant them to, but her calling me a stalker hits too close to home right now. “I know you’re pissed at me after the other day, but I need to explain. There’s shit you don’t know, and even if telling you means you’ll hate me, I have to do it.”

She looks shocked, her breaths coming faster and the pulse on her throat thrumming noticeably. “What are you talking about?” she asks warily. “You can’t just follow me around campus waiting for me to talk to you. There’s no law that says I have to.”

It’s times like these I remember how young she and Max are. Just that last sentence makes her sound like a kid.
You can’t make me
. That’s what it sounds like she’s saying, and yeah, I’m only a few years older, but when she acts that way, it seems like so much more. Of course, I feel like I’ve aged a decade in just the past few days. My guilt is
that
strong. “C’mon Kat. Can we please be adults about this?”

“Sorry,” she says, drawing herself up, so she’s standing tall, and putting one hand on her hip. “I can’t.”

“You
can’t
?” The hell?

“Nope,” she says, popping the “p.” “I’m done adulting for the day.”
God, she’s such a smartass
. “Besides, why does it matter to you if we’re not talking? I’m only good as a piece of ass, remember? That’s all a guy would want me for right?”

The sarcasm in her voice is heavy, making me want to either strangle her or kiss her. I can’t decide which I want most. She’s insane if she thinks that’s all she is. I’m not sure what I mean to say, but what comes out is, “In case you’ve forgotten, we have a project we’re supposed to be working on.” I immediately want to take the words back, but that’s not possible.

I’m expecting her to slap me, or punch me,
anything
to show how pissed off she still is about our fight and the way it looks like I’m ignoring that it happened. Instead, Kat tilts her head, just watching me. The longer she stares without saying anything, the more uncomfortable I become. I run a hand across the back of my suddenly aching neck, then ask, “Wait. That’s not what I meant—”

Kat narrows her eyes as if in thought and bites down on her bottom lip, drawing my attention to it. She looks equal parts pissed off and afraid of what’s going to come out of my mouth next. “Oh? Then what
did
you mean, Clay?”
Shit
. This whole conversation is a fucking train wreck. I’m not explaining myself well, and she’s not in a forgiving mood.

I turn to where I left Liam sitting against the wall, but he’s gone.
Wonderful
. Rage overwhelms me at the realization that the stupid bastard ditched me. He’s such a motherfucking pussy he ran the first chance he got so he wouldn’t have to come clean to Kat. “
Dammit
,” I mutter vehemently under my breath.

“What’s wrong?” Even pissed off at me, Kat sounds genuinely curious about what’s bothering me.

When I look up, she’s still staring at me, but instead of the narrowed look she was giving me before, her eyes are softer. She looks more approachable with her hands in her jacket pockets, and her shoulders relaxed instead of taut the way they were just a few minutes ago.

“Liam’s gone,” I tell her, gesturing to the spot he
was
sitting in earlier.

Her brows furrow. “Um, okay?”

I hate explaining shit, and I
really
hate having to be the one to tell her about the stupid rumors. There’s no way I can tell her this and look her in the eyes, but I don’t want to turn away either. If I do, I won’t be able to see her reaction, which means I won’t be able to stop her imminent freakout. I’m being pulled in two very different directions right now.

“Okay, look. I have to tell you something, something I should have told you Tuesday, but …” I’m unable to admit I chickened out. She continues to look at me questioningly, and with a sigh, I finish telling her. “
Dammit
. I wanted Liam to be the one to tell you this, but he’s a fucking pussy.” Her spine straightens, and even though she hasn’t physically moved back, it feels like she’s suddenly miles away from me. “Fuck it.” I’m just going to say it. “
Liam
,” I spit his name out, “has been telling everyone he sees that the night I took you to my apartment, we slept together.” There’s an audible gasp, and I hold her stare. “I’m so sorry, Kat. I knew he assumed it, and I didn’t correct him. I swear though, I had no idea he was going to run his mouth. If I had, I would’ve shut that shit down in a heartbeat.”

I watch her eyes turn glassy with tears, and can’t stop myself from reaching out to pull her into my arms. As soon as my arms close around her, Kat brings her hands up to push against my chest, and I let her shove me away. “You let him think we had
sex
?” she hisses, her eyes turning a darker shade of brown with her anger. “What the hell, Clay?
Why
would you do that?” I start to apologize again, but she cuts me off. “That’s what you meant when you said Aaron was only asking me out because he thought I’d sleep with him, isn’t it?”

I nod, unable to deny it, and she shuts her eyes, a single tear escaping from each eye. Watching them travel down her cheeks makes something in my chest hurt. “Kat,” my voice is rough, and I take a step forward.

Her eyes pop open, and she takes a step back. “
Don’t
,” she snarls. “Don’t come near me. I can’t
believe
you!” She stops, narrowing her eyes before she says something that hurts
me
. “No, you know what, that’s a lie. I can
absolutely
believe you would let your buddies think you screwed me while I was drunk. I bet you do that all the time, don’t you? Exaggerate your conquests to make yourself look better.” Her eyes flash with a combination of anguish and rage. “You’re
pathetic
, Clay Mitchell. Completely,
utterly
, pathetic.”

“Kat, please—“

She turns away from me. “No. Leave me alone, Clay. Right now? I can’t even look at you. Congratulations. I thought the things Max said were bad. What you did? So much worse.”

I can’t take the things she’s saying. Kat is normally this sweet, mousey, little girl, but the things she’s saying? They eviscerate me. Before I can analyze why, I grab her by the hand and pull her behind me into the room she left just a few short minutes ago. A quick glance confirms that it’s empty, and I put my hands on her shoulders, pushing her back, so she’s right up against the wall with nowhere to go.

“Listen to me, please,” I beg. “I swear to God, Kat, I
never
meant for any of this to happen. I honestly thought if I just ignored the crap Liam was saying, he would shut the hell up and move on to something else. If I had known he would start spreading rumors, I would have beat the shit out of him first.”

She’s still glaring at me, but it’s impossible not to hear the sincerity in my voice. I’ve never meant anything I’ve said more than I do right now. “I’m going to make this right, Kat. I promise.”

“Yeah? How are you going to do that, Clay? Are you going to tell Aaron the truth?”

Aaron
? She’s still hung up on her date with him? “Uh,” I start to say something, but it gets strangled in my throat. I clear it, then as much as I don’t want to, I tell her, “Yeah, if that’s what you want me to do.” I already tried to do that once, but if it will make her forgive me? I’ll tell that dick licker a hundred times until he gets it.

The devious expression on her face worries me. I understand why when she pushes up on her toes, so our mouths are almost touching, and says, “You better. I’m meeting him for dinner tomorrow at seven. You have until then to make him understand.”

“Wait. I
just
explained why he asked you out, that all he wants is to feel the inside of your pussy, and you’re
still
going out with him?” Kat shrugs nonchalantly. “Yeah, I am.” A smirk crosses her face, one that sends a shiver down my spine. “Look at it this way, Clay. If you
don’t
convince him, he just might talk me into sleeping with him. He can be my rebound … from
you
.”

I freeze at just the thought of her fucking him, and it gives her the opening to duck under my arm and out the classroom door before I recover.
What the
hell
just happened
?