Protected (Book 1 in the Ariya Adams trilogy) (8 page)

We headed towards the lunch meeting with everyone. On the way
, our paths crossed that of Ashley and Devon. I hesitated and felt a slight pressure on my lower back. Turning towards James, I noticed it was his hand. Perhaps Devon had gotten under his skin, too.

“Hey guys! What are you two doing?” Ashley gave me a wink as if sh
e thought she’d caught James and me out as a couple. Ha! I wanted to say
I wish
, but I kept quiet.

“Heading to lunch, are you coming?” My voice came out much harsher than I
meant it to, but with Devon’s eyes boring into me, it was hard to focus.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Silly me, I’ve been so busy lately.” Her hands roamed over Devon’s chest as if trying
to remind him who he was with.

I almost gagged
at the thought of the two of them alone and what went on behind closed doors. James’ grip tightened on my shirt. The thought of him feeling protective towards me made me smile. My lips pursed into a fake smile, which was highly unlike me.

Devon’s attention finally went to Ashley
, only it was worse than his attention not being on her. His hand slid down her lower back way too low for being appropriate in public. His eyes flicked back to me as if he knew it would make me uncomfortable. What the heck was his problem? The action caused Ashley to snap back into smiling and acting like a snob.

“So where are
we going?” she asked giggling.

“Um, I think Caroline had said Riley wanted it to be Timber Café. You know
, go back to the same place we did freshman year. He‘s being sentimental all of a sudden.”

Ashley laughed
. “He has always been sentimental. He’s a romantic.” Riley? A romantic? That was funny. He talked about his conquests more than all the other boys. At least he did to me, and last time I checked, romantics were more reserved when it came to that sort of thing.

James pushed my back
, leading me away from Ashley and Devon and towards the café where we would meet the rest of the group for lunch. Ashley and Devon were in front of us, and he put his arm around her, leaning in whispering something. A couple seconds later, she turned around to face me.

“I just had a blonde moment and forgot I can’t do lunch. Devon and I have plans. I’ll see ya’ll later though.” They l
eft us standing there confused.

I turned to look at James and he shr
ugged and asked, “Shall we?”

We kept walking, mostly in silence.
His hand was no longer resting on my back now that Devon wasn’t around. I wonder if he knew Devon somehow? Their interactions still didn’t make much sense to me. I reminded myself of the mindset I had laid out where if James wanted to talk or make a move, he would have to be the one to start it. I was perfectly content at the way we were, which was sort-of friends.

To my surprise, we were almost the last ones to lunch. I guess seniors aren’t expected to stay in class for a full period anymore. I scooted in between Riley and Caroline. Lunch was a blast. We spent the
entire time reminiscing about funny stories from our summers and talking about the first hockey game coming up.

It was set for Friday night and the boys were more than a little excited. It was fun to watch them talk about their upcoming games and the season. Apparently having James on the team was going to be the difference and this
year, the championship was theirs.  After lunch, Caroline and I decided to go over to the campus bookstore and pick up some new Timberwolves great to wear to the game on Friday. Riley said he wanted something new, also, and decided to tag along. The three of us said our goodbyes for the day and we headed out.

B
efore we could leave, James got up and said he might as well get something, too, since he didn’t have any Timberwolves clothing yet. Caroline nudged my arm and smiled at me. I needed to catch her up on where I was with the whole James thing, at least the playing it cool part. The ‘James’ topic hadn’t been discussed the previous evening when she’d returned home from seeing Nick off.

Riley came up beside me and threw his arm over my shoulder. “So
, are we getting matching shirts or what, hun?”

“Oh
, yes dear, of course,” I joked right back.

I was going to miss having him there all the time
. He was always there for me and Caroline. Anytime a guy was a jerk, he’d be there. Anytime we were stressed, he’d be there. He wasn’t like the other guys when it came to Caroline and me. I never really understood, but he would literally drop everything to come whenever I needed him. I couldn’t even begin to count the texts and calls I’d sent him, needing a friend or someone to talk sense into me. He’d seen me cry, pout, yell, almost every emotion imaginable. He still would come when I needed him. Not many guys were like that. He truly was a special friend.

Freshman
year Caroline asked if I was interested in him. I wasn’t really and I can’t remember ever feeling like there was anything there besides just a good friend. I just hadn’t thought of him like that. Once when he was hammered at a hockey party, he tried to kiss me, but we’d laughed it off the next day and things were fine. He’d never tried anything since then. He really was my best friend besides Caroline. I was blessed with the two of them. I caught myself realizing how emotional my internal monologue was getting and tried to bring myself back to reality. I kept thinking about losing everything at the end of the year, but that seemed to be something crazy to think about. I wish I could get a grip.

I glanced over at James,
who was studying me. When we made eye contact, he side-smiled and looked back towards where we were walking. Maybe James was a tiny bit interested. Could it be he got jealous when Riley and I were joking? Or not. He was more likely just observing, since he was the newbie. He wanted to get a feel for the group dynamic. Could he be shy when it came to girls? If he needed encouragement, maybe I would give him a little bit of help. That couldn’t hurt if it was just a little nudge. I stopped to “tie my shoe” and when I stood up I was walking in sync next to him.

We got to the bookstore and made our purchases. James asked for
my help picking something out.

“W
hat’s the cool thing to wear around here? Tell me it’s a sweatshirt because it is freezing. I’ve lived in cold places, but this, this is absurd once the sun goes down.”

I smiled. “It’s only fall
, James. Just wait until winter actually rolls around. You’ll be wearing those hockey skates for quite awhile.”

I started holding up different options and he made faces at
the ones he thought were dumb.

“Be nice, or
you’re on your own.” I teased.

I was proud of m
yself and thought I was doing an extraordinary job of playing it cool just like I had agreed to do. When we all finally decided on what we wanted. Caroline and I paid for our purchases. While we were waiting for the boys, we got shooed off. They were planning something, I guess, at least that is what it seemed like. Caroline rolled her eyes, took my arm, and we went outside to wait.

Autumn
in Mineral Point really wasn’t all that cold. It was probably like winter in some states further to the south. It was the kind of weather that a light jacket would be enough if you were making a quick run somewhere. But, you couldn’t stand still for too long without freezing. Winter was bone-chilling, but fall was just chilly. The boys walked out with bigger bags than I thought they would have, and we all said our goodbyes.

“What was that abou
t do you think?” I asked Caroline.

“Who knows?
They’re boys, we’re not supposed to get it.” We laughed.

When we got back to the apartment that afternoon
, we sat down and planned out the rest of the week. Lunches, afternoon activities, everything was set so that we could hang out as much as possible.

“Excited for the hockey game? You get to see James in action!” Caroline punched the air like a superhero
, which made me snort.

“About that…” I started.

“You have got to be kidding me? Your hating boys phase is over. Flirty, lover girl is on! Come on, I want something to gush about. So don’t even think about saying you’re over it,” Caroline scolded me.

“You have som
ething to gush about! NICK, duh! He’s handsome, huh?” I said, attempting to change the subject.

“No changing the subject
, you brat. Come on, I thought we were all for James.” Caroline, being Caroline, was not going to back down until she got the answer she wanted, so I decided to play to her feminist side a bit so that she would drop it and try to understand.

“It’s been confusing. I’m not dealing with spending all my time wishing some guy would pay attention to me. We hung out alone and he didn’t try anything. He hasn’t asked for my number and we have no plans to hang out again. Until he shows some interest in being something more than friends, I don’t want to waste my time. You should love this
! You’re always pro-independence from men. I’m finally listening and learning your ways.” I sat, eyebrows raised, daring her to challenge that logic.

“But
, you’re always the hopeful one. Fairytales, true love. Come on, Ariya, give me something to work with here. Besides, what alternate universe have we entered where I’m the boy-crazy one and you are the strong, independent one?!” That made me laugh. She always could calm down my worrisome thinking. “It makes sense, though, I guess. I’m proud of you. I still think there’s something there. Just keep your options open and don’t you dare revert back to your attitude from last year. I can’t handle my hopeful anchor miserable about some idiot guy.”

“I will, I will.
Hence the plan to keep away, until I get something more out of him.”

And as much as I tried to play off the tough girl
persona, everything in me wanted James to take a chance and come after me. Some things would never change, but I could put on a daringly independent female face if I had to. I have no idea what was making me act like this and why I was feeling so certain James was someone important for me, but I couldn’t help it, and so I’d try to pretend and hope that it would calm down eventually. Maybe once this stress wore off and I was back to my non-overly emotional self, things would seem clearer. I looked forward to getting to know him better, though. At least I knew he’d be a friend, which I guess was something.

Caroline had declared Wednesdays to be Wino Wednesdays way back in our freshman year. It was tradition, so when the first Wednesday of our year rolled around, I had a wine glass pre-poured and waiting for me when I walked in from classes that afternoon.

“Ah, my dinner.”
I smiled at Caroline, who looked like she was already halfway into the bottle.

Running to my room,
I threw on a pair of pajama pants and a sweatshirt and hopped over the back of the couch. I had almost curled up in a comfortable spot when the doorbell rang. I glanced over at Caroline, and she just lifted her shoulders to shrug.

“Yo
u invite anyone over?” I asked.

“No.” She refilled what s
he claimed was her first glass.

I opened the doo
r and found Riley, standing on our porch with a pizza.

"Surprise!" h
e shouted when I opened the door. "I come bearing gifts."

"By all means then, come on in." I smiled at him since he hadn't waited to be invited in
before heading towards the living room. Riley was someone who easily made himself at home anywhere, which was fine by me.

“What should I do with this?” H
e held up a bottle of red wine.

“Wine?
When have you ever had wine, Riley?”

“Um, it’s Wino Wednesday
, hello?” he said in a girly voice, making Caroline and me laugh. “This is my last chance to give this tradition of yours a try. I attempted to get Johnny to come with me, but he said he’d stick to beer, so it’s just me.”

“I’ll pour you a glass. We have white wine
, too, if you don’t like red,” I told him.

“I like red!” Caroli
ne yelled. I looked over at her, surprised.

“We always drink white
, though. I didn’t know you liked red wine.”

“It is so much better. The white cold stuff is what you like
, so I suck it up.” She laughed at what I guess she had thought was a joke. I didn’t get it, but chuckled at her anyway.

“You should have told me! We could have each just had our own bottle.” She laughed
again.

I distributed the wine to Riley and Caroline and picked up my
own glass to raise in a toast.

“To Riley’s first Wino Wednesday.”
Our glasses clinked together. I picked up a slice of pizza and sat down cross-legged on the floor by Riley's legs.

"So, how's the first week
, girls?" he asked, knowing very well how it was going since we had seen each other every day.

"Good,
" I said, with my mouth full.