Taking Mine (14 page)

“Oh, yeah,” he says, unimpressed. “Whitticker’s just jealous he can’t tap it. Ashley told me he’s made passes at her when they’ve been alone. Pervert.”

“Why doesn’t she go to the dean?”

“Because he’s a good reference on a résumé. And she feels like she’s getting retribution by releasing information.” He shrugs. “Either way, I’m not worried.”

A fry flies through the air and nails Lance in the face. Justin and I both start laughing when we pinpoint where it came from.

“And that’s for the uncalled-for tackle,” Kaley yells from down the table.

“What the fuck, Kale. You got it in my eye.” Lance rubs his eye, blinking repeatedly.

“We would have won that last game if you hadn’t cheated.”

“Remind you of anyone?” Justin says, leaning into me.

“Yeah,” I say. “It reminds me of ninny babies who hate it when they’re beaten fair and square by a better player.”

He digs his tongue inside his cheek, just like he did right before he threw me over his shoulder at the bowling alley, and I already know I have something coming for me. I just didn’t expect for it to come from behind. The second Lance’s pizza hits the side of my face, the entire table falls into silence as Lance scoots down a seat, putting distance between us.

Justin runs a finger across my cheek and sucks the marinara from his fingertip. “You were saying…”

I wipe the grease off of my cheek. “Nothing.”

Half the table is disappointed by my response, including Justin. “That’s it?” he says, skeptical.

“No retaliation?” Lance laments.

I shrug. “It’s a losing battle.”

After a half hour of being paranoid, Justin begins to loosen up, laughing with a guy across the table as they discuss Tony Romo’s quarterback skills, and Lance is knee-deep in conversation about strippers with the girl next to him.

Someone slides into the seat Lance vacated, placing a large salad onto the table. “Can I sit here?” He’s stocky, his body most likely perfected to be the muscle mass it is, and at complete odds with his cheery smile.

“No, but since you’re already sitting, be my guest.”

He smiles at my sarcasm. “I didn’t know if you’d need extra room to sleep.” I’m confused until he says, “I saw you sleeping outside. You snore.”

“I do not,” I protest.

“Don’t believe me, ask your friend.” He nods in Justin’s direction.

Now I’m questioning myself. I’ve never snored before. At least, no one’s told me I have. Kaley’s the only person who’s actually slept next to me, but she would have told me…right?

“You’re so full of shit,” I say, calling his bluff.

He laughs, mixing the greens in his paper bowl. “I had you for a second.”

“No, you didn’t.” He gives me a look and I relent. “Maybe.”

He reaches his arm across his chest, holding his hand out for me to shake. “Matt,” he says in greeting.

“Lilly.”

“Like the flower?”

“No.”

“No?

“Nope,” I reiterate.

“Alright. Well, in case you were wondering,” he says. “I’m Matt like Matthew except without the hew.”

I smile, because I’ve got to give him credit for trying. “No way.”

“Unbelievable, I know.”

We smile at each other, not saying anything. It’s kind of awkward, kind of comfortable, and it takes Lance’s laugh cutting through our silence to break it.

“So, you’re new here?” I ask, reaching for a conversation starter.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

I pretend to smell the sleeve of his shirt. “You’ve got that newbie smell.”

He sniffs his shirt, a touch of self-consciousness creeping in. “Like grass and sweat?”

I laugh.

Matt manages to keep an entire conversation going about daffodils and somehow still keeps me interested. Apparently his mom is an avid gardener. Our table stays occupied long after the lunch rush blows through, leaving the janitors sweeping around our feet.

“You’re leaving,” Justin asks, looking up from his seat as I stand.

“Yeah, I’m going to try and get some studying in before work tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk you,” Matt says, standing up. He doesn’t ask or wait for my reply as he piles his napkins and trash into his long-empty salad bowl.

“You don’t have to,” I say.

“I’m done and headed that way, anyway. Might as well walk together.”

It’s as if Justin just realizes that I had someone the size of a linebacker sitting next to me this whole time as he gives Matt a look-over, perplexed by who he is and why he’s so nonchalantly offering to walk me to my car.

“I’m sorry,” Justin says, turning to face us. “Who are you?”

“Matt,” he says, holding his hand out in the same manner he did to me.

Justin looks at Matt, ignoring his outstretched hand. “I’m sure you’re a nice guy, Matt, but I’ll walk her.”

Matt pulls his hand back, caught off guard by Justin’s hostility. At this point, Justin’s slacked off all pretenses of being nice and is outright glaring at Matt, all the while sitting. Matt looks to me, but I’m too busy shooting daggers at the back of Justin’s head. “Matt,” I say, picking up my books. “Can you wait for me outside?”

He nods. “Yeah, no problem.” He gives Justin one last glance before making his way to deposit his trash and walk out the door.

Everyone’s eyes are on us as I pull Justin up by the sleeve of his shirt and out of hearing range. “What is up with you?”

“Nothing,” he says with a purposefully blasé shrug, serving its purpose to piss me off.

I raise my eyebrows. “Oh, okay. For a second there I thought you were acting like a dick.”

His eyebrows meet. “The dude is for real creeping on you.”

I’m taken back by his response. “Let’s say he was hitting on me—”

“He was.”

“
If
,” I correct. “It’s up to me whether or not I want to test that theory, okay?”

He crosses his arms and runs his thumb over his bottom lip, looking over my head when he replies. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

“Fine,” I concede.

I don’t wait for him to say anything else as I head to meet Matt outside. I’m half expecting him not to be there, knowing there’s a good chance that Justin really did scare him off, but he’s posted against the wall, thumbing through his phone when he sees me exit the lunchroom doors.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” I don’t elaborate as we begin walking toward the student parking lot.

“He’s not…your boyfriend or anything…or if he is, ‘cause that’s okay, I just...”

“No, he’s definitely not my boyfriend. Just a friend. A weird, overprotective one.”

He blows out a breath of air. “Good, ‘cause I’m not into stepping on anyone’s toes.”

I freeze.

He stops and gives me a weary look. “That is, if I'm taking a step at all.”

“Is that a very veiled way of asking me out?”

“I think so?”

We pick back up our pace and I mull it over in my head. I glance over at him and he looks up from our feet in the same fashion. He’s followed me to my car by the time I come to a conclusion.

“Yes,” I say. “I’ll go out with you.”

His eyes light up, but he masks it well with a smile. “You had me worried.”

“For a second?”

He shrugs. “Maybe.”

We trade numbers and plan on setting plans for later. It’s not until I’m in my car and pulling away that it occurs to me that I’ve never been on an actual date before. I text Kaley.

KIP IS WATCHING TV
in the living room when I’m about to leave. He must have just got home from work, judging by the red bandana still tied around his forehead.

“Going out?”

“Yeah,” I say, slipping on my cotton jacket.

“With Justin?”

The tone in his voice throws me off. “A group of us is studying at his place. Why?”

“Dan told me Justin showed up at the shop with you in tow. Said Taylor had a talk with the both of you.”

Sighing, I drop down on the couch beside him. “Justin lifted a car with me.”

“Since when?”

“Only once.”

“And he was just like, ‘Committing felonies is rad’?”

“No one says rad anymore, Kip.”

“Lilly.” He says my name in warning, having no patience with my deflecting.

“He doesn’t want me to do it by myself. He thinks it’s dangerous.”

“And you trust him?”

Trust. The word in itself carries the implication that I know what I’m doing when I say, “Yes, I trust him,” when really, I have no idea.

Kip finishes his beer and stands, walking into the kitchen. I hear the glass bottle hit another in the trashcan, and he reemerges with the glock by his side. “I want you to keep this with you.”

“Kip.”

“Put it in your car for now until I can sign you up for a concealed weapons class.”

“Justin’s not going to hurt me,” I say in defense.

“It’s not for Justin. Taylor’s getting desperate for this money and I don’t like it. Please, just do what I say and give me a little more peace of mind.” I take the gun from his hand. “Remember what I taught you?”

“Only point if I have intention to shoot.”

“
CAN WE TAKE A BREAK
?” Kaley slides from Justin's couch like a slinky.

Lance throws his pen down. “I second that.”

Kaley managed to corner Justin into allowing a study session in his apartment. Justin couldn’t blame them when he and I had been skipping sessions to study alone in his apartment or at Chuck’s. It was more of my doing than Justin’s because of my desire to avoid putting him and Kaley in the same room.

Ever since she picked up the change in our dynamic, she's been grilling me. And if she's not bugging me with incessant questions, she's throwing out sexual innuendos whenever Justin and I are within ten feet of one another. Things went back to normal after bowling night, except now there’s more apprehension. Everything we do, we do with caution. If he’s sitting on the couch, I take the recliner. If I’m in the kitchen, he’ll wait until I’m done before entering. There’s too much tension now. I feel like we’re a bomb. And I’m scared Kaley has the remote to trigger it.

“My brain hates me. I’ve read the same page twice and I can’t recall a single sentence.” Courtney massages her temples.

Blake hops up. “Anyone want something to drink?”

“I'll take one,” I say, raising my hand.

He looks around the room, one by one, double-checking. He gets to Justin, who still has his head down. I say his name and his head snaps up.

“Want anything to drink?”

He shakes his head no. He's been moody, barely putting in any effort to socialize. He's probably said all of three sentences combined since everyone arrived. Everyone's just kind of avoided interacting with him. I've caught him staring off into space more than he's actually studied.

“Let’s go out,” Kaley says, looking to Lance. She knows he's her best bet at rallying the troops.

Justin is already rubbing his eyes from exhaustion. Next week is midterms, and we're all cramming. College is basically a massive test to see who can retain the most information without actually understanding it.

“A hangover isn't conducive,” Courtney says.

Lance wraps an arm around her shoulder, teasing her with a little shake. “Courtney, ever the voice of reason, we can go to the bar a few blocks over and have a chill night. No dance clubs with strobe lights or EDM music.”

“Only middle-aged men looking to score. I’ll pass, thanks. But I do think I’m going to call it a night.”

Lance drops his arm in defeat. Turning to Blake, he pushes on his bicep. “What about you, buddy? Up for some pool?”

“No, man. Not tonight.”

Kaley gives me a poignant stare, nodding her head in Justin’s direction. I shake my head no. She silently stomps her foot. I shake my head no again. She holds up her hands, pleading with me in prayer.

I throw my hands in the air. “Justin, do you want to go?”

He doesn't look at me but shakes his head no.

“It's okay,” Lance says, patting him on the shoulder as he walks toward the door, Kaley following right behind. “We'll have fun without you.”

“Come on, Lilly.”

I give her a look. “I never said I was going.”

“You’ve been MIA since the semester started. You kind of owe me, especially because you’ve been ditching me to spend lunch with Matt.”