“The team dining room.”
Wow. He answered.
And, ah, of course it makes sense that GU’s superstar athletes have their own place. I frown, thinking of Shane. He’s not on the football team.
“I never see Shane here.” Actually, it’s not just the cafes and dining halls where I don’t see him. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him walking on campus either. “Does he usually eat at home?”
Erik shrugs his massive shoulders.
“You’re a regular fountain of information, but try to give other people a chance to talk.” If the snark registers, it doesn’t bother him.
Once we have our food, people who know him or know of him circle around us. He nods for people to take the empty seats, and, within a minute, our table’s like an ant colony teeming with life.
Even though I can barely move my arms because we’re so squeezed together, it’s nice. It’s a welcome change of pace from the solitary life I’ve gotten used to.
Erik introduces me exactly as he did in class. It’s the opening people seem to need. Suddenly I’m bombarded with questions about myself. I answer between bites.
When we’re finished, he leans toward me. “I have practice.”
“Sure,” I murmur with a nod. “Have a good time. I mean…workout?” Awkward. But I decide it’s fine because stellar conversational skills clearly aren’t something he values.
He rises, nods at the table, and then heads toward the door.
A stunning blond girl who’s coming in stops to say hello. He speaks to her for a moment before he leaves. She’s joined a minute later by another gorgeous girl. This one’s more petite and looks Latina, with skin the color of a latte. They come to my table, and their glinting gold-and-diamond javelin pins mark them as members of the dance team, the campus’s female elite.
Both young women have super precise cat’s eye liner, high ponytails, and short skirts. I wonder whether they’ve come from a performance.
The blond leans in, giving me a friendly smile. “Hi. Avery, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Eden. This is Arya. We eat here at this time every Wednesday. You should join us next time.”
Arya winks at me, like we’re all sharing some friendly secret. I’m at a loss for words and am not remotely cool enough to pull off winking at these girls. Fortunately, they don’t wait for me to respond before walking off.
All right.Whatis going on? Is this aShe’s All Thatbet Shane’s made to see if he can make me popular in two days or less? If so, mission accomplished.
Uneasily, I grab my phone to text him that I’d like him to desist. Then I realize I forgot to get his cell number. For reasons unbeknownst to me, he changed it after high school.
I text my stepfather Ethan asking for Shane’s number. My table’s mostly empty by the time he responds.
Ethan:Hey, kiddo. Glad to get your texts, but why only text messages the past couple of days and no phone call? We want to hear your pretty voice. You ok?
Avery:Yeah, sorry. Just busy.
I’m lying.I’ve hesitated to call because there are some topics I don’t want to talk about, and it’s so much easier to avoid them in a text exchange. After the lavender rose, I nearly went home. Now I’m so glad I didn’t.
That makes me think about last night and the way Shane’s fingers felt against my hair as his hard cock glided into my mouth. Which is all I thought about last night in bed, too. So much so that it turned me on, and it was only after fingering my clit for an hour in the guest room bed that I finally managed to fall asleep.
Jesus.
Right. Obviously, I can’t talk about what I’ve been up to or the fact that I’m staying at Shane’s place. Or the reason I went to see him in the first place. If Mom and Ethan found out about the rose, they would lose their minds and drive straight to campus to pick me up.
Avery:So, can I have Shane’s number?
The phone rings.Ethan.Shit.
I glance around. With Shane as the topic, this conversation could be strange and awkward and not the kind of thing I want anyone at GU to overhear.
