“Ava?”
“Mia?” I countered as I put the pasta in the boiling water.
“You can’t throw your coffee at people! Nothim!”
“Why? He isn’t God.”
“He may as well be,here.”
“Ugh, no. He’s an ass and a dick and a cock.”
Mia looked at me in wonder before she started to giggle.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked as I stopped stirring the pot to look at her.
“You seem fixated on his anatomy,” she teased. “I can’t believe you threw your coffee. I mean, you’re you . . .youwould never waste caffeine.”
“He deserved it. I’m just sorry I ordered a latte and not a filter.”
“He would have been scalded!” Mia admonished me as she stood and made her way into our kitchen. “Lemme taste,” she murmured as she picked up a spoon.
“Good?” I asked her as she dipped the spoon back into the pot.
“Not sure, need another taste.” Her laugh was loud when I snatched the spoon off her.
“Greedy! Supper will be ready in fifteen. You need a shower?” I asked her, returning to stirring my pots.
“Yeah, it’s so hot outside, thank goodness we got the AC fixed.” She headed to her room. “And because I’m not even complaining you’re feeding me carbsagain,” she called over her shoulder, “I want all the details over dinner!”
Her comment about carbs actually made me smile briefly because there were no details I wanted to share. Jett seemed incensed or insulted, I wasn’t sure which, that he slept with me. Half of what he had said to me made no sense. The other half seemed like a complete overreaction. I knew people had regrets over one-night stands. When the beer goggles came off, the truth could be sobering. Pun completely intended.
That was fine, because I could handle rejection. I wasn’t fragile. I just didn’t like the guy,anyguy, who pushed me against a wall with his hand around my throat. He did not get to touch me without my permission, and the next time he thought about putting a hand on me, I’d rip it off and shove it up his ass. Dick.
As I stirred my pasta, I thought back to the afternoon. I had left the classroom and skipped my next class as I hid in the library from prying eyes. Even in the library, I couldn’t escape the whispers about the girl who’d thrown a drink over Jett Santo. There was so much speculation, but as I listened and hid,I realized everyone thought that girl was the one who mugged him. How was I to defend that?
When I heard one girl say he could chase her any day, my head lifted from the book I was pretending to study to look at her, partly to welcome her to be in the position I had been earlier and then see if she still wanted to be chased, and partly because he wasn’tthatdesirable . . . was he?
Then I realized I was being stupid. They thought I had stolen from him; if only they knew the truth. I’d been wrestling with his touch all afternoon. Hands that had brought me such pleasure on Friday had been restrained from causing me harm this afternoon. And I had no doubt that he wanted to wrap his hands around my throat and squeeze.
“Maybe I hurt his ankle,” I blurted in realization. Had I somehow caused him harm on Friday, which meant I was the reason he was too injured to play? I had been tender on Saturday, maybe he had too. Is that what I had taken from him? The ability to play? More importantly, was I brave enough to ask? I didn’t really have a choice.
“You’re deep in thought,” Mia said from behind me. “How did you hurt his ankle?”
“What?”
“You just said maybe you hurt his ankle?” Mia got drinks out of the fridge and then forks before placing them on the breakfast bar as she watched me. “Heard a few people say his ankle seemed fine as he was chasing you over the campus.” Mia giggled again as she winked at me in humor. “I would have loved to have been there.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
“Why? Tell me, did he hurt you?” She instantly sobered.
“It’s nothing.” Turning my back on her, I drained the pasta. “He was slightly aggressive, and I threw my coffee at him in atemper.” As I emptied the pasta into the pot with the sauce, I concentrated on it rather than meet Mia’s stare.
“Aggressive how?”
“Just . . . I dunno. Demanding.” I served two portions into the bowls. “And rude.”
“Well, if he was rude, he deserved to be latte’d.”
