The rain was coming down harder now, but the path from Harlow’s classroom to the library was covered all the way to the entrance.
She started walking, and I fell into step behind her, my eyes betraying every sense of decency by dropping to watch the sway of her hips.
Don’t be a creep. Don’t be a creep. Don’t be…
“Who was that guy?” I kept my tone casual.
She glanced over her shoulder, catching me mid-stare, and my eyes snapped up so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash. Her eyebrows arched. “What guy?”
“The guy you were, uh…” Smiling at her like he’d hung the moon for her. “...talking to after class.”
She stopped so abruptly that I nearly slammed into the back of her and whipped around. “Why do you care?”
I shrugged, going for nonchalant. “I just do.”
“Oh… Well, as long as you have a super specific reason.” She rolled her eyes as she reached forward and yanked the door open. “Let’s get this over with so I can move on with my day.”
The library swallowed us into its hushed atmosphere. We passed the circular desk, where a bored student worker scrolled through her phone, and climbed the stairs to the third floor.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked because apparently I was determined to win an award for the dumbest question ever.
She didn’t answer, just kept walking deeper into the library until we were cocooned between floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books nobody had checked out in decades.
She crossed her arms over her chest, cocked her hip against the shelf, and fixed me with a look that could have killed. “Okay. What is it?”
The defensiveness radiating off her was almost visible.
“Is what happened between us going to change everything?” I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Our dynamic?”
Her head jerked back like I’d just slapped her. “Dynamic?” A bitter laugh escaped her. “You mean the one where I’ve spent years pretending I don’t have feelings for you while you pretend I don’t exist?”
“You have a crush on me?” The question came out too hopeful, too eager, completely derailing whatever point I was trying to make.
“Had.” She practically snarled. “Past tense.”
A grin tugged at my lips despite the emotional landmine we were navigating. “You sure about that?”
“What do you actually need?” she snapped. “I have Professor Stambaugh’s Eco class in fifteen minutes, clear across campus, and she locks the door if you’re late.”
“Okay, but we’re circling back to the crush thing…”
“Owen.”
Right. The reason I was there. I rubbed the back of my neck. “I, uh, so the thing is…”
“Spit it out.”
“I don’t think we used a condom.” The words tumbled out in a rush.
Her eyes went wide, and all the color drained from her face as a mix of shock, horror, and ending with panic flickered across her features.
“I tore my room apart,” I continued, needing to fill the silence. “I checked everywhere. Twice. So I figured I should, you know, mention it. In case you’re, um…” I gestured at her midsection and immediately regretted it. “Not on birth control or whatever. Which you might be. Are you?”
She shook her head slowly, and my heart plummeted into my shoes. “But… I took Plan B the next day,” she added quickly. “Since I also couldn’t remember and didn’t want to, you know, have a crisis.”
“Oh. That’s… Smart. Really smart.”
“Yeah, well, one of us had to be.” She shifted her weight, arms still crossed. “So. Can I go now?”
