Blake follows after me, and with each second that passes, I want to turn around, find Mickey, and beat his stupid ass. If I didn’t hate the guy already, I sure as fuck would now.
Once we’re in the garage, I head over to the freezer to grab an ice pack.
“I’m guessing you don’t use this for cars?” Blake asks, looking around.
“No.” I chuckle. “We use the space as a gym. Even though we spend hours every day at the one on campus. There’s a parking lot they made for us around back.”
He nods, turning to face me. I hold out the ice pack toward him, my eyes on his neck. It looks worse in the light. Fuck it. I might just murder Mickey anyway.
“Thanks.” He takes it from me. “You didn’t have to.”
“Let’s get you home.”
He nods and follows me outside. The party is still going, but there are fewer people out front. Most likely, everyone is in the backyard, jumping in the pool. Like that's a smart idea. Drunk people and pools are a bad mix.
We walk around to the back of the property, taking the long way to avoid people, and head for my car.
The only sound on the way to Blake’s house is the low hum of music from the car’s radio.
It’s not until we’re turning onto his street that Blake speaks. “I just realized I didn’t give you my address. How do you know where I live?”
“I’ve given your sister a ride home a few times,” I tell him, pulling up to his house.
“Oh.” He looks out the window, then back to me. “Thanks for the ride home.”
“No problem. Really.”
“And ah, thanks for, you know, back there.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Blake. He’s not going to be bothering you again, okay? I’ll make sure of it.”
“I don’t want you getting in trouble because of me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” I smile. “He’s not going to do anything. If he does, he’d rat himself out, and Mickey cares about his reputation too much to do that. He also knows that, unlike the last dean, Theo can’t be bought, so if he finds out, Mickey’s fucked.”
He blinks and blinks and blinks. I think I broke the poor guy's brain.
“It’s okay, Blake,” I assure him. “Really. Don’t worry about me. Just take care of yourself. And please, don’t worry when it comes to him. He’s not an issue anymore. I’ll see you Monday, yeah? Are we still good for tutoring?”
“Yeah.” He nods slowly. “We’re good.”
“Awesome,” I say, smiling. “See you then.”
“Yeah.” He opens the door and gets out. “See you then.”
He shuts the door and heads towards his house, stopping to wave me off when he opens his front door.
I don’t leave until it’s shut. As I pull away from the curb, I know I’m totally fucked when it comes to this guy.
I don’t do crushes. It’s not like me. I’ve never liked someone enough to get a crush.
Yet, I can’t stop thinking and worrying about the raven-haired, broody boy the whole ride home.
The last thing he needs is someone putting him in an awkward position. I don’t even know if the guy likes men. And there's the fact that he’s saving my ass by tutoring me.
I’m not going to risk losing his help.
What he needs is a friend. And that's what I plan on being for him.
