I feel warmth rushing to my neck and cheeks, and I push my glasses up on my nose to give myself a moment as I beg my frontal lobe to produce some kind of speech. “I-I…”
“You really are cute.” The guy’s hand brushes my shoulder as his eyes turn half-lidded.
He’s handsome. Blond, tall, brown eyes, and an athletic body. He also smells good, like soap and some kind of cologne. And he’s flirting with me. Not that this is the first time. It’s not. I get hit on, but as soon as they find out how awkward and clumsy I am, they veer another way.
When I still keep silent, he adds, “Give me your phone number. I bet I can convince you.” He takes the cell from my fingers without waiting for my permission and then calls his phone to save my number.
What the hell is happening? I don’t rub shoulders withthe cool clique. I’m the nerd from the wrong side of town. Well, Brad is popular but I never got along with his other friends. He’s the exception in my dorky universe. Is the college hierarchy different from high school?
He hands me back my phone as I’m suddenly pulled backward from the strap of my bag. An arm lands on my shoulder, andwhen I twist my head, I see my face reflected in Ren’s mirrored sunglasses.
“Ren, the man! What’s up?” Jacob raises his arm in a frat-bro-like pose.
Ren begrudgingly bumps the guy’s waiting fist with his. “Fine.”
He doesn’t sound fine to me.
“You know Sully?” he asks Jacob, his arm tightening.
“Just invited him to Alex’s party on Friday. You coming?”
Ren nods as he looks around the quad for a moment. He’s anadditionto the brotherhood like me. Rami, one of the brothers, got together with Hunter, who adopted Ren and his triplet brothers. Ren is majoring in biology and animal science, as well, and we bonded over our love of the fauna. I know he checks on me, but I actually enjoy spending time together, studying, and playing video games.
“All the girls will come flocking when they hear you’ll be there.” I could be mistaken, but Jacob sounds upset about it. He gives Ren a not-very-friendly punch to the shoulder.
Ren growls at him. His body tenses, and the carefree dude disappears to make room for a dark presence exuding threatening vibes Jacob’s way. I’ve never seen this side of him; it’s unsettling. I turn stiff. My fight or flight response kicks in, even though I know Ren’s anger is not aimed at me.
“I’ve been acquitted of assault, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t do it,” he states.
He was accused of assaulting someone? Was it the same person who wounded his eye? The sunglasses cover it, but I can seepart of the long scar cutting through his eyebrow. He never takes them off, though.
I feel his body slowly losing the stiffness as Jacob takes a step back. He nervously wipes his hands on the front of his jeans. “Okay. Ehm, see you Friday. You too, Sully!” He hurries away.
“What was that all about?” I ask Ren as he pulls me in the opposite direction.
“Stay away from that fucker.”
That’s not what I meant. “You know him?”
“More than I would like. He has a bad reputation. Likes to fuck naïve guys and then shares every little detail with his asshole friends.”
My cheeks turn to fire again, since in this scenario, I’m the naïve guy. I snort, trying to cover my inexperience. “I heard you have a bad rep, too.”
“My hookups know the score. I like to have fun. That’s it. I don’t treat them like my one and only and then…” he cuts himself off.
I sigh. “I have no intention of going to the party.” Plus, he isn’t my type. Dark, dangerous, and imaginary is what I like.
“I can take you.”
“Like a date?” I joke.
“A date? Me?” The sarcasm is dripping from his words, and he adds a click of his tongue at the end.
I chuckle. “I could never picture you as the romantic type.” I tap my shoulder to his chest.
“No shit!”
“But maybe I do want to have fun.” Maybe I need it. With all those sexy dreams I’m having, is my subconscious hinting at letting go a little?
