‘Hi, can I get some water, please?’
‘The water station is over there!’ she shouts at me then turns, serving the person next to me.
Running my tongue across my teeth in irritation, I leave the line and stride over to the cart. Groaning, I stare down at the empty tray that is supposed to hold the glasses for me to fill up.
‘Sorry, gorgeous, I think I took the last one.’
Closing my eyes, I exhale noisily through my nose before turning to face Kai, who smiles down at me, holding a glass of water in his hand.
‘I don’t believe that you’re not drinking,’ I say a little hotly as I stare up at him. ‘I’ve never seen you pass up the chance to party.’
‘You never took the chance to know me, how can you even make that assumption?’ Kai retorts, his eyes flashing with anger briefly.
Pressing my lips together, I turn, planning to leave, when he reaches out for me.
‘Hey,’ he says, face softening. ‘I’m sorry. For the dumb shit I said at your house. I didn’t mean any of it. I really like you and I didn’t handle the fact that you don’t really like me back. It was rude. I’m really sorry.’
I blink at him in surprise. ‘Oh.’
‘Look, we have years of university left. Games, parties, classes. I don’t want you to feel like you have to avoid me all the time. I really am sorry. I hope we can just forget any of it happened.’
‘That sounds good to me,’ I admit, feeling my shoulders slump in defeat, not wanting to drag this out either. He makes a valid point. The campus is big, but not that big. With Mason and Zayden on the football team, too, we’re bound to run into each other often, whether we like it or not. ‘I’m sorry my brother punched you.’
‘I deserved it.’
I smile. ‘Okay. Well, thanks for that.’
‘Here,’ he says, thrusting the glass towards me. ‘You can have it. I’m going to get the staff to refill the glasses.’ He pushes the glass into my hand and swerves around me, stalking towards the bar, looking like he’s on a mission.
My throat is paper dry, begging me to relieve it. Sighing, I take a long sip, and end up draining the entire cup.
29
MASON
I SWEAR TRAFFIC ISalways the worst when you’re in a hurry. Tapping restlessly against the steering wheel, I continue to inch down the street. Anticipation rises in my chest as I think about the message Anya sent me. This feels like old times, and I’m so happy for it.
I pull up, managing to snag a park, and my eyes move to the door of the club as it pushes open. My fingers tighten around the steering wheel as Anya appears with Kai, who’s touching her elbow as he guides her out the door. Her foot stumbles and she lurches forward, hitting her knees on the cement. I jerk in surprise, jumping out of the car. Kai roughly yanks her back up to her feet, shouldering most of her weight as he begins to push her in the opposite direction to me.
‘Get the fuck off her,’ I snarl, storming up to him.
I curl my hand round his arm and yank it back so hard, he loses his footing, stumbling backwards. Anya falls onto me, and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close. Her head rests heavily on me, and my heart plummets to my stomach.
Something is wrong.
Pushing the hair back from her face, I touch my hand to her cheek. ‘Anya?’ I whisper, brows pinching together. ‘You good?’
Her breath comes out heavily, but she doesn’t speak.
‘What is going on?’ I demand, staring down at her. Her eyes are closed, her lips parted, and she can barely keep herself upright. Rage fills me, potent and raw. My glare swivels to Kai and I glower at him, a look of panic crossing his face. ‘What did you do to her?’
‘Nothing, she’s wasted,’ he spits, clambering to his feet.
‘Bullshit,’ I seethe. ‘She was sober.’
‘Clearly not,’ he snaps back, gesturing to her. ‘She’s a fucking mess, and I was looking after her.’
I scoff. ‘Yeah. You’re just that nice of a guy.’
