“A ride where?”
“Do you have, like, attention issues or something? To campus! Unless you’re already planning on skipping class—which Ido notrecommend,” he says, his voice suddenly deeper and mock-serious. “The dean doesnotmess around with rebellious freshmen. Trust me—I had to retake most of my freshman-year courses.”
“There’s no way I’m missing my first classes…”
My gaze shifts to my bags. What the hell am I supposed to do with all of this? I can’t haul around my entire life all day. My shoulders are already carrying enough—grief, regret, heartbreak. As much as I want to crawl into a hole and never come out, I can’t risk losing my meager scholarship and the money my parents have already spent.
“I’m still not planning on kidnapping you and sacrificing you in a satanic ritual in the desert for what it’s worth,” he teases.
“There’s not even a desert within, like, twelve hundred miles.”
“I know. But I’m trying to make a statement here.”
“If you say so.”
“So, what’s it going to be, Heartbreak?”
I widen my eyes at him.He did not just say that.
A flash of anger, and I suddenly sit upright. “Don’t call me that!” I snap.
“Sorry.” He shrugs, not sounding sorry at all.
He almost seemed nice earlier, but right now, there’s only oneword that springs to mind:“asshole.”I squeeze my eyes shut for a second and bite back on my irritation before looking up at him.
“It’s just that… I don’t know what to do with my stuff.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know…” I gesture stiffly around me. “Girl gets dumped, yada yada.”
He nods briskly, scratching his chin.
“Your guy threw you out without wondering where you’d crash? What did you do, sleep with his dad or something?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I murmur. Tears are welling up again.
He lets out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s cold. He sounds like a total dick.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” I instinctively rush to Kirk’s defense. “He… He’s…”
I’m not sure how this sentence ends.
“What are you, a relationship guru?” I spit instead.
“Fuck no!”
“Yeah, didn’t think so.”
I take in his vibe. Casual, trendy. From where I’m sitting, he looks huge, his shoulders so broad they almost block out the sun and take up my entire field of vision. His brown hair is still slicked back from his shower. His mischievous green eyes seem to constantly be daring someone to challenge him. Put it all together, and there’s no two ways about it: This guy has no idea what being in a relationship means. Definitely no idea what it means to me. Then and there I decide: I do not like him very much at all.
“Anyway,” I say, shifting my attention back to our conversation. “I’ll go check with the admin office; they might still have a room for me.”
“Unlikely. But you can try.”
I side-eye him, overcome by the sudden urge to throw one of my bags at his face. But I hold back because, now that I think about it, I really could do with that ride.
“I accept,” I say, offering up a tight smile. “I’d love a ride.”
