Chapter Ten
Macallan
“We should figure out our schedules this week so we can move on to the next portion of our assignment,” Maisie says almost the instant our waitress takes our menus and walks away, having jotted down our orders on her notepad.
“Is that really what you want to talk about right now?” I relax back into the booth, stretching my legs out under the table, nudging her foot with mine in the process.
She quickly adjusts, pulling her feet under the bench as she clears her throat.
“No time like the present.” She fidgets with the napkin in front of her, and I can’t help the smile it brings to my lips—the knowledge that I still have the power to make her nervous, exciting me more than it should.
“Okay. But first, what do you plan to do about your living situation?”
“What do you mean, what do I plan to do? There’s nothing I can do.”
“You’re going to continue living with Lana, even after the shit she pulled last night?” I can’t help the anger that floods my chest. Lana is unpredictable, dangerous even. The thought of Maisie being at her mercy... I try to breathe through the uneasiness the thought causes.
“It’s not like I have much of a choice. Unless the police are able to find the proof they need to charge her, I’m stuck. I’ve already requested a housing change and was denied.”
“When?”
“At the start of the semester.”
“Why would you request a housing change before you even knew her?”
“Because she made it abundantly clear from the very first day that she hated me, and I knew I had to try, otherwise be forced to endure a very uncomfortable school year.”
“You seemed rather chummy at that party a few weeks ago,” I remind her, the memory of how it felt to see the two of them together flooding my system like a toxin that makes me feel physically ill.
“We bonded over our hatred of you.” She doesn’t meet my eyes as she says it, almost as if she feels bad about it.
“Do you really think it’s safe to stay there now, though?”
“I don’t think there’s any chance she comes after me. One, she doesn’t know I had anything to do with reporting her. If I start acting weird, she most definitely will. Two, if she does know, she’d be stupid to try anything while she’s already under a microscope. You know how seriously the university takes these kinds of complaints.”
“I still don’t like it.” I sigh, running a hand through my hair. I don’t miss how her eyes track the movement.
“Well, you don’t have to like it. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” I fight my smile, my lips twitching with the action of trying to prevent it from spilling across my mouth. “Do you have somewhere you can go if things get too uncomfortable?”
“Why? Are you going to offer to let me stay with you?” She crosses her arms in front of herself, an unspoken challenge.
“Would you consider it if I did?” I arch a brow.
“Absolutely not.” She shakes her head, tossing a thick band of curls over her shoulder as she uncrosses her arms.
“Why not? Don’t trust me to keep my hands to myself?” The smile I’ve been fighting finally breaks free. “Or maybe you don’t want me to.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” She huffs with a dramatic eye roll.
“Why? When it’s so easy to do.” I chuckle.
“You’re really full of yourself, you know that?”
“You could be full of me too... All you have to do is—”
“Don’t finish that sentence. That is, unless you want this truce to end with me sticking a fork into the back of your hand.”
