“Someone better warn the poor girl what a future with him looks like, and soon.”
“And do you remember a few years ago when Andrew said no self-respecting man is ever early to a first date?”
“And then Julian was, what, twenty minutes late?”
“Thirty!” I correct. “It only felt like twenty because I was already ten minutes late, which is a totally forgivable length of time.”
“Oh, for sure.” Bella nods in agreement. “So you think he was late on purpose?”
“He claimed there was an accident on I-10, but who knows.” I let out a sigh. “I’m not overthinking this, am I? There’s definitely a correlation here, right?”
“It sounds pretty damning to me, but what’s that saying? Two’s a coincidence, three times is a pattern? Was there anything else?”
“Do I really need to remind you how many times my brother’s stolen my food over the years?” I slap my hands together. “It’s an open-and-shut case. Julian is officially an asshole by association.”
“An asshole you’re likely to see hanging around the building a lot, since he lives here.”
“Why’d you have to remind me.” A headache is forming at thebase of my skull, and rubbing at my temples isn’t helping. “I’ll ignore him. It’ll be fine.”
“Ice him out. Classic Leti.” Bella nods, then hesitates. When I raise a brow at her, she says, “What if that doesn’t work?”
“It’ll have to.”
How much of the guy will I really see anyway? Before tonight, I never saw him. And on the off chance we do run into each other and he tries to talk to me, I’ll stick with short, curt answers.Ice him out.One way or another, I’m going to bury this night once and for all.
7
Julian
The first day of school arrives before I’m ready. I’m a nervous wreck, sweating through my button-up shirt as I pass the stairs to my car. It’s partly from anxiety, but mostly from the dry Texas heat that’s likely to stick around until late November. I don’t notice Leti until I’m barreling into her at the bottom of the stairs.
“Watch it,” she screeches; then our eyes meet. “Oh. It’s you.”
Her mouth curls in exasperation. She has on a white, gauzy blouse tucked into black dress pants. Her dark hair is a straight, sleek waterfall down her back.
“Sorry about that,” I say. “Howdy, neighbor.”
She’s not paying me any attention, her eyes locked on my exposed forearms for a little too long before I clear my throat. Her eyes snap up to my face, a rosy blush covering her cheeks.God, she’s way too fucking pretty.
“What?”
“I said hi,” I repeat. “Off to work?”
She glances down at her phone and says, “Wish I could talk more, but I’m running late.” Then she speeds past me to her car in the parking lot. I let out a sigh as I watch her drive off. It’s clear shewants nothing to do with me. Even though she’s everywhere, more so now that we live in the same apartment building.
This is going to be a long week.
On the road, I recognize a blue Nissan tailgating me and a glance in my rearview mirror confirms it—Leti is behind the wheel. She knows what kind of car I drive. Is she tailgating me on purpose? I try to put it out of my mind and stare at the road ahead, even as her car inches forward on my ass.
Christ, what is her deal?
I’m a street down from the school, and then I’ll lose her. If I’m lucky, she’ll make a turn down the next main road and be out of my line of sight. But that’s not what happens. Before the last stoplight, she darts into the left lane, floors it, and merges in front of me without so much as a signal. The hot-pink bumper sticker on her car reads,Warning: I learned to drive from video games.
Yeah, no shit.
Then she forgets her signal again and turns into the school.Myschool. Just my fucking luck. This woman’s already accused me of stalking once. How many coincidences is she willing to believe?
I pull into the first parking space I find, not even caring that it’s the farthest spot possible from the front office. The last thing I need is another chance encounter with Leti. With my luck, she’ll yell at me in front of the principal and get me fired on my first official day as a teacher.
