Page 28 of Avenging Azalea

“No, don’t think about it. Pretend I never said it, and I don’t care what this plan is. I’m not interested.”

I turned around, ready to sprint back into the lecture hall and hide, but Steph grabbed my arm.

“Nope, you are coming with me. It’s not a gangbang, I promise.” I faced her and crossed my arms. “Okay, I’ll tell you. Those gorgeous men over there are the Roughriders. They want to let loose, so we are heading to the beach and then off to dinner and dancing at Viva Loca,” she said, wiggling her hips.

“Do I want to know how you got hooked up with a college football team?”

Her smile widened. “You’re looking at their newest head of marketing and spokesmodel, of course.”

Of course, she was.

“I really don’t think this is the right environment for me right now, Steph. Besides, I have to feed and walk the dogs.”

Steph grabbed me by the shoulders. “It’s Valentine’s Day, and I refuse to let you sit in your room all night moping, crying, and looking at photos. Don’t you dare deny it because I know you.”

“Steph…I know, but….”

“I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve left me no choice. If you don’t come with me, then I’ll be forced to release the video. You know the one.”

My jaw dropped. “You swore you’d never let anyone see it.”

I still had no idea how Steph had managed to talk me into getting drunk and dancing in my underwear for the camera. We’d been at her house for a girls weekend, watching Cocktail and decided to recreate the scene with Tom Cruise in his socks dancing. Mortified couldn’t fully describe my feelings the next day while I battled a massive headache.

“Don’t make me do it. You know I will, and I even packed extra clothes so that you don’t have to go home.”

Steph bit her lip as she winked at me.

“Fine, give me a few minutes.”

“Yes,” she cheered and skipped away toward the bus.

This was a terrible idea. A really terrible, horrible, awful idea, but I still pulled my phone out to call Titus. Standing there, I realized that hearing his voice right now was too much, so I texted him instead.

F: Hi there, would you be able to look after the girls tonight?

T: I was hoping we could talk. Are you not going to be home at all?

I touched the necklace he’d given me. The charm felt heavy despite it being a delicate pair of wings.

F: No, I have Valentine’s plans with Steph.

T: What kind of plans?

F: Beach, dinner, club, and crash at her place. Why?

The first inkling of anger sparked in my chest at the interrogation. Titus had never questioned me before, but now that he was engaged, he was suddenly Sherlock Holmes.

T: No reason.

F: So, can you look after them?

T: Yes, of course, but we really need to talk.

F: Look…I’m just going to say it. I know that you know how I feel about you. At least I think you realize that I care for you more than just being your ward. If you didn’t…well, now you do. So, if you want to talk about your engagement, then please let’s not. I’m happy for you, and I wish you all the best with this woman. Truly. But I’d rather not talk about it and just get on with my life like you’re doing with yours.

My heart was hammering. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten brave enough to say that, but it felt good. I’d taken a tiny step in the right direction. There was such a long pause with nothing that I figured he wouldn’t respond at all. Then, the little bubbles appeared.

T: I’ll look after the girls. Have a good time with Steph.