Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 85453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I’m partway down the cracked footpath that almost claimed my life when my name gets called. When I pivot toward the voice, shock rains down on me.
How did I not recognize his voice? I was once obsessed with it.
Am still obsessed with it, I think.
“Hey.” Gabriel catches up with me before adding a smile to his greeting. It doesn’t increase my pulse as it once did. We’ve talked a handful of times the past few weeks, but our conversations were rarely friendly. He bitched more than anything. He hates everyone, and it seems as if the feelings are mutual. “Are you heading out?” When I nod, he echoes one of the many cautions Cash has given me the past week and a half. “You really shouldn’t walk alone. The campus isn’t safe at night.”
While he gestures for me to lead the way, I reply, “I left my backpack in Cash’s room. I need it to study.”
I don’t recognize his tone when he asks, “You were in Cash’s room?”
“Yeah. To study.” I fight my lie for almost twenty seconds before it wins. “We were meant to study, but I asked him if he could teach me how to ride a skateboard, so we left, hence my backpack being left in his room.”
Gabriel’s voice is brittle with laughter when he asks, “Why in the world would you want to learn to ride a skateboard?”
“Why not? It seems fun.”
“Fun.” He chokes on the word like I couldn’t possibly comprehend what it means. “I can think of far more fun things to do than break my neck on a stupid board on wheels.”
I shrug. “Each to their own.”
My brush-off of his opinion hinders the air with murky awkwardness.
Mercifully, the trip to Cash’s frat house from my dorm isn’t long.
“Do you want me to come up with you?”
“No.” I step around Gabriel before stopping in front of him. “That isn’t necessary.”
He stares at me as if I am insane. I learn why when he murmurs, “That is a frat house.”
“It is,” I parrot. “And I’m okay with that.” Cash has tickets on himself, and he doesn’t lack an ounce of confidence, but I’ve not once felt uncomfortable around him.
Tingles, yes.
Uncomfortable, no.
If I had met him outside of his environment, I’d be none the wiser that he’s a jock.
Well, if you exclude his long hair, love of sweats, and obsession with sports.
“I’ll see you at class tomorrow.”
Gabriel looks annoyed by my underhanded request that he leave, but he gets the hint—eventually.
Regretfully, I’m given my marching orders not long later.
“He’s not there yet, Einstein.” Kamil exits the house, closing the door behind him. “And I’d offer to get your backpack, but I’m not sure I’d even survive the carnage right now.” Mistaking the worry on my face as something else, he offers, “You can take my textbooks if you want? I won’t even object to you highlighting every important passage and jotting down the formulas in the spine.”
That gets a smile out of me. “Thanks, but I’d rather stick to my no-notes study rule.” After releasing the air trapped in my chest with a sigh, I murmur, “Tomorrow?”
He twists his lips before reluctantly bobbing his head. “Perhaps.” He whacks me on the back like he does Cash a hundred times each training session before twisting the doorknob. “I’ll let him know you dropped by. Might do him some good to know you were worried about him.”
“I’m not worried. I am…” I act like I didn’t say anything. “Bye.”
I only get two feet away when Kamil asks, “Where’s your escort?”
“Ah…” My eyes lock with the trellis attached to the side of the house before the truth leaves my mouth. “He’s down there.” I hook my thumb to Gabriel still milling around.
He’s too busy talking on his cell phone to notice my gawk, but his presence snuffs Kamil’s wish to give me a campus safety rant. “Maybe don’t tell Milo Gabriel was your escort.”
“What is the go with them two? Do they have a beef?”
“One, no one says beef anymore.” After drinking in my miffed expression, he continues, “And two…” He leaves me hanging until I almost asphyxiate. “That also isn’t my story to tell.” He grins at my glare before reminding me to be cautious.
“I will.”
I am a big fat liar.
A second after he closes the door, I slip down the side of the front porch, stuff my foot into an opening of the trellis, then begin a Spiderman climb to Cash’s room before Gabriel can spot me.
“Shoot,” I gabber to myself when my eagerness to clamber onto the roof lining sees my thigh awarded its second nick of the evening. It isn’t as long as the first one, but a little deeper.
My nose tingles when I hoist up Cash’s window so I can squeeze through the opening. Like the truck, his room reeks of alcohol. It is coming off every surface, and it is even more notable when I inch closer to his bed.