Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
“Okay, okay,” she says, pressing me back with two hands against my chest. “I’ll never get out the door if you keep kissing me like that.”
“Again I ask; would that be so bad?” I smirk at her, causing her to toss her hair and smile back at me.
“You’re a bad boy.”
“Bad man.”
We head out the door, which she locks behind her, and I toss her over my shoulder and carry her downstairs, causing even more random students to snap photos and videos with their phones, which I’m sure are going to end up online within minutes.
I’m not sure if that’s good or bad for my career, but thank God I don’t have any form of social media to get tagged on.
“Yo, Gunnar!” a group of jocks call out to me as we step out onto the quad. “Is that you, fam?”
“The one and only,” I chuckle, setting Nina aside.
“Yo, this is wild!”
“What the hell are you doing on campus, man?”
“Can I get a selfie?”
I spend a minute or two appeasing the boys but let them know I gotta go, as I don’t want to hold Nina up. I can see she’s anxious to get moving, but at the same time, she feels kind of important being with a guy like me who’s getting all this attention.
“Yo,” one of the guys says to me as I’m walking away. “You’ll beat the case, no problem.”
“For sure,” the other guys agree.
“Thanks, fellas.” I smile.
“Case?” Nina asks as I rejoin her. “What case?”
“Ah, nothing. Just this ag-assault case I’ve been charged with. Can’t fight until I’m proven innocent–which I will be.”
“Ag-assault?” Nina asks, her voice low.
“Aggravated assault,” I reply. “It means when you really kick the shit out of somebody basically. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard of it being a journalism major.”
“No I…I hadn’t heard about it…”
“Yeah, that’s really the only reason I had time to give you those lessons,” I chuckle. “Otherwise I’d be training twenty-four-seven.”
Right then, one of those moments happen that you can only feel. Nina doesn’t do anything obvious. She doesn’t say anything, but there’s a shift in the energy coming off of her. The whole vibe between us changes.
I glance over at her and see that while she’s just walking and looking at the ground in front of her, it almost could be read that she’s doing everything she can to avoid looking at me.
“Look, Nina, what happened was–”
“Fucking rapist!” A girl brushes past me and hisses the words in my ear like a snake spitting venom. Not one to be caught off guard, I feel as though I’ve been ambushed and turn to see a girl in all black with platform shoes on striding away from us, head down, her hoody clutched over her like a cloak.
She glances back over her shoulder at us and points directly at me.
“Stay away from him, girl! He’s a fucking rapist pig!”
“What the hell…?” I mutter as she turns and strides quickly away.
“What was that all about?” Nina asks, glancing at me, her entire body quivering.
“It’s…it’s related to the case,” I say as my hands ball into fists at my sides. “The defense is putting out false information, trying to get me convicted and sent to prison. It’s all bullshit. Don’t listen to her.”
“Oh,” Nina says softly. She tries to smile, but I can see the anxiety in her face. “Yeah, no. Definitely not. Listen, I’m gonna be late for class. I gotta go.”
She turns quickly to leave, but I grab her by the hand and pull her back to me.
“Hey, I’ll see you again, right?”
“Yeah.” She laughs anxiously. “Of course.”
I stare into her eyes.
She’s lying. I know she is. But I can’t confront her now.
“Okay.” I smile. I lean in to kiss her, but she doesn’t kiss back. She just lets my lips press against hers. It’s like a punch in the gut as I pull back and look at her.
“Have a good class, baby. And don’t pepper spray yourself in the face again if someone messes with you!”
I try to coax a laugh out of her with that one, but she just sort of mumbles a little noise accompanied with a fake smile before turning and rushing off in the direction of a building that must hold her classroom.
Shit, this is bad. Real fucking bad.
8
NINA
My phone vibrates again, and I look down to see Gunnar’s name before silencing it.
“Three days and you’re still not answering?” Riley asks, giving me a look that simultaneously expresses concern and motherly disapproval. “Nina, if you’re gonna blow the guy off, can’t you at least actually blow him off and not just ghost the guy?”
“You know, Riley, I really don’t need your counseling on this one, okay?”
Riley gives me a look from the couch, and I realize I’ve just snapped back like a pretty big bitch.