Ivory’s Ruin Romance (Lovesick)
1. Ivory
An enigma—the black knight. The kind of man who sees everyone while obscured in shadow.
But she saw him.
At first, he’d been just another face at the inaugural college parties. Someone new and nameless like all the rest. Night after night, she began to notice how he stood in the background rather than drawing attention his way. He’d flirt with girls but didn’t lead them onto the dance floor. Didn’t make a move to take them upstairs. Only scanned the crowd as if danger lurked within the frat houses’ dirty, patched walls.
Maybe it did. Whatever he’d been watching for, whatever he searched out, it must’ve meant something—because he hadn’t seemed to care about anything else.
A certain melancholy hung about him like a cloak. It emanated from his grim expression, etched itself into the faint trace of honey-brown stubble at his jaw and the long hair he tied in a bun. Darkness clung to the leather jacket on his shoulders and the ripped jeans snug around his hips.
The shadows he possessed didn’t oppress, rather accentuated his presence with a low, menacing snarl. A warning to those who might get too close.
She’d never been good at making the first move and certainly didn’t know how to explain what she felt from his presence. An emotion that tugged at her from deep within. Empathy, perhaps.
Or something darker.
As much as he captivated her, and as willing as she might be to let him lead her down a path of passion, she knew that wasn’t what he needed. Had anyone else noticed the look in his eyes? That emptiness?
Despite her hesitation, Ivory watched him as vigilantly as he did their surroundings. The gaze from his eyes, molten and warm to their core, wound around her like fine threads of gold—then passed over her every time.
He hadn’t seen her. Not then, nor any time after.
???
A disappointed sigh fell from her lips as the strobe of a blacklight flashed across yet another disheveled living room. She’d wasted enough energy on searching for the man in the shadows, her only discovery being new piles of plastic cups on the floor and more discarded costumes sprouting from the couch cushions.
He wasn’t at this party, either.
Macabre skeletons swathed in fake webbing hung from the ceiling and bloody masks on the walls stared into the throng with empty eye sockets, indifferent to the raucous laughter and cheers for another round of shots. Maybe he’d only been a visitor for those first few weeks of the semester, the kind that hops from one party to the next and disappears as soon as students remember their noses are better off in textbooks than looking down cups of beer.
Maybe he found whatever he’d been looking for or had simply given up.
Still, the subtle lack of his presence bothered her almost as much as her inability to do anything about it. He’d become familiar, like a landmark on the horizon or the detail that set one dorm apart from another. Something about him enraptured her. He gave off the impression that he wasn’t like the other guys here whose aim landed no further than the nearest available girl.
She also kept an eye out for Jace, the only one who still cared about their unfortunate fall from grace a few weeks ago. Probably because out of the two of them, he had been far less inebriated than she thought, and even though he wouldn’t outright mention the details of their drunken fling, the cold, degrading look in his eyes said enough.
So far, he’d been too busy dancing with her friends Avril and Serena—people who actually wanted his attention. They could keep him busy for the rest of the night. Being president of Beta Rho, the fraternity hosting the Halloween party, meant Jace should have plenty to do. Not to mention he’d been surrounded by a crowd of admirers ever since he got a dragon shaved into his newly buzzed hair.
If he liked being the cool guy so much, he could soak up the spotlight all he wanted and forget about her.
Ivory turned and caught sight of a petite redhead—or one who was usually a redhead, but tonight donned the persona of Aphrodite the Greek goddess, complete with a wig of dark tumbling curls. A smile quirked the corners of Ivory’s mouth, and pride overtook her dismay at seeing Nia let off some steam.
“Oh heyyy,” Ivory called, waving over the top of nearby halos and horns. In a show of theatrics, she tipped her witch’s hat to the side. The attempt at a cackle slurred as it left her lips, transforming into a giggle.
Darn it. The whole badass-dark witch look just wasn’t working. Didn’t mean she would stop trying.
“Whatchu been up to?” she asked as Nia came close enough to hear over the vibrating bass. Her friend swayed, a little tipsier than expected since it was the first party Nia had come to. She looked gorgeous nonetheless, with smoky cat eyes and a golden rope cinched around her tan hourglass waist.
“Nothin impourtant.” Nia’s words strung together as a jumbled mix of syllables, and her face faltered.
Ivory frowned. That wasn’t the goal, not at all. “Awww that makes me saaad. How can I cheer you up?”
During their first week, Nia set a new record of introversion, but Ivory slowly got her to open up, and now watched her friend in full bloom. She wanted nothing more than to share the same shy, genuine bookworm she’d gotten to know with the rest of the world. And if she had anything to do about it, that good-for-nothing college playboy who broke Nia’s heart had something headed his way.
“Already better,” Nia mumbled, leaning on Ivory and humming along with the music. “And I think I’m getting a hang of navergating when the room does song—somersaults.”
“Oh dear,” Ivory giggled. That would be an issue. This room—like most after a few drinks—had a nasty habit of turning and flipping when it shouldn’t. “You sound like you need a glass of water.”
Grabbing Nia’s hand, she led them through the horde of grinding ghouls and ghoulettes. Strips of her purple, hand-crafted witch’s robe sashayed around her back and legs and dispersed some of the stifling body heat, but not nearly enough. “I know just the thing. Or—” She giggled again. “Maybe it’s more for me than you.”
It was about time she had some fun at this party, too. Tonight was supposed to be her break. One evening when she didn’t have to worry about acing tests and finding her place at college as a quiet freshman.
Another cup of the house special—tropical margarita mix with a heavy dose of tequila—was just what she needed to take her mind off the disappearance of her shadow man.
He wasn’t coming back any—
Oh. No.
She froze mid-step. Scratch that. He was here.
Right here, in fact.
One glimpse of the long auburn hair and black leather jacket on the man rummaging through the fridge brought her to a screeching halt.
Nia smashed into her back with a groan. Stammering out an apology, Ivory dragged them both into a corner before he could look in their direction.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t mean to shove you.” Ivory fumbled with the brim of her witch’s hat as it contended with the wall in a losing battle. “I wasn’t expecting…he hasn’t been…” Words rushed out as she pressed a hand over her chest, attempting to contain the panic coursing through her system.
He hadn’t been around in an entire month. He wasn’t supposed to come back. At this point, it would’ve been better if he’d simply been a figment of her imagination.
Now he stood mere feet away, and with the main light on in the kitchen, there was no way he wouldn’t see her if they went in there.
“What?” Nia asked, lost to the extent of their predicament. “Who?”
“The guy…” Ivory mumbled, eyes darting behind them to the open doorway, where white light filtered through the haze that had settled throughout the rest of the house.
Nia grabbed her shoulders and gave a light shake. “Who?”
The question shocked Ivory back into focus. “From before.”
Nia had been the only person who knew she’d even noticed him, and even though her friend was too good of a student to go to any other parties, Nia had listened to her secret confession of developing a slight crush.
Okay, maybe more than slight. Didn’t help that he was stupidly handsome. Stunningly beautiful. Spectacularly out of her league.
“ The guy?” Nia asked to confirm.
She nodded vigorously. “ The guy.”
“Are you scared of him?” Nia asked, looking concerned. “Or just nervous?”
Multiple answers came to mind—he might look intimidating, but she’d never gotten the impression he’d hurt someone for no reason—and yes, she was nervous. Sinking into a pit of quicksand would be better than attempting to be nonchalant with the man she’d spent entirely too much time watching months ago and still remembered every detail.
“Maybe both?” She giggled to cover her nerves. “I’m scared I’ll sound like an idiot.” She glanced over Nia’s shoulder again. “Has he left yet?”
Nia sighed and pursed her lips.
Please say yes. There was still time to try and forget with the power of margarita mix.
But at this critical moment, what did Miss I-Didn’t-Come-To-College-To-Fall-In-Love do? Her loyal friend, not to mention the introvert of the century, decided this was the opportune time to throw the world’s most wicked curveball.
Still reeling from shock, Ivory found herself being dragged into the kitchen as Nia declared resolutely, “Come on.”