49. Chapter 47
Emery
Why are cupcakes so awkward to eat? Like, seriously. Who thought it was a good idea to make a cake that is the maximum height of an open mouth, then add another two inches of icing and fancy garnishes on top?
Leaving the dorm this morning with a cupcake from the box on my desk in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other, I thought I was having a massive win. And yeah, the cupcake is absolutely delicious, but the chaos of trying to eat it as I walk to class is a failure, at best.
There is definitely icing on the tip of my nose, and I lost a chunk of the cake part to the ground.
Without anything to clean with, I’m walking the last few hundred feet to the math building with pink buttercream frosting on my face, half a cupcake in one hand and a barely touched beverage in the other.
It’s fine, it’s totally fine. I’ll just stare at the ground so that I don’t make eye contact, because if I don’t see people seeing me, then no one saw me. Then I can duck into a bathroom and clean up. Yep. Totally fine.
Except, as my sneaker touches the bottom step that leads up into the math building, I hear my name being called.
“Emery!”
I let my head sink forward in defeat and turn around with a forced smile on my face, waiting the few seconds it takes for him to catch up to me. “Hey, Will.”
The blinding bright grin on his face expands as he spots the icing on my nose. He draws a circle around his own nose, his letterman jacket shifting around his broad shoulders. “You’ve got a little something here.”
I glare at him playfully. “Oh, really? I had no idea.”
He huffs out a laugh, his floppy blond hair falling into his eyes in a way that I should want to brush it back for him, but the thought gives me the ick.
Will raises a hand and gets within a few inches of my face, eyes filled with a warmth that makes me want to squirm. “May I?”
Swallowing, I nod, really forcing myself to stand still as he raises a hand and swipes along the tip of my nose, once and then twice, all while maintaining eye contact.
“There,” he murmurs, his warm breath coasting over my lips.
His eyes dip down to my lips and back up to meet my gaze and, oh holy shit, is he thinking about kissing me?
Wait, hold on. Do I want to kiss him? Like, would this be a good way to work past the barrier that I have with him?
Get a little kiss out of the way, then just keep going from there?
I mean, we almost kissed last week, so I should just let it happen, right?
Start us on the path to something more than just friends?
Maybe?
“Emery, I—oof!”
One second, Will is right in front of me, and the next, he gets shoved to the side and there is a cackle of laughter as a familiar face with jet-black hair rushes past us up the stairs. “Stop making out with your girlfriend on the stairs, Alderidge. You’re blocking the entrance.”
Vinnie disappears through the doors, laughter still in the air with another guy walking by his side that I’ve never seen before.
My heart is fucking racing in my chest, and the cupcake is no longer sitting well in my stomach. Holy shit, that was so close. Too close.
I try to take a deep, calming breath, but my freak-the-fuck-out siren is blaring in my head, and I’m not actually sure I’m breathing.
“I’m going to kill him,” Will says as he glowers up at the front door before turning back to me. “Sorry about him.”
Taking a step back, I manage to get a twitch of a smile onto my face, hoping he thinks it looks like disappointment and not whatever the fuck I’m currently feeling. “S’okay. Ah, should we head in? Don’t want to be late.”
Will almost runs his icing-covered fingers through his hair but remembers just in time and drops his arm to his side as he nods, that bright smile of his nowhere to be seen. “Yeah.”
He scans both my hands and, seeing that they are still full, his shoulders slump a little before he gestures up the stairs. “Ladies first.”
Thankfully I decided on a floral sundress that comes down to my knees for today, I head up the staircase, clutching my travel mug to my chest and already scanning for a trash can to dump the last few bites of my cupcake.
Will falls into step beside me, and the weirdest fucking thing happens.
Where I’ve previously had to navigate the traffic of students making last-minute dashes to class, they just…
get out of the way. They don’t even realize they’re doing it, some of them not even making eye contact.
They just keep up their conversation and move out of the way.
I’m so in shock about this behavior that it takes me a minute to notice that Will asked me a question. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I was asking if you are busy Saturday night.” He rubs at the back of his neck as we make it to the corridor that leads to our class.
“Uh, I don’t think so. Why?” Please don’t ask me on a date. Please don’t ask me on a date.
“Well, the hockey team has a house on Greek Row. We’re throwing a party, and I was wondering if you’d like to come. With me.” Even though he puts in the effort to sound smooth, the words are almost rushed.
I side-eye him. “You live on Greek Row?”
Will shakes his head. “No. Everyone on the team who isn’t a freshman or who doesn’t have an alternative housing arrangement lives there. Once I get through this year, I can move in.”
“Is it like a frat?” I ask, having zero idea how this works. Partying has never been part of my plan.
“Yeah, basically. But it’s more about hockey than anything.
It’s our captain’s birthday, and since he graduates this year, they want it to be this huge, epic thing.
Vinnie, me, and the two other freshmen have to help out with the organization, but once people start arriving, we usually just let the chaos take over.
” He pauses and turns to face me outside the classroom door, effectively blocking me from entering.
I raise an eyebrow. “Is it themed?”
His grin reappears, even as his cheeks go a little red, and I have to admit it’s an adorable look on him. “Barbie and Ken.”
My utter horror manifests as a laugh. “No the fuck it isn’t.”
He nods, smiling. “Yep. And I was thinking I’d go as Classic Ken. I don’t own a Hawaiian shirt, and I don’t plan on owning one.”
Laughing even more, I shake my head. “So would that make me Classic Barbie?”
He holds up both hands, a serious look falling over his features. “Only if you’re comfortable. You have complete control over your outfit. All I care about is that you are with me at the party. So, what do you think?”
A hockey, frat-like Barbie and Ken party, with plenty of underage drinking, really loud music, and what I’m assuming will be way too many people for one house.
Sounds fucking horrible if you ask me.
But I told myself I’d try and see where things could go with Will. Worst-case scenario, we hook up, and I can confirm that it was as horrible as I thought it would be.
“Sure. It’ll be my first frat party, so you have to promise to look after me.”
Before I register that he has taken a step closer to me, my eyelids flutter shut as his face gets incredibly close to mine. But where I’m expecting his lips to touch mine, instead they touch my forehead.
“I promise.”