Chapter 2
TWO
“Seriously, this is insane,” I muttered, scanning the rows of heads bent over glowing laptop screens.
The silence in the main room of the campus library was oppressive, broken only by the squeak of a chair somewhere or the aggressive shushing of a librarian who seemed to view human speech as a personal affront.
Liam chuckled beside me, the low sound vibrating through the air—and right through me, which was a ridiculous and annoying reaction to have to my brother’s best friend.
I’d learned long ago to ignore the way my body reacted to Liam.
He was built like a Greek god, a fact the entire student population was aware of—particularly the female population—but his movements were surprisingly quiet, almost stealthy for a six-foot-three hockey player.
His dark brown hair was damp from the rain we’d just walked through, curling slightly by his ears.
And he somehow managed to look both ruggedly handsome and boyishly charming.
“Told you it would be packed,” Liam said, his voice a low rumble. “We should see if one of the private study rooms is open. Odds are slim, but maybe we can catch someone leaving and then we can review notes without getting dirty looks.”
Liam and I were both marketing majors which meant we shared a lot of classes together. We’d quickly gotten into the habit of studying together, especially as our classes got harder.
We moved past the main floor, taking the stairs to the second floor and navigating the maze of bookshelves that led to the private study rooms in the back.
There was no point bothering to check the first floor, considering those were always taken, even when people weren’t stressed from midterms. The second-floor rooms were full, so we moved up to the third floor.
“If we can’t find a room, do you want to head back to your place to study?”
I shook my head. “My roommate called dibs and threatened to murder someone if we interrupted her.”
“Doesn’t she want to be a doctor?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Seems like threatening to murder someone might go against her Hippocratic oath.”
I bit back a laugh, but couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my cheeks. “She’d probably argue that she’s not a doctor yet, so it doesn’t count.”
He hummed in his throat, and it felt like the sound vibrated right through me.
Followed immediately by guilt. I had a boyfriend—a steady guy I’d been with for the last four months, and even if things were a little boring, he was still a good guy.
I should not be reacting to Liam, especially after years of keeping him in the box I’d so carefully crafted when we were younger.
“I’d offer our house, but…”
He didn’t need to finish his sentence. Drew was still figuring things out with the baby that had been left unceremoniously in his room with a note that the baby was his and a legal document revoking the mother’s rights—with her information redacted so there was no way to know who she was.
He’d handled the whole thing better than we’d expected, and we were all chipping in to help, but it meant the hockey house was not a good study option.
“Let’s just hope one of these rooms is open.”
With each room that we approached and found full or locked, my hope diminished. We headed toward the last room on this floor, but both of us paused when a faint, rhythmic thump, thump, thump could be heard coming from the room.
I glanced at Liam whose head was tilted slightly as he listened closely and watched the door. When he met my gaze, his right brow lifted.
“Uh,” I started, before a moan could be heard and we both tried hard not to laugh. “Are they…” I whispered, not wanting to finish the thought.
Liam had a grin on his face like a proud older brother. “Sounds like someone’s getting lucky.”
I smacked his chest with the back of my hand which only made him chuckle. Another moan and then a low groan came through the door and I winced.
“Okay, well, even if they’re almost done, which it sounds like they are, I’m not sure I want to work in a room after a couple just had sex there.”
“Fair enough. We could try The Grindhouse.” The campus coffee shop would no doubt be busy, but maybe we’d get lucky and find an open table there.
We’d just turned to start heading back to the stairs when the door to the room opened and a tall, willowy brunette stepped out, adjusting her short skirt.
She froze when she caught sight of us, her face flushed pink from the activities she’d just obviously finished.
Her smile was shy and embarrassed, and I was just about to give her a returning smile so she wouldn’t feel bad when the guy she’d been with stepped out, and my stomach dropped with a violence that made the air rush out of my lungs.
The smile that had started was wiped swiftly off my face as my boyfriend, Chris, looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights. His pants still weren’t completely buttoned and his lips were red and swollen, but worst of all was the obvious hickey blooming on his neck.
“What the fuck?” Liam seethed beside me, not bothering to keep his voice down.
I couldn’t breathe. I stared at Chris and the girl, my gaze bouncing back and forth like I was watching a tennis match, trying to make the puzzle pieces make a different image than the one that was obviously the truth.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. What was there to say?
“Chris?” The girl broke the silence, staring between us like she, too, was confused about what was happening.
“You son of a bitch,” Liam said, stepping forward like he was going to beat Chris into a bloody pulp. I grabbed his arm, stopping him.
But I still couldn’t get my mouth to work. Inside, I was a tempest of rage and betrayal, and yet on the outside I was frozen.
This wasn’t really happening.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Hannah, can you give us a second? I’ll meet you downstairs,” he said, touching the base of her back.
My eyes were glued to where his hand rested.
She nodded, still a little unsure about what was happening here, and then walked off.
I’d feel sorry for her later, but right now the betrayal and hurt was burning through my rage at a terrifying pace.
When she disappeared from view, he spoke again. “Ava. Uh, this wasn’t exactly how I planned to end things, but—”
“Be very careful how you finish that sentence, dipshit,” Liam growled, his eyes staring daggers at Chris like he was imagining all the ways he could torture him.
This was all too much.
And the pain now filling my chest was accompanied by a burning in my eyes and nose that told me I was seconds away from tears. And like hell would I cry in front of my cheating douchebag boyfriend—ex-boyfriend.
I spun on my heels and ran to the nearest bathroom, ignoring Liam calling my name.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it as the tears slid silently down my face.
Finally, I found my voice. “Fuck.”
Boys sucked.