Chapter 12
REID RATHE
Today’s classes were long and grueling, and now that it’s over, there’s an extra drag in my step. Dustin, Jacob, and I are headed to Dustin’s apartment, and the thought of being so close to her is killing me.
The other night, when I returned to the table, Dustin was completely unaware.
Ivy, on the other hand, knew exactly what I was doing.
She knew I was going after Avery, but besides giving me a long, hard stare, she said nothing.
I really am going to have to owe her for keeping my secret from her boyfriend.
Not going to lie, the lie itself is near torture, especially when I hang out with Dustin all the time.
He knows I’m going after a girl, but he has no idea that it’s his sister.
I can’t tell him either. Lord knows what he’d do if he ever found out that I had her pinned against the wall only a couple of days ago while he sat unaware at a nearby table.
That’s one friendship I don’t plan on losing, and it would surely be in jeopardy if he ever found out.
I have no idea what this means in the long term. Especially if Avery ever decides to give in and date me, because he will find out eventually. Hopefully, by then, I’ll have a plan to drop the news carefully. Who knows, maybe Dustin will change his mind by then.
We pass by the courtyard, and Jacob tugs us in the direction of the taco hut. “You’re hungry again?” Dustin says, exasperated. “Dude, seriously, we just ate two hours ago.”
He lets go of our elbows, and I say, “He’s always hungry. Just be thankful it’s not your fridge he’s raiding.”
Dustin chuckles as Jacob slides up to the counter and orders two tacos. He turns to us, his wallet out. “Want any?”
Dustin and I cross our arms and shake our heads. “Some of us don’t have bottomless stomachs.”
“It’s not bottomless.” Jacob scowls as he’s handed his tacos. “It just empties quickly. It’s called a high metabolism.”
I point at him. “I don’t want to hear it when you can’t squeeze your ass into your jeans anymore.”
Jacob swivels to look at his backside. “It’s a nice ass though, isn’t it?”
Dustin shoves him, nearly knocking the tacos right out of Jacob’s grip. “It’ll have its own orbit soon.”
Jacob, unoffended, unwraps a taco and takes a bite, grinning around a mouthful of food. “The chicks dig it. Just last night—”
Dustin and I groan, cutting him off. Tightening the straps of my backpack while spinning and walking backward, I say, “We don’t need to hear about your fling. You talk about her enough as it is. Your sex life with her isn’t an image I want in my head, especially if it involves your ass.”
I turn around and bump into someone. They teeter to the side, and I snatch out my hands and grip their shoulders to keep them from falling over. “Sorry,” I immediately say. The girl looks up and pushes the hair from her face. “Dorothy? Oh man, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
Releasing her shoulders, I step back, directly in the center of Dustin and Jacob.
“Dorothy?” Jacob whispers in my ear. “The Dorothy? Dude, she’s kinda hot. In a nerdy sort of way.”
I glare at him. “She can hear you.”
Jacob cringes and looks back at Dorothy. “Sorry.”
Fiddling with her fingers, she shrugs. “It’s okay.”
I frown at her. “No, it’s not. You don’t have to be nice to him.”
“Everyone’s nice to me. I’m just that guy,” Jacob defends.
I rake a hand over my face. There’s no helping him. Instead of giving him the attention he wants, I turn it to Dorothy. “I haven’t seen you around campus.”
“Yeah,” she says, clearing her throat. The awkwardness is so thick that Dustin starts chuckling. “I haven’t seen you either.”
I shrug. “Always on the go, I guess.”
She nods. “Me too.”
We stand there for a few unbearable moments, saying nothing, until I ask, “Are you going to class or going home?”
“Home.”
As far as I know, Dorothy is living with her parents. They wanted to keep their daughter close, but she has to have friends on campus, right? Maybe somewhere to escape? Study?
I point behind her. “The parking is over there.”
“Oh,” she says, attempting something that should sound like a giggle but comes out as a distressed goose. “Actually, I came over here hoping to bump into you.”
Dustin elbows the frown off my face by hitting me in the gut. “How long have you been waiting here?” Because she couldn’t have known my class schedule.
“About a half hour,” she admits with a shrug. “I tried yesterday but never saw you.”
“Stalker much?” Jacob murmurs.
I shift to the other foot, ready to be done with the conversation but not sure how to end it. “What did you need from me?”
“I…um.” She looks at Jacob and Dustin. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“About what?”
“The other day, at the golf course.” She pushes hair behind her ear and briefly glances at my feet.
I tense. “What about it?”
“Golf course?” Jacob asks. “You went golfing without me?”
“No, we never went golfing,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“We?” Jacob fully turns to me and Dustin. “You both went?”
Dustin laughs. “It’s not what you think, but it’s one hell of a story. I’ll tell you later.”
“Thanks, guys,” I grumble under my breath. “Ignore them,” I add to Dorothy.
She flicks her gaze back to mine. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about our parents. I hope that…I hope they weren’t too pushy with you.”
“You and I both know that they were.”
She nods slowly. “Yeah, my mom’s been hounding me about talking to you at school.”
“Why?” Jacob asks. Dorothy is clearly having a hard time talking to me as it is. I’m not a complete asshole, and I don’t want to make her more uncomfortable.
I smack Jacob in the ribs. “Mind your own business.”
“Can I ask you something?” Dustin asks her, butting in.
“Sure,” she answers in a whisper.
“I know about the arranged marriage thing. Do you actually want to follow through with it?”
She shrugs and folds her arms around herself, and it’s then that I know that she does.
I don’t know if it’s out of convenience—because she’s clearly not getting any dates or, hell, spending any time with men by how this conversation is going—or if it’s because she follows her parents’ word as law.
But I have to figure out how to let her down gently.
Maybe in private because doing so in front of my friends would be an asshole move.
I change the subject. “How are your classes this year?”
She brightens up a little. “A lot harder than I thought they’d be, but I like a challenge.”
“That’s good,” I say, giving her a smile that makes her blush and pull on her fingers again.
“How about yours?”
“Can’t complain.” Actually, I can if the weight of my backpack is anything to go by. But I don’t complain out loud because, honestly, I want this conversation to end.
Dustin takes pity on me and coughs into his hand. “We should get going.”
“Yeah, we should.” I squeeze Dorothy’s shoulder. “It was nice seeing you.”
“You too,” she says as we pass her.
When we’re out of earshot, Jacob starts to laugh. “That was the most awkward thing I’ve ever seen you wiggle out of.”
“She’s clearly into you,” Dustin adds.
I grumble under my breath. “You two have no idea what it’s like to be me.”
“Why didn’t you just tell her then and there that this arranged marriage is not going to happen?” Dustin asks.
“I didn’t want to hurt her feelings in front of an audience.”
“You’re too nice,” Jacob grumps. “Just do what I do.”
“What? Sleep with her and then block her number the next day?” I’m being rude, but honestly, I don’t need their input. I get enough of that from my parents.
Jacob throws his taco wrappers away in a nearby trashcan and sucks in a breath. “You wound me.”
I sigh and nudge him with my shoulder. “Sorry. Just…this whole thing is pissing me off.”
“Is this because of the girl you refuse to talk about?” Dustin asks.
Jacob grins knowingly. “Yeah, Reid. Is it?”
I give him the look to keep his mouth shut, and he turns his grin to the pavement, his body shaking with silent laughter as we head to the crosswalk.
“Someday, you’ll have to introduce me to her,” Dustin adds. “You can’t keep hiding her forever. It’s not like I’ll steal her away from you or something. Ivy’s a handful as it is.”
I grip my backpack straps and press the button for the crosswalk. “Yeah, someday,” I say nonchalantly. If you don’t find out and kill me first.