Chapter 3 #2
“Like the woman who abandoned me for her latest rich husband?” Nina smirks cruelly. “I can say with absolute certainty that I do not want to be anything like her. Now, your time is over. See you around, Mr. Thornefield. ”
Standing as my lips part in surprise, she grabs her backpack. It looks like she has all of her books for the day, and she sags for a moment under the weight of it.
Unable to keep my mouth shut, I remark on it. “You know, most people go back to their dorm room in between classes, right, Miss Sterling?”
“Isn’t it nice to have a dorm room? I don’t have one of those,” she bites back, throwing open the door and walking out of the room.
Growling, I am up out of my seat without a thought and soon striding after her. Most of the teachers in this section of the building are gone for the day or teaching, so there’s no one to witness this.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I yell after her. As tall as she is, my legs still effortlessly eat up the space between us. Nina breaks into a run, and while I feel badly for a moment that I’m being an asshole, I don’t care enough to stop.
A part of me enjoys the chase, and I need to know why she smells the way she does. I’ve never had a single inappropriate thought about her until now. I want to pin her to the wall and mark her.
Fuck, I’m in so much trouble. This has to be a fluke. There would be some sort of sign from her if she felt the way I did, right? Scent matching is supposed to happen for both people. So why is she running away from me?
Grabbing her arm, I turn her to face me.
“It means exactly what I said it does,” she tells me, her voice a hair below a yell. “I’m not staying on campus, it’s too expensive. My mother no longer holds my purse strings. Any other questions?”
“Dozens,” I growl. “How did this even happen?”
“This goes under more personal information that you’re not allowed to ask,” Nina scoffs. “You’re not my step-father anymore. In fact, I don’t even know who you are. The man I knew would never chase a woman down a hallway. ”
Wincing as I realize I’m still holding onto her arm, I let go and force myself to step away. I’m breathing heavier than I should from ‘chasing’ her as she is accusing me of doing.
“We should make an effort to change that,” I murmur. I’m forcing myself to calm down, because I think I’m scaring her. She's right, I’ve never acted like this before. “Have dinner with me and your step-brother. He’s at the university as a student too.”
“Hard pass,” she says contritely. “I mean, no thank you.”
Manners are still ingrained in her and it makes my lips twitch in amusement. “I’ll make a full home cooked meal,” I tempt her. If she’s not living on campus, maybe she’s not eating well enough. The idea of that makes me angry. There’s food on campus, it’s why freshmen are supposed to live here.
“How did you get the administration office to allow you to live off campus?” I ask her. Nina’s eyes go wide and I see very real fear in them. Her feet are moving already, and she shakes her head as she swallows hard.
“Special permission,” she lies to my face. “Goodbye.”
Nina pretty much runs away from me, making me sigh in disappointment. Vivian shouldn’t be responsible for raising a child, especially this one.
Gah, can I even call her a child right now? Her hips and the jiggle of her ass as she flees taunts me, telling me that she’s very much an adult. Stalking back to my office, I start putting in calls to find out everything I can about my step-daughter.
I may not be married to her mother anymore, but a part of this girl still belongs to me. In fact, judging by the way she smells, all of her does.
She just doesn’t know it yet for some reason.
Nina
I didn’t mean to say as much as I did to Cooper. I was planning to stand him up when Mikey called me to tell me that he’s not opening the bar today because he can’t get any of his managers in.
I was going to find a server job at a diner, somewhere that wouldn’t care if it snowed, instead of going to see Cooper today. When he called, I couldn’t say no though. My nerves are fried, and that’s what I’m blaming my outburst on.
I’m so tired of not being able to get ahead.
Wrapping my arms around myself, I shiver as I walk to the student union. I need to get an unhealthy amount of work done for my classes today so that the one bright spot in my week is being on top of my coursework.
I hope Cooper won’t dig too deeply into my life here at school.
Worse yet, I pray he won’t call my mother.
While I’m not talking to her right now after she cut me off for not following her wishes, Mom has never changed her phone number.
Ever. The odds are pretty high that he would be able to reach her.
The student union center is toasty warm when I walk in, which only makes my body shiver harder as it struggles to acclimate to the change.
Fuck. I was going to buy a coat with my tips tonight, and now I won’t be able to. I’ll be lucky if I don’t freeze tonight as well because it’s supposed to get even colder. When am I supposed to hit my breaking point, when I’m a popsicle?
Teeth chattering, I find a quiet table and get to work on my studies. I spend the day here before my next class, methodically doing the reading and paperwork for each course.
No one spares me a second glance, and while lonely, it’s what’s necessary. I don’t have the time to chat or get to know anyone new. I don’t want to date or attend the parties, and certainly don’t have the luxury of late night conversations while staying up too late.
All of the things other people are taking for granted as a freshman in college I don’t get to do because I’m just trying to keep my head above water.
I know Cooper was joking about my books, but I carry them with me because I have no other option. I need them to work on each class or I’ll get behind.
When it’s time for my math class, I want to cry because it means I’ll have to go out in the snow.
Biting back the tears because they’ll freeze, I pack up my things and trudge outside to my next class.
Students who are wearing way more than I am, brave the outdoors for their education, and it’s hard to hold my jealousy in check.
This is my choice though, no one is forcing me to go to school here, so I just have to suck it up.
Devouring every word my teacher says in class, I write detailed notes so I can go over them afterward to determine if I need to meet with the teacher's aide for extra help. While I love math, I’m not too proud to seek out extra instruction if needed.
“Thanks for a great class, guys,” Dr. Justice says with a smile. I can tell numbers are his passion because he lights up while teaching. “If anything isn’t clear, please come see Teagan or I during our office hours.”
Biting my lip, I make sure that I have their hours written down. My hands shake slightly as I do, and I realize I need to head to the cafeteria after this to eat. I've been so distracted, I haven’t eaten at all today.
Fuck, between my boss and Cooper, they’ve thrown off my entire schedule.
Packing up my things, I leave the warmth of the building for the frigid weather of Minnesota. When I was researching this area, I swear I read that snow would hold off for at least another month, but the cold front is laughing at me right now.
Trudging across campus, I breathe a sigh of relief as I walk into the cafeteria and scan my student identification card. Loading up on food, I check my bank account to figure out if I should buy a winter coat or not. I never thought this is what I would be agonizing over, but this is my life now.
Eating my grilled chicken salad as I check my bank, I frown at the two-hundred dollars currently in it. I won’t work again until the weekend, though that’s if my boss decides to open the bar. Is it really worth the comfort a winter coat will bring?
Checking the weather app next, I sigh as I see that it’s going to be twenty degrees tonight. Freezing to death is not on my bingo card for this year, so I’m going to buy the damn jacket. I’ll just have to hope I don’t have any emergencies pop up.
You’d think less of those would happen, but I’ve seen a few people get into accidents driving to school because of the snow. One person in particular exploded her tire because it hit a hidden curb gutter.
Shit happens.
Sullenly determined, I polish off my salad and then treat myself to a huge piece of chocolate cake. My mother can’t complain about my diet anymore. I also walk a million miles on this damn campus every day. I need every one of these calories.
Happy in my decision to mentally tell my mother to fuck off, I check the time. The sun is already going down, and the day is gone. I have just enough time to buy a coat, spend as long as I possibly can at the library until I have to leave, and then find a safe place to spend the night in my car.
Eighteen isn’t half as fun as I thought it would be.