Chapter 7
seven
ASTRID
Insufferable . The word enraged me. How dare this asshole call me insufferable! He didn’t know me. He ran into me and felt me up! Based on his reaction to touching me, I gathered he didn’t mean to assault me. I may have forgiven him with a contrite apology. To go from apologising to blaming me and calling me names? No one got to speak to me that way!
British men continued to disappoint. They were nothing like the heroes I remembered from books or movies. Needing air, I burst through the closest set of doors, past a fire pit, and back into a line of stumps. It was cold, and my jacket was probably buried under 30 coats inside Paige’s house. I shivered in the night’s chill, homesick for the first time. Because of our group chat, I knew Alexandra was up with the baby. Calling her would make her feel worse. She’d done so much to get me here. Now, all I could do was complain!
“You alright?”
I looked up. In front of me stood a tall man with dark hair. He looked concerned.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“Darling, you are not,” he said .
Darling. Neandians didn’t toss that phrase around. We rarely used terms of endearment. Brits did it all the time. It confused the hell out of me.
The man popped down on the stump next to me. “I’m Jeremy Morgan. You’re new?”
I nodded.
“What year?”
“I’m a grad student,” I answered.
“Postgrad?”
I nodded. I didn’t grasp the British use of “postgrad” versus the American use of “grad school.” Everything was new. The differences overwhelmed me.
“What course?”
“Politics.”
“Oh, me, too. I’m a doc student. You on the MSc course?”
I was surprised to find another in the wild. “Yes. Politics. I want to study societal inequities.”
“Very admirable,” Jeremy said. “I am less so. I study Parliamentary norms and rules. Elites. What is your name, miss?”
“You can call me Astrid,” I answered, not about to give him the complete answer.
“And what wanker in there upset you, Astrid?”
“Some awkward, lanky fuck,” I groaned.
He snickered. “The lady has a mouth on her. I rather like that. Where are you from?”
I had a slight accent. No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake it.
“Uh… Neandia,” I answered. “Just transferred here for the course.”
He nodded as if knowing who I was. He noticed my shivering.
“Here.” Jeremy took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. “No need to freeze out here.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
The asshole came into view. I nodded in his direction.
“That was him. The one in the grey trousers,” I said. “With the dorky-ass sweater.”
In truth, the man’s clothes were a travesty. He wasn’t hideous to look at, but his personality ruined it for me. I didn’t mind bookish men—especially tall ones—but I wouldn’t tolerate an asshole like this guy.
“Oh, that would be Parker Westfall. What a knob! I secretly refer to him as the Dickish Duke. Many of us do.”
“What? Why?” I giggled. “How do you get such a terrible name?”
Jeremy swigged his beer. “I dunno. He’s a dick.”
“But is he a duke?”
“He is. I know, strange, right? He’s a doc student here. Doesn’t need the job or the money. Fucking odd, right?”
I shrugged. “Guess so.”
Yes, nothing as weird as being a princess and wanting to live like a student for a year and a half to rough it, right?
The more I spoke with people, the keener I became that I was odd. And no matter what I did, I would remain odd. I thought about confessing who I was to Jeremy, but I gave up on that. No. I didn’t want to draw attention to it. This matter would come up soon enough and… I wasn’t about to make it more apparent. I didn’t need to wave my arms around to signal I was a weirdo.
“How do you know all of this?” I asked.
“I’m always in the know. Stick by me. I can help you figure it out.”
“Thanks.”
“You are way too clever and pretty to sit out here crying. Let’s get you a drink and warm you up, alright?”
Jeremy’s protective side showed.
“Sure, why not? It’s a party. I lost my friend. Some guy she’s interested in was here, and I don’t want to be a cockblock.”
“You’re a good friend,” Jeremy said.
I followed him back into the kitchen.
“A beer is fine,” I said.
He grabbed a beer from the fridge, pried the cap, and handed it to me.
“Cheers!” We toasted.