5. Daisy #2
I hang the flier and then hesitate on my plan. I don’t know what floor Liam is on or if I can even get there without being stopped. Freddy is a co-ed dorm, but I don’t know which are boys’ floors and which are girls’. This was a terrible idea.
Not to mention, how am I going to ask him to haul something for me, therefore admitting I know he drives a truck when I have no reason to have that knowledge.
No reason except when he’s around, I have some sort of sense.
I can spot him across campus, across parking lots…
I just see him. But, yeah, I don’t think that explanation is going to convince him to help me. More like run far, far away.
I’m about to leave when Jordan walks through the front doors. I look behind him, hopefully for Liam. I’m not that lucky.
His black backpack hangs on one shoulder, and his Valley Hockey hat is turned backward. He has this ease about him, from the way he dresses to the way he walks like he doesn’t give a single fuck about anything. I admire it as much as I dislike it. Would it kill him to care a little about something?
It should say something about my feelings for Liam that I’m able to put one foot in front of the other and catch Jordan before he reaches the stairs.
“Jordan,” I call his name, then quicken my steps to a jog so he can hear me over the music. “Jordan, hey!”
He glances over his shoulder while still moving up the stairs, but when he sees me, he stops, and his brows lift. “Daisy?”
The confusion on his face isn’t malicious, but I still pray for the floor to swallow me up. I’m the last person he expected to see here.
“Hey,” he says when I don’t respond. “What are you doing here?”
“I…” My explanation is stuck somewhere inside of me. Why did I think this was a good plan?
“If you’re looking for Liam, he isn’t back yet. He had a meeting with Coach.”
“Thanks.” I spin on my heel to flee, but I can’t seem to force myself to go. I came here for a reason, and I need to see it through or die of embarrassment trying. Spinning back around, I face him again. “Do you know what time he’ll be back?”
“No, but it shouldn’t be too long. You can wait for him if you want or if it’s something with physics, I can probably figure it out.”
“It isn’t about physics.”
“I figured.” He flashes the smallest of grins. He tips his head, motioning for me to follow, and bounces up each stair, somehow moving slowly but energetic at the same time.
I keep a two-step difference between us as he leads me up to the fifth floor.
He holds open the door for me, forcing me to go ahead of him.
I stop and let him retake the lead. Lots of doors are open, letting the noise from the rooms bleed out into the hallway—music, video games, laughter.
Two guys are tossing a football the length of the hall.
“Heads up,” Jordan says as we pass them. “Hey, Ry.”
“Thatcher.” The guy he called Ry smiles and holds the football in one giant palm. “How’s it going?”
“Good, man.”
Ry gives me a knowing smirk that takes me a second to decipher, but when I do, I once again wish I could disappear. Ry thinks I’m on my way to hook up with Jordan. Kill me now.
Jordan eventually stops about halfway down the long hallway and opens a door on the left side. He walks in, holds the door open with an elbow, and flips on the light.
I’m staring at a living area. A couch and a chair face a TV with various gaming systems. Hockey jerseys hang on the wall, there are skates, sticks, and other gear shoved next to the TV, and it smells a little like a gym locker, but it’s not as messy as I might have imagined.
On either side of the living area are what I assume are the bedrooms, but I can’t see inside of either.
“It’s even bigger than I expected,” I say.
Jordan’s lips pull into a wide smile.
“The room,” I grit out.
“I knew what you meant.”
“Then why are you smirking like that?”
“Knew what you meant, but I still thought it was funny.” He drops his backpack onto a chair and points to another empty seat. “You can sit if you want.”
I do and then instantly regret it. Jordan rubs the back of his neck like he’s not sure how to entertain me now that I’m here.
The movement lifts the hem of his T-shirt to expose an inch of flat stomach above his jeans.
He’s about the same height as Liam, but Jordan is leaner, and his muscles are more defined.
He disappears into the bedroom on the left side. “Do you want something to drink? We have Powerade or beer.”
He comes back with one of each.
“No thanks.”
He sets the Powerade on the coffee table anyway and opens the beer. He moves his backpack out of the other chair and takes a seat.
“What’s that?” he asks, nodding to the fliers in my hand.
I shove the forgotten fliers into my bag. “Nothing. What time did you say Liam would be back?”
“I’m not sure.” He shrugs. “I could pass on a message if you want.”
“I’d really rather just ask him myself.”
“Okay.” He leans back and extends one long leg. “Physics and art, huh? How does that happen?”
“My parents are physicists, and art makes me feel beautiful.”
Jordan stays quiet as he studies me. My answer feels too heavy. It’s definitely more than he bargained for. It’s the truth, but not something I usually tell people.
I fidget with my hands in my lap. “What about you? Why did you choose civil engineering?”
“Do you really want to talk about our majors?”
“You brought it up.”
He’s quiet a beat and then says, “I like being outside, and engineers make decent money. It’s a good fallback plan.”
“Fall back from what?”
He takes a drink of his beer. “I was drafted by the Kings over the summer.”
I don’t immediately put it together until he adds, “They’re a pro hockey team.”
“Oh. Wow. Congrats.”
“Thanks.”
Silence falls between us again. He taps his finger on the side of his beer can. “Are you sure I can’t pass on the message? I could write it down and everything.”
Standing, I start to move past him. “I should get out of your hair. I’ll just send him an email or something.”
He grabs my hand to stop me. The pads of his fingers are warm and calloused, and an unexpected thrill shoots up my arm. He smells like soap and beer.
I pull away first.
Jordan brings his hands together, gliding his palms together slowly in front of him. “Don’t go. Stay, have a drink. I’ll text Liam and see if he’s on his way yet.”