Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Danika
After two hours of non-stop discussion about back muscles, my phone buzzes on the table, revealing a text from Arden.
Looking at the text, I can’t help but smile. He’s good at this fake boyfriend thing. I text back quickly.
ME: Yeah, but my car is in the campus lot. I’ll just meet you at home.
It only takes a few seconds for his answering text to come in.
ARDEN: Leave it, I’ll drop you off in the morning.
Before I can get into all the ways that that would be completely impractical, a kiss on my cheek brings me back to focus.
“Ready to go, babe?” I glance up to see Arden’s stunning smile beaming down at me. He’s either in a very good mood or he’s putting on an amazing show. I had no idea he was such a great actor.
“Yep,” I reply, gathering my books up and putting them in my bag. “Thanks for the study sesh, guys. See you tomorrow.” I wave to the group, and the power couple waves back but Nico is still sitting there with a face like a slapped ass. I almost can’t contain the smug look that crosses mine.
Arden grabs my backpack off my shoulder and puts it on his. That’s when I notice he’s still wearing the backward baseball cap.
“What?” He asks because clearly I’m staring.
“Nothing,” I say, biting my lip to hold in my grin as we walk toward the door. He looks at me questioningly but doesn’t push it.
Arden throws my backpack into his back seat as I get into the passenger side.
“Are you sure you still wanna study with me? You just spent two hours staring at textbooks.”
“Of course. We have a deal. Plus, stats is fun for me.”
Arden puts the car in gear and we make the drive back to the apartment.
“You know, I really could’ve just driven myself. It’s a good show for Nico but it seems pretty impractical.”
Arden shrugs, his eyes on the road. “We both have to be on campus in the morning. I’ve got a shift tomorrow at seven. You can come to the cafe with me and get a coffee before your lecture.”
“And, oh yeah, can we do five minutes on this I-work-at-the-cafe situation? Why were you so secretive about it?”
Arden’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel and before I know it, we’re pulling into the apartment parking lot.
“I wasn’t secretive about it.” Arden pulls into his spot and parks, getting out without another word.
Scrambling out of the car, I grab my backpack and rush follow him into the apartment. “You weren’t not secretive about it. I just don’t get it. Why hide your job from me?”
“You never asked.”
He’s not wrong. But I kind of assumed the times he was out of the apartment that he was just in class or the library or the gym. He never let onto the fact that he was working shifts at the cafe, even though I did notice a few times when he came in smelling like espresso.
Throwing open the apartment door, Arden chucks his keys on the dining table and kicks off his shoes. “It’s not exactly the most impressive job.”
“So? A job is a job, Ard. Who cares what it is.”
“I care.” He whips around as I’m putting my jacket on the hook. His eyes look half crazed and for a moment, he reminds me of someone in my past. I cringe away reflectively. “Fuck,” he mutters, backing up quickly. “Sorry, I just…it’s embarrassing being a grown adult man who is a barista.”
Slowly he walks into the kitchen and grabs a beer, opening it easily with a twist.
It takes me a moment to come back to myself. “I don’t think it’s embarrassing.” My voice is small.
He looks at me and his eyes soften. He takes off the hat and runs his hands through his buzzed hair. Before we can dive deeper into this, Arden changes the topic.
“Stats?” He asks with a sigh.
“Stats,” I reply firmly, bringing myself back into focus.
“I’ll order the pizza,” Arden says, whipping out his phone.
By the time Friday rolls around, I’m ready to take the white coat off and let loose.
“Do you want to take a shot?”
“Are you forgetting what happened on your twenty-first birthday last year?” Rolling my eyes, I give his shoulder a shove as I grab the bottle of tequila and two cups.
“That was a birthday fluke. You always have to go hard on your birthday. It’s law.”
Arden chuckles, “Oh, it’s law?” He takes the small cup from my outstretched hand.
“Cheers to passing statistics.”
“Cheers to no more Nico.”
We clink the glasses together, drop them down on to the counter, then raise the liquid to our lips all while maintaining eye contact. The motion is oddly intimate but Arden and I have always been good at pushing each other to the emotional limit without passing it, except…
A brief blush pauses on my face as I remember the moment we shared last year.
Arden had stayed at our apartment when he came to visit his sister, who was way too wrapped up in her new boyfriend to know that her brother was going through a hard time at home.
Luckily he had me to vent to that night, even though we ended up doing something that we maybe shouldn’t have done.
“What was that?”
“Huh?” I blink back to reality.
“That. That flush that just crossed your face? What are you thinking about, brat?” Is it just me? Or is he a little bit closer than he was before?
“I’m not thinking about anything. Ready to go?”
Stepping around him, I grab my purse and keys before heading to the door. Tonight—since it’s an actual college party and not something sponsored by the medical program—I’m wearing my favorite little red dress. It hugs me in all the right places and I almost always get lucky while I’m wearing it.
Not that I’m planning to get lucky tonight. Wait a second.
I pause in my tracks, Arden slamming into me from behind.
“What the hell?”
I whip around and face him. “Do you want to date other people? We didn’t even talk about this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re about to go to a party where you could very well meet the love of your life.”
“I don’t think—”
“And here I am, parading you around as my fake boyfriend, depriving you of the chance to meet other women and—”
Arden grips my shoulders, pulling my focus back to center. “Dani, I don’t care about anyone else. I made this agreement with you and I’m going to uphold my end of it. That’s all.”
“But—”
“It’s. All.”
With a tentative look, I nod and Arden takes that as his cue to release me.
The shadow of his hands on my skin leaves an uneasy feeling.
Together, we walk down the street, close enough to touch our hands but not close enough to actually do it.
In Southern gentleman fashion, Arden had maneuvered himself to the outside of the sidewalk as we walked out of the parking lot. And, of course, I noticed.
The Kappa Alpha house is an even shorter walk from this apartment than the one that I shared with Margot and Sydney. We’re at the house within a few minutes.
Already, there are people spilling out of the door onto the porch and front lawn.
I’m kind of surprised that the med school party is happening at the KA house but at this point, having spent so much time with former KA president and my best friend Margot’s boyfriend, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these boys ended up in the psych ward.
Case in point…
“Danimal?” The voice calls to me from the doorway.
“I thought you graduated last year, Keith,” I say, bounding up the porch stairs. Arden stays on my heels.
“I could say the same about you,” Keith says, pulling me in for a hug. I feel Arden’s chest hit my back when I step out of Keith’s embrace. “And who’s the hunk?”
I chuckle, grabbing Arden’s arm and pulling his hand to rest on my stomach. “This is my boyfriend, Arden.”
Keith feigns shock. “Wild child has a boyfriend?”
The giggle bursts out of me involuntarily. I forgot how much fun it was to hang out at the KA house with Alex and his friends.
With a strong hold, Arden grips the front of my dress and I suddenly realize that he has no idea who Keith is, or the fact that he’s one hundred percent gay. The music is loud so I reach up and pull his neck down to whisper in his ear.
“He’s probably more attracted to you than to me.”
Arden’s gaze hits mine and he smiles in a way that would threaten to take my breath away. God, he’s really beautiful. We blink a few times in that position, an incredibly intimate one, before Keith pulls us back to reality.
“Well, damn. You know we have bedrooms upstairs, right?”
Rolling my eyes, I reluctantly pull myself out of Arden’s grasp, and I might be crazy but I feel like he is just as reluctant to let me go.
“Beers in the kitchen. Have fun, love birds,” Keith calls as we enter the house.
I walk directly to the kitchen to get the sustenance I’m going to need to survive this party. Handing Arden a cold one from the cooler, we both open our beers and take a very generous sip.
“Let’s go scope out the scene. I bet Gemma is here somewhere.”
Arden nods, letting me take the lead. I know this house like the back of my hand, having spent basically the last four years partying here every weekend. A quick walk from the kitchen finds us in the center of the living room where a makeshift dance floor has been set up.
As if I summoned her, Gemma pops up directly in front of me. “Dani! About time! Let’s dance!”
Without any further ado, I’m pulled directly onto the dance floor. Giving Arden a look of distress that’s met with laughter, I allow Gemma to take me away.
“I’m so excited you came!” Gemma says, moving her hips to some Shakira song, taking a sip of her beer.
“Of course I did!” I reply, dancing just the same.
We move to the rhythm of the music for a few more songs and every time I look over toward Arden, he’s standing against the wall, looking at me.
His gaze is intense and warm at the same time.
He looks like he was carved from stone, just for me.
I just hope none of the vultures on the dance floor are thinking the same thing.