Chapter 6
~
June
“What a momentous occasion. Ladies and gentlemen, the June Price is about to attend an actual campus party,” Madison announced, to no one except us and whoever was unlucky enough to be walking by at that moment.
I cringed and elbowed her in the arm. She just snickered. “Oh, come on. This is totally a historic moment. When I invited you out with me, I genuinely thought you were going to refuse.”
I offered her a tight smile.
We were staying at the apartment of one of Madison’s class friends for the weekend, mostly so that we’d be able to drink without having to worry too much about getting back to campus safely.
The apartment block was home to a few other students and faculty members due to its proximity to the school, and was only around ten blocks away from our destination. When I agreed to go with Mads, it was mostly for selfish reasons and not the type she would’ve expected.
I wanted to get the encounter with Lucas off my mind.
Once the orgasmic buzz died off, common sense slammed into me like a damn freight train. What I had done was the height of reckless stupidity. I’d tried to push the memory out of my mind but the silence of the library and dorm room did nothing to help me on that score.
I needed noise and booze and Mads was all too happy to help even though she had no idea about my true motives.
She cocked her head. “Are you okay? You’ve been really off since practice. Look, if it was Coach sending you off early, you know that she’s always been a hardass. It wasn’t anything personal, we all have off days.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. I just.”
“Well then what’s going on? You look like someone shit in your cereal,” she observed.
I looked at Mads. She seemed genuinely concerned, and even though I wanted to just be honest with her, I couldn’t bear to admit the truth.
Not just because I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself but…
if there was even the tiniest chance for this to get out, it would ruin everything for both me and Lucas.
I shrugged. “It’s nothing. I’m just thinking about what Oren—um, I mean Professor Reed—spoke to me about.”
“Ah, the potential opening at Muller me, him, both of us at the same time.
But I do know that if it wasn’t for a stream of rowdy partygoers who rounded the corner and came our way, we would’ve been in for a repeat offense. Lucas moved back, then cleared his throat.
“Shall we?” he asked, sweeping an arm out before us.
And with a lump in my throat, I followed.