7. Chapter 7
Beth
T here was something about the tall shelves lined with old books and the dust that swirled in the light shining through the window that always helped quiet my mind.
I pulled another book from the cart, fanning the pages in front of my face and inhaling deeply before I returned it to its home on the shelf.
As I reached for another book, I started to zone out, letting the quiet focus of the other students fade away.
“Hey.” I jumped, hugging the book to my chest and turning around. “Beth, right?”
“Uh, hi.” I tilted my head when I recognized the man standing behind me. It seemed like I was running into him everywhere in the last couple of days. When I realized I was taking too long to respond, I shook my head. “Yeah, sorry. You startled me. You’re Benny’s roommate.”
The man nodded, but his dark, intense stare didn’t leave my face. “Carter.” He just stood there, staring at me, and I debated bending down and picking up the book I had dropped on the floor between us.
“Can I help you with something?” He didn’t look like he needed me to help him find a reference book. When he shook his head abruptly, I was more confused. Why was he here?
“I just wanted to tell you to watch your back.” His voice was low, but my stomach sank lower. What if the other students could hear us?
I blinked multiple times like it would clarify what he’d said. When it didn’t, I crossed my arms. “Excuse me?”
“Look,” Carter said with a sigh. “Benny is my dude, and he’s not a bad guy.
He’s not really a good one either though.
So just be careful.” I watched him bend down, picking up the book in front of us.
He fanned the pages before closing the cover, and I watched his finger glide along the edge of the page.
When Carter held the book out to me, I just stared at it. “Why?”
“He can be selfish, and his intentions aren’t always good.” He shook the book when I still hadn’t taken it from him, and I reached for it. I closed my fingers over the well-read copy, but Carter didn’t let go. “Like I said, just be careful.”
Annoyance flooded me when he still didn’t loosen his grip.
The look on his face was serious, and my pulse pounded against my ear drum.
His intentions aren’t always good. I thought about the date I’d had with Benny that ended with me stopping him mid-kiss on his couch, and my eyes started to sting with assumed disappointment. Had he been interested in me at all?
“Look, I don’t know what this is,” I said, waving between us and blinking away the tears I was determined not to cry, “but I can take care of myself.”
Carter looked taken aback but not offended. “I wasn’t trying to imply that you couldn’t.” It surprised me that he didn’t sound more defensive. In my experience, most men were defensive if you didn’t take their advice.
“Then why are you here?” I put my hand on my hip, popping it to the side. A couple of students at a nearby table turned to look in our direction, reminding me again that we were in the library.
“That’s a good question,” he said, holding up his hands in near surrender. “I guess I just wanted you to know he’s been saying some things about your date the other night that you might want to hear.”
What kinds of things? I pushed the thought aside when I thought about the way Amy had followed me around the coffee shop this morning like she didn’t have a job to do. “Well thanks for the warning,” I said.
We stood there staring at each other with the book in my hands and the tension in the air between us, and it felt like the shelves that normally brought comfort were starting to close in on me.
When I took a deep breath, Carter exhaled.
Could he tell how fast my heart was beating?
For a moment it felt like I might pass out.
“I gotta get back to work.” I waved the book in my hand and pointed to the shelf as if to tell him to leave. He stared at me, and I thought that he might insist on telling me what Benny had said. I don’t want to know.
Carter nodded. “See you around,” he said, turning on his heel and leaving without another word.
With each step he took, my chest felt lighter, like I could breathe again, and the library stopped trying to spin.
Still, it felt like every set of eyes was on me, even though most of them hadn’t looked up.
I could feel stares crawling along my spine but when I looked behind me, nobody was there.
I just wanted to tell you to watch your back.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Isabella asked before I’d even closed the door to our dorm room behind me.
She was standing in the middle of the room with her hands crossed and a look on her face that was a perfect mix of amazement, shock, and frustration.
It reminded me of the look Amy had worn yesterday, and I groaned internally.
Trying to act normal, as if my date’s roommate hadn’t shown up while I was at work to warn me, I tossed my backpack on the bed and set my Walkman on the desk, already knowing exactly what she was thinking. “Tell you what?”
“That you fucked the hottie from the other night! Duh!” She threw her hands in the air in a detail-demanding fashion. I choked on the annoyance I tried swallowing, coughing and gasping for a quick breath. He’s been saying some things.
“Nothing happened.” My voice was shaking, and she narrowed her eyes. I wouldn’t have believed me either.
“Don’t play shy like that!” Isabella grabbed my hands, pulling me across the room and forcing me onto the edge of the bed. “Tell me everything ,” she insisted, emphasizing every word.
I shook my head, and my cheeks felt warmer with embarrassment. “I really didn’t do anything, Izzy.”
“Well, that’s not what I heard.” She crossed her arms, sucking in a deep breath.
“Erika told me that she heard from Alicia that Robin’s new boyfriend, Brian, is in the same fraternity as Benny.
And he told her that Benny was talking about you at a party last night, and he said that you were a wild thing in bed.
So don’t start playing Little Miss Virgin now! ”
My anxiety tied itself in knots around my stomach. I wasn’t playing. “He said we hooked up?”
“Mhmm.” She drew it out, humming. “You only told me he kissed you! Spill, sister! I want all the details.”
I shook my head when my new reputation started to spin around me. There weren’t any details to share. Carter’s voice repeated in my mind, taunting me with his warning. He’s been saying some things.