“We can head back, but with your sketchy driving, one can only hope that we make it back there in one piece.” I chuckle and she glares at me.
“What? You think that I haven’t noticed your subtle swerving and delayed reaction time?” I start laughing and she joins in, breaking her evil stare.
“You’re more than welcome to walk,” she jokes, gesturing to the side of the road.
“Just get us back to campus,” I say, shaking my head while she continues to laugh. She presses a little harder on the gas; her little Mazda picks up speed and carries us back to school.
The rest of the day passes by in a blur of syllabuses and class assignments. After my last class, I stop at my dorm room to drop off my bag and change into my clothes for work. Leaving on my jean shorts, I toss my tank top onto the bed and pull my black shirt from the diner over my head. Just as I’m pulling it down over my stomach Abby bursts in through the door with two guys following behind her.
“Of course you’re here,” she scoffs as she plops down onto her bed and starts talking to one of the guys.
I gather my hair in my hands, pulling it back into a ponytail and ignore her comment. She continues talking while I step back in front of the mirror to give myself one last look. As my eyes travel up the length of the mirror, I catch him standing by the door, watching me. His gaze follows mine and he stares right through me with clear blue eyes. My breath catches in my throat and my body burns from the sudden, unfamiliar tension in the room. Every instinct in my body tells me that I need to get out of there, yet my feet are cemented to the floor.
“Yo, Ander.” The shorter guy with Abby breaks through the tension, giving me an out. “You cool if I drop you back off at the casino?”
I turn back around and grab my purse from my bed, throwing it over my shoulder. I look up and I’m met with those shimmering blue eyes staring straight into mine. A hint of a smile plays on his lips. “I’m cool with that,” he answers the other guy without breaking our stare down. His words aren’t meant for me, but I feel the sound of his voice move like silk through my ears. I need to get out of this room, like five minutes ago. Mentally shaking myself, I straighten my shoulders and walk directly toward the sculpted, arrogant barricade standing in front of the door. I stop in front of him and stand toe to toe and am forced to look up at him. “Can I help you with something, little one?” He smirks, standing at least a foot taller than me.
“Yeah,” I say sweetly and smile back at him. “You could get the hell out of my way.”
The asshole doesn’t move. His smile widens and his eyes glimmer with laughter. I’m caught off guard, staring up at him like a fool.
“Let me just get out of your way then,” he says as he slightly shifts his body to the side, granting me access to the door. The space he leaves me is so small, I’m forced to brush against him on my way out. I pull the door shut behind me and hurry down the hall, clutching my arm where it touched him. My warm skin tingles from where he was, yet it feels cold from the loss of contact.
When I get outside, I opt out of driving to the diner and decide to walk instead, needing to walk off these feelings that I don’t want or need. His cropped, coffee-colored hair, tanned skin and those damn crystal blue eyes stick to my mind, taunting me. I need him out of my head and I know just what will help with that. Reaching into my purse, I grab two pills from my small pouch and swallow them. They haven’t let me down yet, so now isn’t the time for them to start.
5
ANDER
“What the fuck was that, man?” Troy stares at me, incredulously. He and Abby both stare at me with their matching brown eyes and black as night hair.
I realize the stupid grin I have on my face and that I’m still standing right by the door she just walked through with hints of her perfume lingering in the air. My grin turns into my infamous cocky look that’s void of any real emotion. I brush off the effect she had on me, the one I can’t let them see. “Fuck if I know,” I say and shrug.
“I swear, I can’t take you anywhere, man.” He shakes his head. “Everywhere we go there’s either a chick you fucked, one that wants to, or both.”
Abby raises her hand. “I, for one, do not care to fuck him.” She pauses. “Again.”
Troy rushes to his feet. “You fucked my sister?” He starts toward me, his eyeballs practically bulge out of his socket.
“Seriously, Troy?” I scoff. “She’s definitely below my standards.”
“I was kidding!” Abby tells him. “Wait, what?” She cuts her eyes at me.
I shrug and Troy looks back and forth at the two of us, like I really slept with her or something. My list might be long, but she’s definitely not on it. If my standards were that low, she’d be below the bottom floor. She tried to come on to me once at a party when she was trashed. If I would have been drunk, this conversation could be going in a completely different direction. Thank fuck that’s not the case.
“Don’t fuck with me like that.” He points his finger back at both of us and glares. “Not cool.”
I laugh and Abby shakes her head. “I swear, Troy, nothing ever happened.” She motions toward me, waving her hand up and down. “He’s not even my type anyway.”
I don’t check myself out to know what I look like. I look the same as I always do. Black T-shirt, jeans and a pair of Jordans. I don’t give a fuck if she likes my style or not. She’s only seen me off the clock; if she saw what I wear at the casino, she’d be singing a different tune. When Armani and Gucci suits are thrown into the mix, there’s no such thing as having a “type.” Money talks and it spits a good game; everyone wants to have a taste of the green.
“Like you actually have a type,” I fire back, just to piss her off. I know her dirty little secret, one that’s dirtier than she’d ever admit. The last thing she wants is for her brother to find out that his precious little sister is not only a stripper, but the one taking dudes in the back for a couple extra bucks.
She narrows her eyes at me, but she knows better than to fuck up the only thing paying her tuition. “You know what I mean, asshole.” She shrugs and looks at Troy, shaking her head. “Don’t you guys have shit to do now?” she directs the question at him.
Troy looks back at me and I stare at him expressionless; he knows what’s on my agenda for the day. “What was that chick’s name?” he asks Abby.
“Who? That fucking square with the stick up her ass that occupies the other half of my room?” She rolls her eyes, visibly annoyed with the mention of her.
“Cut the shit.” He scowls at her.
“I dunno. I think it’s like Haley or Hayden or some weird shit.” She grabs her phone in an effort to busy herself and half ignore the two of us.
“Where’s she work?” I chime in, out of curiosity.
Her head snaps up. “Do I look like her fucking keeper?” Her voice is clipped and sharp. Who the fuck does this chick think she is? I slowly cut my eyes at her and take a step closer, watching her start to cower. She’s not as much of a badass as she acts like she is.