Page 21 (1/2)

My words hung between us The air crackled, alive with tension and sonized it It happened around hie

"That’s convenient," he h we had been staring at each other forever Another second and I ht splinter from all the tension

"So" He arched an eyebrow "Are you inviting h burst frouess I aripped the edge of

He leaned forward, that one arlike a fool

He lowered his ar atI could co clever and flirty

I released a shaky breath as he turned and jogged away

Chapter 15

Dropping into the driver’s seat, I waited, watching his tall fraers tapped the steering wheel anxiously Giving my head a fierce shake, I released a little shriek inside the safety ofdown the visor, I stared into hter than usual, and addressed ether, Pepper You’re a big girl You asked for this You’re not doing anything hundreds, thousands of wo less considering I wasn’t even having sex "No Big Deal" Even as I spoke the words, I continued to shake in hts of Reece’s Jeep soon flashed behind me and I put the car into reverse and backed out

He followed h ca Butler, past the quiet quad with its grassy lawns and eed not to totalI couldn’t stop glancing in the rearview mirror to watch the dark shadow of Reece inside his vehicle

We found two spots near each other in the parking lot Taking a deep breath, I gathered rateful that I’d at least gotten allforrelaxed and at ease with a hand buried halfway in his pocket

"Are you all right leaving the bar?" it occurred me to ask

"I called my brother He can close up"

"Oh Good"

He fell into step beside lanced at his bare arms "Are you cold?"

"I’m fine"

"It’s a short walk," I volunteered unnecessarily "We’re alibberish

I swiped my card and entered the dormitory At the elevator, I pushed the UP button and sent Reece a small smile as we both stood in aard silence I tried to appear more confident than I felt Fat chance He knehat I was What I wasn’t I trained ht up Seven Six He knehat I didn’t know Five What I needed to learn Four Three Everything Two

I quit irls spilled noisily into the building They clearly had a few drinks in the on each other

I didn’t know them, but they looked familiar But then so did everyone else who lived in the building I was sure we had passed each other in the halls or shared an elevator before The blond one had iggles and shrill voices died when they saw ed wide-eyed looks and co the and muffled whoosh Reece waited for all three of us to step in ahead of hiirls

Rollingwe had just taken the stairs It was habit that I avoided the stairwell this late at night It was too dark and sood day Plus, I just didn’t like the sense of isolation in the stairwell Like I was inside a toot on well Too much of irls got off on the third floor, they didn’t wait for the doors to close before they started whispering indiscreetly and looking back at us

"God," I e"

"Solance as we stepped off at h school"