“No, but there are techniques she can use. And Bowler has a learning disability center where she can get tested. If she does have dyslexia, the university will recognize it and give her an advisor to help arrange more time on her assignments or different assignments based on her abilities.”
“Oh, that would help,” Alec said thoughtfully.
“And, I would think she’d like to know there is a reason she struggles a bit, don’t you think?”
“I know she feels dumb sometimes. I mean, she hides it, but it bothers her.”
Danica smiled softly. “You’re so observant. Better than that neanderthal she’s with now.”
“Will you quit ragging on Max?”
“But it’s so easy and fun,” Danica whined.
He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, thanks for that. I think I should probably do more research before I say anything to her.”
“I can ask my dad for some more info, if you want.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks, Dan.”
She smiled. “No problem.”
A door opened in the hallway opposite Danica’s bedroom door. Danica’s roommate emerged, a petite girl with long, straight dark hair. As she walked closer, Alec noticed she had a slight limp, favoring her right leg. She was a thin, pretty girl, a little young-looking, with small features and wrists that looked like they would snap in half in a strong wind. She walked with her head down, paging through her student planner.
“Oh hey Lea. This is my friend Alec. Alec, this is my roommate, Lea.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
She flashed him a quick smile, all small white teeth. “You too.” Then she waved that delicate hand and walked out of the door.
Alec looked at Danica questioningly.
“You haven’t met Lea before?
Alec shook his head. “I don’t think so. And her . . .” He waved his hand at his own leg.
“Car accident when she was a kid. They saved her leg, but she has a lot of nerve damage.”
“Damn, that sucks.”
Danica shrugged. “Yeah. She took the accident in stride. She can be a little quiet sometimes, so we’ll have to hang out sometime so she gets used to you.”
“Sounds good.” He glanced at his watch. “Shit, I gotta go. I have class in a half hour. Thanks for everything.” He leaned in and smooched Danica on the cheek while she fake-retched and shoved him away.
He grinned at her and headed out the door to campus.
BY THE TIME he made it back to his townhome, it was four in the afternoon and he was exhausted.
And he really needed to change his clothes.
He heard yelling from inside as he reached the front door. When he swung it open, the first thing he saw was Kat, facing off against Max. Her face was flushed, her fists were clenched at her sides, and her body vibrated with tension, but her eyes were bright and clear and she held her head up.
“Give me my book bag, Max.” Each word emphasized slowly.
“No.” Max shot back. Alec’s eyes darted between the two of them and to Kat’s book bag, clutched in Max’s white fist.
“What the fuck is going on?” Alec said.
“Stay out of it, Stone.” Max spoke out of the side of his mouth, his eyes never leaving Kat.
“Uh, no, don’t think I will.” Alec kept his voice steady but inside, his stomach rolled. All he wanted to do was rush to Kat, ease her tension and make her smile. The protectiveness surprised him. He took a step toward his friend.
Kat’s eyes darted to him and then back to Max. “It’s over. Now just give me my bag so I can leave.”
“Babe, this is fucking stupid. We’re not breaking up.”
Kat screamed in frustration. “It doesn’t make it true no matter how many times you say that! We’re done. Finito. And it’s not me, it’s you!”
Max jerked his head back. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Kat took a step forward, her petite size contrasting with Max’s bulky frame. “It means you are the reason we’re breaking up. You wanted a reason. There it is.” Her eyes flicked to Alec and then back to her now ex-boyfriend. “I deserve better.”
Alec wondered if Max caught that glance in his direction.
Max took a step toward her, and Alec reacted instinctively. He stepped between Kat and Max, facing off against his best friend in a physical way he had never done before. They were the same height, so they stood chest to chest, eye to eye. Before this year, he would have said Max would never hit him. But now? He wasn’t so sure. Max’s actions had been surprising him lately.
“Don’t even try to physically intimidate her.”
Max’s eyes flared. “She’s breaking up with me.”
“Yeah? Well, shit happens. Life sucks. Move on.”
Max spoke through gritted teeth. “Stay out of this, Stone. Stand. Down.”
Alec took a deep breath and inched closed. “I’m not the one who needs to stand down.”
“This is between me and Kat.”
“Fuck off, Max. You’re an asshole to her the way you talk to her, and you brought this on yourself.
“I apologized for that.” Max growled.
Alec huffed a laugh. “And that’s supposed to make it all better? I don’t know what’s been with you, but you know better. Have some fucking dignity and let her leave.”
Max took another step closer. “Fuck you, Alec. Mind your own business.”
“I’m your best friend, aren’t I? You are my business.”
“Honest to God, Alec, I’m seconds away from punching you in the face.”
Alec snorted. “Go ahead, asshole. Show me how much of a man you are. I’m sure Kat’ll be really impressed if you break my nose.”
Max opened his mouth but instead a feminine voice spoke up quietly. “Stop.”
Alec turned toward Kat. She stood by the door, holding her book bag. In their showdown, Max must have dropped it.
“Come on, ignore him. We were going to see a movie—” Max started but Kat cut him off.
“I’m sorry, Max, but this isn’t working out.” She straightened her shoulders slightly and Alec felt a surge of pride when her voice strengthened. “I don’t like how you treat me. How you make me feel.”
She took one last look at Alec, opened the door and slipped out.
Alec wanted to go to her, but his friend’s voice broke through the desire.
“What was that look she gave you?” Max’s voice was a little too quiet.
Alec went for ignorance. “I don’t know. Probably because I stuck up for her.”
Max stared him down, and Alec held his gaze.
“So, you’re not going to apologize to me for basically making my girlfriend break up with me?” Max said.
Alec blinked and then laughed. He couldn’t help it. Max was fucking clueless. “You have to be kidding me. She broke up with you because of you, dumbass. Honestly, what’s with you lately? Ever since the beginning of the year, you’ve been a jerk. You’re not . . . This isn’t my friend, Max. I don’t know who the fuck you are.”
Max rolled his jaw from side to side. He looked away and his chest heaved, clearly lost in some sort of inner battle.
“Well, stay away from her, all right?” Max said.
“Stay away from her?”
“Yeah. Because I’m going to try to get her back, and I don’t want you fucking it up. Even if we stay broken up, I’m going to be pissed if you try to date her.”
Alec stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Dead.”
Alec took a deep breath. “How pissed?”
“Like, don’t fucking talk to me ever again pissed.”
A sensation raced over Alec’s skin, like a thousand pin pricks. “So, you’re saying I stay away from her or we’re no longer friends? You’ll say that shit to me after all we’ve been through over a girl you’ve been with for a couple of months?”
Max tilted his head. “Would you? For a girl like Kat?”
Alec didn
’t want to think too hard about that. Because a tug in his chest told him he would. He stayed silent.
Max nodded and snorted sadly. “Yeah,” was all he said before he walked upstairs and slammed his door.
Chapter Fourteen
TARA PLOPPED HERSELF down on Kat’s bed.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“No.” Kat kept her eyes on her computer screen while sitting at her desk.
“Um . . . you sure? Because you walked in, said, ‘I broke up with Max,’ without looking at any of us and ran into the bathroom for an hour.”
“I needed to shave my legs.”
“Okaaaay,” Tara drawled slowly, holding her arms out like she wanted to prevent a meltdown. “Unless you’re Teen Wolf, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take an hour to shave your legs.”
Kat huffed. She didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t shaved her legs. She had sat on the toilet staring at the cracked tiles on the wall, replaying the breakup scene in her head. Except this time she was witty and funny and it ended with Alec sticking his tongue in her mouth. In a sexy way, not a creepy violating way. In her daydream, he was a fantastic kisser who tasted like a caramel macchiato. Extra drizzle.
“Come on, Kitty-Kat,” Tara whined. “I need to pluck my eyebrows before my date tonight and you’re delaying my prep.”
Kat sighed and turned her chair to face her friend.
“I was over it, you know? I felt like he didn’t really care much about me anymore, and he was sticking with me because he’d already put the time in and wanted to get laid for his efforts.”
Tara winced. “Ew.”
Kat laughed in spite of her depressive mood. “He’s not that bad. Just not for me. I think he has some shit to figure out.”
“Did this have anything to do with his nerdy roommate?”
Kat smacked Tara’s arm lightly. “Will you quit calling him nerdy? He’s not nerdy!”
Tara raised her eyebrows.
“Okay, well Alec is maybe a little nerdy but I have decided I like nerdy. It’s the new black, remember?”
“Hey, I like nerdy too! Maybe he has some nerdy friends.”
“Other than Max, I think his closest friend is a lesbian.”
Tara’s face fell. “Well, that’s not going to work well for me.”
Kat laughed. “Thanks for cheering me up, Tare. Now go deforest those brows before you can’t find your eyes.”
Tara playfully shoved Kat’s shoulder before running to the bathroom and laughing.
“Have a good night!” Kat called after her.
She sighed and pulled out her statistics book. Maybe she could actually get some studying done with her roommates out of the apartment.
Two hours later, Kat was alone, bored and hungry. A shrimp pesto pizza from the Pizza Box sounded amazing, even though it was almost midnight. Kat grabbed her coat and began the four-block walk off campus to the best pizza shop around.
Bowler was a cute town, with uneven brick sidewalks and quaint shops somehow able to stay in business despite their patrons consisting of poor college students.
Kat kept her eyes on her feet as she trudged to her destination. Being single made her feel like a kite with the strings cut. Sure, it was fun for a little to be willy-nilly, until she took a painful nosedive into the sand. It was part of the reason she kept herself attached, usually only moving on when something better came along.
Alec would most likely be something better. Everything about him fired her up and sent off warning bells at the same time. He wouldn’t be just another guy, the harmless ones she dated until they got tired of her. When Alec grew tired of her—which she assumed was inevitable—his leaving wouldn’t be so harmless.
In her musings, she’d walked a hundred yards past the Pizza Box. She growled to herself and turned back around.
When she opened the door, the usual smells of dough and sauce mixed with the sounds of employees hollering orders and students chatting. She kept her head down and walked to stand in the line at the counter. The girl two people ahead of her ordered about every topping with a five second pause in between each. Kat cracked her neck and huffed with impatience.
“Hey,” said a voice next to her. Kat looked up into the eyes of Danica Owens. Well, more like the face of Danica Owens, since her eyes were an unnatural bright green. She wore a red curly wig and some weird medieval lace-up-type dress. Kat wanted to ask her the direction to the nearest joust.
“Hey, Danica.” She’d only met her once or twice, but wherever Danica was . . . Kat let her eyes roam the restaurant.
“Yeah, I’m here with Stone.”
Kat snapped her eyes back to Danica, who looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “Oh, Alec?”
Danica snorted. “Don’t play dumb with me. I know that’s who you were looking for.”
Kat pursed her lips and faced forward again.
Danica placed a hand on her arm. “Get your food and then come sit with us, we’re in the back corner.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked away, long skirt swishing around her legs.
Kat silently fumed. Who was Danica to give her an order? All she wanted was to get her shrimp pesto pizza, walk back to her apartment and eat in silence. Not sit with Alec and his Irish lassie.
When it was her turn at the counter, she stomped up and made her order.
“For here or to go?” The guy behind the counter asked in a monotone voice, not even looking up from the register.
But of course, her mouth did the talking for her, and apparently that mouth wanted to be with Alec. “For here,” she spat out angrily. Stupid Danica.
When her pizza was ready, she collected herself and walked to the back corner. Danica saw her first and smiled. She said something to Alec and he turned around, surprise on his face. Danica hadn’t told him she saw Kat? Jeez.
“Hey Kat! Glad you decided to stay and chat.” Danica’s face was a little smug and Kat didn’t like it so much.
“Yeah, thanks for asking me. Hey, Alec.”
“Hey.” He scooted over in the booth so she could sit beside him. She slid into the seat and put down her plate, brimming with two slices of shrimp pesto pizza.
Alec raised his eyebrows. “That’s quite a midnight snack you have there.”
“Yeah, well, long day.” Dumping a boyfriend builds up an appetite, she wanted to say. “What are you two doing here?”
“Alec needed a girl chat.” Danica said, grinning at him over the rim of her soda cup. Kat thought her green eyes looked a little radioactive, and it was disconcerting. She took a bite of her pizza.
Alec glared at Danica before turning to Kat. “We were working on a project and decided to break for the night. We were hungry, so here we are.”
“Titillating conversation,” Danica mocked.
Alec probably would have incinerated Danica with his eyes if he were a superhero. Kat wanted to avoid any violence, so she tried to ease whatever was going on between them. “So, what’s your project about?”
Alec gave a brief description of their mock trial project, with Danica interjecting where she could. When he was finished, the three of them sat in silence for a minute or two. Kat picked at the remaining shrimp on her pizza.
“So . . .” Danica said, “I wonder if they have peanuts here?”
“Peanuts? You want peanuts?” Kat asked.
Danica shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard elephants like them. Pink elephants, I believe? Big pink ones.”
“Dan, will you shut up?” Alec growled.
“Right, then, that’s my cue to leave, so you two can discuss the big pink elephant in the room. Or at least give it peanuts.” Danica rose from the booth, tossed her hair over her shoulder and left with a wink.
Kat twirled her straw in her water. “So . . .”
“So . . .” Alec tapped his fingers on the table. “You okay?”
“Yep, great.” She went for cheery.
He sighed. “Seriously, Kat. It was kind of a scene. What happened?�
��
Kat licked her lips and shifted in the booth to face him. “Nothing really, at first. I went over there and told him that it wasn’t working out and I thought we needed to end it. He got all huffy and macho and took my book bag and said I wasn’t leaving until we ‘talked it out.’ But he didn’t want to talk about anything. He wanted to glare at me until I backed down. And then you came in . . . so . . . you know the rest.”
Alec snagged a crust on her plate and took a bite. He chewed and swallowed before he spoke again. “If . . . you . . . me . . . last night hadn’t happened, would you still have broken up with him?”
No. “Yep.”
“Kat . . .”
How did he do that? She rolled her eyes. “Maybe? Probably? Eventually? I don’t know. Because last night did happen, okay?”
Alec stuffed the rest of the crust in his mouth and stared at the far wall as he chewed. “Look, I’m glad you guys broke up, but . . .”
The but cut through her and she sucked in a breath. She didn’t want to hear about how last night was a mistake and he couldn’t be with her. Even if she wasn’t willing to take the risk, a part of her held out hope for the possibility of some sort of future with Alec. “Yep, me too. Long time coming. Welp, look at the time. I better go get some sleep.”
“Kat . . .”
She couldn’t have this conversation, another reminder of her failure to hold on to something lasting. She stood abruptly, picking up her plate and swiftly carrying it to the trash to dump the remains of her late-night grease fest. Footsteps sounded behind her as she walked out the door, and she figured it was Alec.
“Kat,” he said again.
She stopped. He walked in front of her and after a quick glance up and down the street, he stepped closer and cradled her cheek, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone. “I’m sorry,” he whispered and the heat of his breath coasted over her lips. She licked them, thinking that was the closest she’d ever get to tasting Alec. His eyes dipped to her lips before he spoke again, his voice a deep, strained rasp. “Max is my best friend, but for once in my life, I wish he wasn’t.”
She didn’t say anything, her entire focus on that inch of skin on her face he caressed. She didn’t know what she wanted him to say. Her sensible side told her to run, and her emotional side told her to grab his face and kiss him breathless. The two parts were fighting so hard, they shut down her whole system, so she stood mute, caught in those green eyes.
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