“Actually, that sounds really fun,” I tried to make it sound like I believed what I was saying. Tried. Probably didn’t succeed, but at least I tried. “But I owe this one guy a ton of money and I can’t afford it. You guys have fun though!”
“What were you going to do for lunch then?” Fin asked as if he was actually concerned.
“I’ve got a hot date with a pack of spicy chicken Ramen back at my apartment,” I smiled confidently but the truth was the thought of eating another pack of too-salty noodles made my stomach churn with defiance. I knew I didn’t have a choice, I literally couldn’t waste any of my money on food, but there had to be something else out there with more than a four flavor rotating menu that also cost only thirteen cents a meal.
Fin scowled at me again, his eyebrows drew down and the corners of his mouth turned in so that I knew he was serious, but most of all dangerous.
“I’ll buy your lunch,” he declared and it sounded every ounce the command that it was.
“No, I don’t think-“ I started with every intention to go from carefully polite to a full on refusal.
“I’ll buy it,” Britte volunteered before I could come up with any real defense. “I owe you anyway.”
“For what?” I raised my eyebrows and waited for her answer, daring her to come up with something. She didn’t owe me for anything.
“For that thing, the other day.” She countered my eyebrow raise with one of her own and I knew I was defeated. At this point I was just being selfish.
Besides, there was this nervous fluttering in my stomach that insisted I wanted to eat lunch with Fin.
“Fine, you can pay me back. By buying me a huge, gigantic lunch that will distend my stomach and make me gain at least five pounds.”
Britte laughed out loud but agreed while Fin and Jameson just shot each other a confused look.
Britte explained, “She’s been traumatized by Ramen Noodles.”
Fin led the way to the cafeteria through the rain. By the time we navigated the sidewalks and around others running from the weather we were even wetter, my clothes even clingier. We stood panting and catching our breath in the lobby of the cafeteria, dripping water onto an already sodden mat. Well, Britte and I were panting, the boys looked none the worse for wear. Fin and Jameson shook out their hair while Britte and I worked hard at adjusting our clothing and wringing out our own hair.
She was doing much better than me since she had the foresight to wear a jacket today with a hood. Her hair was only damp and her clothes relatively untouched although her skinny jeans were now even more molded to her than before.
Fin was giving me an incomprehensible look as I pulled my tank top away from my skin and fanned it a little bit. His jaw was working back and forth and his arms folded across his chest. All in all, the rain had done nothing but make him more irresistible. His t-shirt clung to all his rigid, sculpted muscles, his eye lashes were spiked with moisture and his hair just damp enough that I had visions of him just out of the shower.
What?
Where did that thought come from?
I needed to pull myself together.
Charlie pushed through the doors at that moment drawing all of our attention to him and another guy I had seen around Fin before. Jameson and Fin said their hellos, and introduced us to Gunner.
“Gunner?” I asked just to make sure I got his name right.
“Not my real name,” he admitted seeming just a little bit embarrassed. “It’s a nickname.”
“He’s a sprinter. The hundred and two hundred,” Jameson explained. If I hadn’t run track in high school I wouldn’t have known those were the fastest sprints, so I guessed the nickname made sense.
“My real name is Ben Gunning, but I’m fast,” he said matter of factly.
“Good for you,” Britte mumbled, but she sounded amused.
Charlie and Gunner must have been hungry because they headed off for the dining room immediately. Jameson and Britte followed and I would have too if Fin hadn’t stepped in front of me.
His devilish smile caught me off guard and I smiled back, wondering what he was up to.
“I pissed you off the first day I met you, didn’t I?” he asked in a low, rough voice.
“And every day since then,” I said dryly but I hadn’t managed to wipe off my smile yet.
He took a step forward and slid his hand slowly around my waist. He palm wrapped around my hip gently, carefully, like he was afraid to scare me. I shivered against the warmth of his hand and the closeness of his body. What was he doing to me?
“I want to apologize for how I treated you that day.” His dark eyes met mine and held my gaze. He was being sincere. “I didn’t mean to scare you or piss you off. I was just desperate to get that money. But that’s not an excuse for how I treated you and I’m sorry.”
I cleared my throat and processed his words without a whole lot of understanding. He was too close, too overwhelming. “I forgive you,” I finally managed.
“Thank you.” His head dipped down and he brought me closer to his body. I put a trembling hand to his chest in a weak attempt to push him away but when his nose grazed my cheekbone only to nuzzle against the top of my ear I lost the ability to move completely. “But Ellie, I will never feel bad for suggesting that you to stop dressing like a missionary.”
Still stunned by the sound of his voice whispering in my ear, he brought his other hand up and let his fingers brush against my stomach. Eventually reason and understanding penetrated the haze of want fogging all rational thought and I let out a choked sound of indignity.
Pushing him away with two hands I snapped, “You are so full of yourself!” I stomped past him, my cheeks ablaze with blushing and the firm decision to never get that close to Fin Hunter again making my entire body shake.
“It was a compliment!” he called to my back. “I think you want me, Ellie. You can’t keep pushing me away!”
“Want to bet?” I called over my shoulder and escaped to the cafeteria, all the while I was afraid he was right.
What was more was why did I have to push him away? What did he want from me? Obviously he was pursuing me? But for what?
I caught up to Britte in line and started immediately filling up my plate. If she wanted to sit with our new “friends” then she was going to have to pay for it.
We separated from the guys as Britte and I made our way to the salad bar. She was nervous, I could tell and so she was playing it safe with a salad. I grew up around older boys, not just my brothers, but their friends too, so I was more comfortable with Fin and his friends than most girls my age. And while I got a salad too- because obviously vegetables were important- I also grabbed a grilled cheese, a piece of pizza, a baked potato and a banana. Perfectly balanced meal.
After Britte did a double take of my tray and then paid for both of us we walked to the dining area where I hoped I could persuade her to sit by ourselves.
“Do you see them?” she asked.
Ok, there went that plan.
“Nope,” I said unhelpfully.
“I don’t get it,” she shook her head and started walking in a random direction. “Fin’s obviously into you. What’s your holdup?”
“We don’t know that he’s into me,” I argued but she shot me an incredulous look that brokered no argument on her part. “Anyway, I got over Colton pretty easily, but I’m not always going to get over the guy like that. And it’s not like Fin is looking to settle down. I’m not the kind of girl that can just have a fling, or one night, or whatever. I’m stuck with him for four more weeks or until this debt is paid off and how awkward would it be to have to work with him after that?”
“Maybe he would just forget all about the debt?” Britte suggested and I really couldn’t believe she thought that question all the way through.
“Britte! That makes me a seven thousand dollar hooker! Are you kidding me?” I hissed in a high pitched screech.
Her face fell. “I hadn’t thought about it like that, bu
t I see your point.”
“Besides, I wouldn’t put a seven thousand dollar price tag on my inexperience. Trust me, either would he. And then how weird would that be? What if he was like, now you only owe six thousand? Or worse? Six thousand, eight hundred and seventy five or something weird like that. I would never emotionally recover from that.” I was only half-joking. In my head, this was a real possibility.
Britte started laughing at me.
“There,” I pointed. “They are over there.”
We started making our way through tables and chairs and the masses of college campus life.
“Ok, so no hooking up until after you pay him the money. The money you don’t have.”
“Exactly.”
“So how are you going to keep him off you until then? He’s like really into you! I wouldn’t be able to keep saying no, if Fin was spending that kind of concentrated energy on me.”
“Yeah, well I don’t have a choice. I’m probably just going to keep ignoring all his efforts,” I shrugged.
“Yeah, that seems to only be challenging him. I think he likes it.”
“Well, it probably doesn’t help that I made out with him on Monday,” I whispered right before we reached the table.
“You did what!” Britte shrieked almost dropping her tray.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted diplomatically and then nudged Britte in the back so she would close her gigantic mouth, turn around and sit down.
I moved around her when she didn’t read my mind and squeezed in next to Jameson. She finally pulled herself together and sat down on the other side of the table between Fin and Charlie.
I snatched a fry from Jameson’s plate before he could stop me and then shot him a big smile when he narrowed his eyes. Fin might have been off limits, but Jameson wasn’t.
“So you guys all run track?” Britte asked around a bite of salad.
“Yes,” Charlie answered.
“What do you run?” she pressed and I was glad she did because I was just as curious.
“Long jump, high jump and triple jump and then we’re all in the four by four,” Charlie explained. “Gunner does the short sprints, J does mostly hurdles and the four hundred and then Fin does the longer runs, four hundred, eight hundred, and two mile.”
“Not the mile?” I asked Fin.
“We have better runners for that,” he shrugged so I turned my attention elsewhere.
“I bet you love the four by four, Gunner,” I offered sarcastically.
He made a noise in the back of his throat. “It’s stupid. Coach thinks he’s pushing me.”
“Sprinters,” Fin mumbled, sounding disappointed with humanity.
“Four by four, that’s when you each run once around the entire track?” Britte asked, not understanding Gunners attitude.
“Exactly,” Jameson answered. “Gunner’s just a little lazy.”
“Too lazy run once around the track?” Britte stared him down, trying to gauge if he was serious or not.
“Gunner thinks the two hundred is too long of a race,” Fin grumbed.
“So is this a big meet?” I asked catching Fin’s eyes from across the table.
“Regionals,” he explained. “So pretty big.”
“Guess you won’t need me Thursday night then, yeah?” I asked quieter.
“Wrong,” he matched my pitch while everyone else started talking around us. “I’m going to give you a key to my apartment and I want you to monitor the Thursday night games until I get home. You can just hang out, keep an eye on everything, and write down the stats like you have been doing. I’ll leave my credit card and you can order some food.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I shook my head quickly. I felt like I should complain about working when he wasn’t going to be there, but then I realized that my time would count and I wouldn’t have to spend time with him.
“Obviously I do,” Fin nodded at my plate.
“I’m fine; I just get tired of the same thing. It’s nice to have a little variety.”
“Then let me give you some variety. I want to Ellie. Don’t tell me I can’t help you.” He practically leveled me with the intensity behind his eyes. He was so fierce, so commanding. I nodded because I couldn’t do anything else. Fine, he could buy me dinner. I would order a whole pizza and then eat it myself. I hoped he wasn’t expecting me to have something waiting for him.
“So, Els, I have good news for you!” Britte announced from across the table, bringing my attention back to her.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I’m moving in with you!”
“What? What about your student loan?” Britte and I talked lots about moving in with each other over the last year but part of her student loan was designed specifically for on campus housing. She hated the dorms as much as I had hated living with Tara, but there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it.
“My dad said he would help some with the cost of living and with as much time as I’ve been spending at Bailey’s I can work it.” Her eyes were lit up and she was bouncing in her seat. I was just as excited as her.
“So when? When can you move in with me? Tonight?”
“How about next weekend? I need to get through midterms and pack. And then we need to find boys to help do the heavy lifting,” she raised her voice on the last part and Jameson and Fin both broke out into smiles. Charlie and Gunner averted their eyes…. smart boys.
“Yes! No more skeevy roommates!” I smiled and then said purposefully. “Just don’t steal my identity B, and this will be the greatest partnership of all time!”
“That’s not real is it?” Jameson asked, his expression skeptical.
“What? Tara the Terrible? Oh she is very, very real,” Britte said with conviction.
“What’s real?” Charlie asked.
It was obvious at this moment that Fin explained the situation to Jameson but not to any of his other friends. I wondered what he would do now that I had Britte as a witness.
“My old roommate stole my identity,” I explained dryly.
“Holy shit!” Gunner said sympathetically.
“Did you lose a lot of money?” from Charlie.
“Seven thousand dollars and almost all of my furniture,” I replied honestly.
“Holy shit!” Gunner repeated with more enthusiasm.
“I know!”
I chanced an “I told you so” look at Fin. He met my gaze but just shook his head like he didn’t believe me.
“She was such a bitch,” Britte reiterated.
“You met her?” Jameson asked. He seemed thoughtful over the whole thing, not sure whether to believe me or the story Fin told him.
“Lots of times. She never paid her rent on time, she turned their apartment into a gigantic mess and then when she left after hocking everything that was worth something of Els, she booked it out of town and only left a note. She didn’t even tell Ellie she was leaving, she told her she was going out to dinner! All Ellie had was a stupid note.”
“On the back of my Biology notes,” I groaned, remembering that awful night.
“Holy shit!” Gunner, obviously a man of few words.
“Worst day of my life,” I groaned.
“It wasn’t all bad,” Fin said softly. I snapped my eyes up to meet his and stared him down. He was looking at me with the smallest smirk on his face and those heated chocolate eyes.
“It was kind of all bad,” I insisted.
“I think some of it was kind of good.”
The rest of the table and cafeteria faded into the background while Fin and I shared this back and forth. I hadn’t wanted to admit to his flirting before, but he was holding my gaze in his as if it were a physical thing, as if the attraction, the intensity between us could be touched and stoked with the smallest encouragement. He was hard to ignore this time. Ok, impossible.
“Mmm, pretty sure, I’m right.” Because I was right. That was a terrible day. He was crazy to even joke about meeting him being good. Ok, truthfully,
I didn’t hate knowing him now. But that day had been awful.
“Then I’m just going to have to change your mind.” His voice dropped to that low, raspy octave again and I wanted to make him keep talking just so I could listen to it for the rest of the day.
“I’d like to see you try,” I challenged.
“Ellie, I’ve been trying.” He admitted that and it knocked the breath out of me. “Good thing I don’t give up easily.”
“Maybe you should,” I whispered.
Fin leaned forward, his smirk growing just a little bit more with confidence, “What kind of gambling man would I be if I didn’t know when to bet blind?”
“Bet blind?” I asked, my curiosity winning out over my anxiety.
“Bet blind, dark bet, bet in the dark, basically it means I’ve gambled big before it’s my turn,” he explained but it still didn’t make sense.
“Who’s turn is it?”
“Yours and I can’t predict what you’re going to do, but that hasn’t stopped me from throwing my chips in,” he leaned forward like he was telling me a secret. “I might not know how you’re going to play but I’m confident I can win.”
I took a giant bite of grilled cheese dipped in ketchup so I wouldn’t have to respond to that right away. Plus I did other mature things, like I avoided eye contact and stole another one of Jameson’s fries. Then I smashed the fry into the grilled cheese and dipped it in ketchup again.
“That is the grossest thing I’ve ever seen,” Jameson said with a puckered look on his face.
“She puts ketchup on everything,” Britte explained with the same disgusted look. “Even pizza.”
“You’re really twelve, aren’t you?” Jameson teased. “Only little kids put ketchup on everything.”
“I like it,” I smiled. “Plus, it’s good for you.”
“How’s that?” Jameson asked, clearly amused by me.
“Because of the tomatoes.”
“You know that’s not how it works, right?” Jameson laughed at me.