He didn’t answer right away; instead he let out a long sigh. I felt the heat rise on my face, starting at my neck and surpassing my eyes until it scorched the roots of my hair.

“I don’t have to give you my number, I just meant….”

“Are you all right?” Jared said. He watched me as if he thought I would break down into tears at any moment.

I could only nod as he slowed to a stop behind Andrews. I didn’t dare look at him. I fumbled with the handle and then felt his hand on my arm.

“Nina?” He reached around to gently hold my jaw and turned me to face him. “Don’t be upset. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m sorry. I…I think I misunderstood,” I bit my lip, drawing his attention to them.

He leaned in closer; his eyes still focused on my mouth. When he was just a few inches from me, he shook his head and pulled back.

The blood rushed in from every inch of my body and my feet tingled as the adrenaline rushed through them and then disappeared. I had been wrong. What I had taken to be flirtation or attraction must have been more of a fondness for me. He looked at me as a little sister, and I had made my misconception all too clear.

I opened the door, hopping out into a shallow puddle. The motor of the Escalade still hummed behind me as I pressed the door closed and walked to Andrews, too humiliated to look back.

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Suspicion(s)

I didn’t leave campus again until Beth, Kim and I met Ryan and his friends for drinks in a pub downtown. When we arrived, I saw that it was less of a pub and more of a dingy hole in the wall, but it would serve our purpose.

Tucker nodded to the bartender. “Hey, Tozzi.”

Tozzi eyed our group as he dried the inside of a glass and nodded.

We began with a shot and toasted to our mascot, “TO THE BIG BROWN BEAR!!”

I lost count of how many drinks I’d had, it was easy to do that with an open tab at the bar and Tucker ordering round after round. My cheeks were beginning to complain from the constant giggling and smiling, so I made fish faces to stretch them out. Ryan squeezed and pulled at my face as he laughed, having far more to drink than I had.

Ryan spoke as quietly as a drunk person was capable, brushing my bangs from my eyes and laughing as if he should be hiccupping tiny bubbles with every word. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” he asked.

“A few times,” I replied.

He grabbed each side of my face and pressed his forehead against mine. “I’m glad you came, Nina. I never have this much fun.”