“I’m not going to hurt you. Come on.” He said, pulling me towards the car with a smirk on his face. I bit my lip and reluctantly slid into the backseat as more people filed out of the bar and ran in every direction. Collin slid in beside me and tapped the seat in front of him. “Let’s go!” The car took off in the darkness with no headlights on to guide the way. I grabbed at my seatbelt but I panicked, pulling it too hard, causing it to lock in place.
“Calm down” he said quietly as he reached across me and tugged gently on the strap, and locked it into place. His close proximity made my heart skip a beat. His friends hollered and laughed as we made our way towards campus, but I felt like I was going to be sick.
“Pull over” I said, but my voice barely came out. “Pull over!” I shouted a little louder. The laughter dulled down and the vehicle pulled off to the side off the road. “I can find my way from here.” I said, trying not to sound ungrateful. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door. The night air was cool and I instantly felt better on solid ground.
“Wait” Collin called after me, and opened his door. We walked over to me and I took a step back, not sure what his intentions were. He laughed to himself. “Go ahead guys. I’ll catch up with you later.” He said to the driver, nodding his head. The car took off into the darkness, leaving me standing, alone, with Collin.
“What’s your name?” he asked, a boyish grin creeping across his face.
“Sinthia” I said quietly, tucking my hair behind my ear.
“Sin? That is badass. My names Collin.”
“I know.” I replied, regretting the words as soon as they left my mouth. His grin grew larger across his face as he ran his hands through his dark hair.
“No wonder you look so scared.” He joked, but I did not relax.
“Decker Hall, right? I’ll walk you home. Never know who you might run into out here.” He winked and my stomach tied in knots.
“I can manage. Thanks for the ride.” I turned away from him and began to walk down the alley, not sure where I was, but I needed to get away from him. He was everything I did not want in a guy and I was finding it hard not to twirl my hair like an idiot and giggle at his every word. He jogged up next to me, grabbing my arm. I held my breath, afraid of what he was going to do. He released my arm when he saw my expression, taking a step back.
“I was just going to show you a shortcut.” He explained, gesturing to the houses beside us. I nodded and reluctantly stepped forward. He grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers in mine and pulled me behind him.
“You are very different from the other girls at the bar.” He said offhandedly and I recoiled, feeling like he was making fun of me. He pulled my hand back closer to him as we walked through the next row of houses.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He ran his free hand through his messy hair. “Most girls at that bar don’t try so desperately to get away from me.” His eyes flashed to mine and I felt my cheeks burn pink. I looked to the ground trying hard not to show him how much he affected me.
“I’m immune to bullshit.” I shot back, rolling my eyes. The alcohol was making me a little too honest. He laughed and I could not help but smile at him.
I could see my dorm across the parking lot and he stopped to face me.
“It’s been fun.”
“Thanks for walking me home and for…everything else.” I pulled my fingers from his and began walking towards the building.
“Hey!” He called after me. “You want to hang?” He stared at me expectantly.
“I should really get some sleep. “ I said, shaking my head.
“Yea, me too I guess. It was nice meeting you, Sin.” He smiled and I felt my face light up.
“Yea, it was definitely a night to remember.” I replied and he looked down to the ground, kicking around some stones. “If you want…maybe we can get a drink or something?” I could not stop myself. He had just defended my honor in front of a crowd of people. The least I could do was buy him a drink.
“Cool.” We walked across the parking lot and I was glad it was dark so he could not see the stupid grin that was plastered across my face.
“So, you don’t live on campus?” I asked, trying to make small talk.
“No, my friends and I rent an apartment down on Sicily Street.” He explained. We made our way past the building and to a little dive bar on the other side of the main road. The place was practically empty, aside from a handful of locals. Collin ordered us two beers and I pulled money out of my pocket to cover it. “What are you doing?” He asked, looking genuinely offended.
“I owe you a drink.” I shrugged and sat the money on the bar. He rolled his eyes and held out the beers.
“Can you hold these for a moment?” he asked.
“Sure.” I took the drinks from him as he turned back to the bar. He pulled money from his wallet and set it down. He grabbed my bill and stuck it down the front of my tank top. I was unable to stop him with the beers in my hands. I glared at him, struggling to keep from laughing.
“Now you owe me a lap dance.” He laughed.
“I could always pour this beer on you.”
“Is that how your shirt got all wet like that?” He teased.
“Shit” I muttered looking down at my still damp shirt. I wished I had stopped at my room to change into something else before going out again. He leaned in closer, taking his drink from my hand.
“You look beautiful.” He whispered into my ear, sending a jolt of happiness through my body. I stepped back from him, hating how impossible he was to ignore.
“You play?” I asked, looking at the lone pool table in the back of the room.
“Do I play?” he replied sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and made my way to the table, pulling out the balls to rack. I went first, since Collin was convinced that I would miss everything on the table. I drew back and shot, nailing the cue ball hard and sending it spinning down the table, sinking three balls. He looked shocked as I hit another in. On my next shot, I missed as I watched him staring at a group of girls who had wandered in and sat down at a table across from us.
“Your turn” I said quietly as I leaned on my pool stick and drank down the rest of my beer. He leaned over and hit the ball, completely missing his target.” I thought you said you played?” I teased.
“I didn’t say I played well.” He joked, finishing his beer.
“I’ll grab us a couple more.” I walked over to the bar and waited for the bartender to come my way. As I waited I noticed one of the girls from the table leave her seat, glancing in my direction as she made a beeline for Collin. She touched his arm as she flirted with him and they talked. She giggled entirely too loudly as he smiled at her, leaning back onto the table. “Two beers” I said to the bartender who stood behind me. I placed my money on the bar and made my way back to Collin who was slipping a piece of paper into his pocket that the girl had given him before making her way back to her friends. I did my best to smile and look un-phased by the exchange.
“Thanks” He said, grabbing the beer and taking a drink.
“Making friends?” I gestured to the girls as I took a drink.
“I’m a people person.” He smiled and I rolled my eyes, lining up my next shot. We played several more games until the bar emptied out and the bartender yelled for last call. After we had finished our drinks, we walked back across the parking lot towards my dorm.
“I had a lot of fun tonight.” Collin smiled.
“Yea, I did too, surprisingly.” I replied.
“Ouch” He put his hand on his chest, pretending to be wounded.
“No, I didn’t mean it that way. I just don’t go out very often and I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and a piece fell loose in front of my face. Collin reached out and tucked it back, his fingers running along my cheek. “I should probably go.” I said nervously. He nodded letting his hand drop to his side.
“See you around?” He asked as I walked towards the building.
“Yea” I yelled back at him.
Chapter Two
My alarm wailed above my head and I swung my arm at it, trying to shut it off. It was just out of reach and I reluctantly pushed off my bed to hit the button. My head throbbed and for a moment I was not sure I would make it to class. I got a glass of water and some aspirin and headed down to the showers, hoping it would make me feel well enough to stay awake.
My classes dragged on and by the end of the day, I could not see straight. Part of that was due to leaving my glasses in Taylor’s purse. My phone rang as I made my way across campus towards the dorm.
“What did
you
do last night?” Taylor asked.
“Hello to you too” I said dryly.
“Hello. What the hell happened with you and Collin last night?” Her question caught me off guard.
“You know I didn’t do anything, Tay.” I rolled my eyes and pushed the button for the elevator.
“Don’t give me that. He was eye fucking you all night. Then, he went all incredible Hulk on that guy.”
I laughed as the doors opened. Standing in front of me was Collin. His green eyes lit up when he saw me and for a second I forgot how to breathe.
“Hello” I said quietly as I stepped inside.
“Yea, hello. We already said all that, remember?” Taylor snapped in my ear.
“Hey” Collin replied.
“Who the fuck was that? Was that…Was that Collin? You did fuck him! You slut!” Taylor giggled in my ear and my face burned red.
“I’ll call you back.” I ended the call and slid my phone into my pocket. He held the door to the elevator open and I waited for him to walk out but he did not so I stepped inside.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, sounding ruder than I intended.
“I was looking for you, but I didn’t know which room was yours so I may have pissed off some of the people on your floor.” He grinned and my heart began to speed up.
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Make sure you got home okay.” He ran his fingers through his hair and it fell perfectly back into place. I bit my lip. He made me incredibly nervous. Most guys did not bother to approach me. I usually kept to myself, aside from the rare occasion that I let Taylor drag me out for a drink.
“Here I am.” I smiled like an idiot, than quickly erased it from my face. What the hell was this guy doing to me? Two girls filed passed him into the elevator, giggling and smiling. He grinned their direction but his eyes came quickly back to mine.
“So, I’ll see you around?” He asked as he stepped out of the elevator and the girls in the corner got quiet, waiting for my response.
“I guess I will if you keep stalking me like this.” I resorted to sarcasm to hide my nervousness. He laughed as the doors slid closed. I glanced back at the girls behind me who were looking me up and down as if I had an infectious disease.
I could not wait to get inside my room. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I leaned back against it. My phone rang loudly in my hand.
“What the fuck was that about?” Taylor yelled.
“It was nothing. I just ran into Collin in the elevator.”
“You do know he doesn’t even live in our dorm, don’t you?”
“He didn’t stay with me last night, Tay. He’s not even my type.”
“You have a type?”
“You’re exhausting.” I sighed, throwing my books on my bed.
“Get dressed. I’ll be over in five.” She said, hanging up before I could object. I lay back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling wishing it would swallow me whole.
A knock came a few minutes later and Taylor did not even bother to wait for a response. She came and plopped next to me on the bed.
“Wake up sleepy head!” She bounced the mattress and I grabbed my stomach.
“Come on, Taylor” I whined, opening my eyes to see her smiling. “Where?”
“I wanna grab some burgers at Smokey’s before the rush.” Smokey’s was a burger joint just out on the main road. Everyone on campus hung out there.