Into the Deep 01 (5 page)

“Are you sure my eyes aren’t puffy anymore?” I asked, ducking my head as we walked up the cobbled lane toward the college.

“No puffiness or redness in sight. You look hot. You always look hot,” Claudia said a little absentmindedly.

“Are you nervous about seeing Beck again?”

“Nervous? Why on earth would I be nervous?”

I ignored her and kept following Maggie, Gemma, and Laura. They’d heard we were going to the student union to hang out with Beck and they’d invited themselves along. Beck was a popular draw.

Claudia had come into the kitchen at dinner to tell me she’d just spoken with Beck and he’d invited us to hang out at the student union. At first, I was wary. It turned out Beck and Jake were best friends at Northwestern, so Beck had called Claudia to ask if I was okay. Apparently, Jake had told him our whole story. Claudia hadn’t told him anything about my reaction to seeing Jake but she said she wasn’t sure if we were free. Beck had caught the hint and assured her that Jake wouldn’t be there.

The student union had a number of locations across the university, but the one we were headed to was Teviot. Teviot was housed in a beautiful, old, Gothic-style building on the main campus at Bristo Square. It had a nightclub inside, a couple of different bars including this really cool Library Bar Claud and I had checked out the day we got our IDs.

Beck had texted Claud to let us know they were in the Teviot Lounge bar. We followed our roommates up the stairs and into a crowded space that had the typical look of a British pub. Everywhere was dark wood, low lights, comfortable seating, and hardwood, hardwearing furniture. The smell of stale beer was a little overwhelming but it was a given in a bar with carpeted floors. We squeezed past the students milling around the doors, and I followed Claudia as she checked out the room for our newest friend.

She grabbed my hand. “He’s over there.”

I couldn’t see him yet, but I followed her as she pulled me through the crowd. We came to a stop at a table around the corner from the bar. Beck was standing with Matt, while Lowe, Rowena, and some guy I didn’t recognize sat at a small table next to them.

We’d lost our roommates and for a second, I pondered looking for them. They
had
specifically come with us to see Beck. Then again, they were twenty years old … they didn’t need a tour guide or a babysitter.

“Charley, Claudia, glad you could come,” Beck greeted us. “Let me get you a beer.”

He disappeared before we could say yay or nay and Matt, the blond from the party, smiled at us. “We met last night,” he nodded to me and then turned to Claud, “but I definitely would remember meeting you, and we definitely did not.” Matt’s grin widened.

She smiled politely back. “I’m Claudia.”

“Claudia, this is Lowe.” Lowe winked at her and then lifted his beer in greeting to me. “Rowena.” She gave us a friendly wave. “And our buddy, Denver. It was his party last night. Poor guy got stuck in different accommodation from us.”

Denver had messy dark hair that fell to his chin. He wore a lot of silver jewelry, a tight Black Sabbath shirt, and a pair of black skinny jeans and motorcycle boots. Matt seemed to be the odd one out, but still, there was something about the group…

“Are you guys in a band?”

Matt grinned. “Yeah. We play a lot in Evanston.”

“We have a few gigs lined up here,” Lowe added, his gaze fixed on me.

I was impressed. “How did you manage to swing that so quickly?”

Lowe shrugged. “We sent out demos to a couple of pubs and bars before we got here. Arranged some dates. We have to rent a drum kit, which is a bummer, but it would be an even bigger bummer to be here for a year and not play one fucking gig.”

“What are you guys called?” Claudia asked, seeming interested, which surprised me since she wasn’t big into music unless it was classical or country.

“The Stolen.” Beck appeared behind us with two beers. I thought that was impressively fast considering the line at the bar. No doubt he charmed his way through the crowd. “We’re indie rock.”

“I told them people will love them here,” Rowena piped up with a big smile.

“Oh my God, you’re Scottish,” I replied, somewhat stupidly.

“Aye.”

Feeling like an idiot, I tried to explain my “duh” moment. “I just thought you were American with you being with the guys and …” I drifted off, actually not sure why I’d assumed she was American.

She shook her head. “I live across the hall fae Denver. Ma flatmates are aliens. Denver saved me fae them.”

“She’s our token Scot,” Denver joked, throwing his arm around her shoulder. “We’re keeping her around for the accent. It does help, though, that the girl knows good music.”

Rowena looked perfectly happy tucked into his side and I wondered absentmindedly if she was more than his token Scot.

We all fell easily into conversation, Matt hogging Claudia’s attention, his gaze almost stunned as they talked. He was captivated and I instantly felt bad for him because I knew Claudia didn’t feel the same. When Claudia liked a guy, she was pretty obvious about it. Beck could attest to that—Beck, who, I noticed, was watching Claudia with an intensity that surprised me for someone who apparently wasn’t into her. He finally caught me studying him and he grinned, his expression teasing as he stepped near me.

“So,” he leaned his head down close to mine, “I know your friend is a good girl, but I still haven’t made up my mind about you.”

I didn’t know if he was coming onto me or just making conversation, but I thought I better lay it out for him anyway. “I don’t
do
bad boys.”

His eyes narrowed. “
Anymore
.”

My gaze sharpened at his insinuation and Beck shrugged. “Jake’s like a brother. He tells me everything.”

I looked away, my heartbeat picking up at the mention of him. Trying for nonchalant, I took a swig of beer. If I was to go by Beck’s next comment, I’d obviously failed.

“Look, the guy feels like shit about the way he treated you. You should give him a chance to say it.”

Making a face that I’m sure screamed “bitter,” I turned back to Beck. “He knows where I live. He’s known for three and a half years and he’s had that whole time to apologize.”

Beck sighed, every ounce of bad boy melting out of him as he told me solemnly, “It took Jake a long time to get over what happened. When he finally started to breathe again, he realized how much he’d fucked it up with you … but it was already done. It was too late.” He made a helpless gesture. “I could go on for hours, but it’s not my place. Just give the guy a chance to explain, okay?”

Everything he said reminded me of the pain and anger in Jake’s eyes. The blame and guilt. He’d aimed it at the wrong person but that didn’t mean he wasn’t entitled to those feelings. I knew that. It just made the whole situation between us that much harder. However, I didn’t know if I could be in the same room with him and be okay. I chewed on it, my eyes slipping away from Beck’s to gaze around the room. They didn’t get very far.

Standing in the crowd around the bar was Jake and the brunette he’d been with last night. That sharp pain in my chest resurfaced as I watched Jake cradle the nape of her neck in his strong hand and hold her as he spoke to her.

He used to hold me in that exact same way, except he always had to duck his head a little to meet my eyes. Although I teased him about his alpha-male handling of me, I’d secretly loved it. I always imagined he’d held me by the nape because he wanted my entire focus on him. It was at once protective and sexual.

And I’d thought it was only for me.

I felt Beck move closer as I watched them. I tilted my jaw a little in his direction without taking my eyes off Jake. “He definitely looks like he’s over the whole thing now.”

“Melissa’s a good girl,” Beck replied, drawing my attention back to him. He watched Jake for a minute and then turned to me with a sad shrug. “She’s helped him a lot. He deserves that kind of happiness. Don’t you think? After everything … he deserves a good girl to stand by him.”

He had a good girl who stood by him,
I thought angrily, my eyes flashing before the pain overtook.

Beck must’ve caught that pain because he instantly flinched and cursed under his breath. I felt his fingers graze my cheek gently. “Charley, ignore me. That was the wrong thing to say. I know that. Jake knows that. But … actually, you know what …” He shook his head. “I don’t know about any of it from your side, so I’m just going to shut the fuck up.” He chucked my chin affectionately and turned back to the group, throwing out some off-the-cuff remark to Matt who sent him a death glare for mocking him in front of Claudia.

I could only stand there, frozen by the knowledge that not only was Jake Caplin here at the same college as me, but he was also here with another girl he’d fallen in love with.

To hell with that.

Throwing back the last of my beer, I dropped it on the nearest table and without a word to Claudia or anyone, I turned on my heel, letting my hair fall over my cheek in the hopes that Jake wouldn’t recognize me as I passed. I hurried out of the lounge and down the staircase, thinking I was home free as I hit the concrete stairs outside, gulping in the cool summer air.

“Charley!”

Jake’s voice caught me as I walked onto the square.

“Charley!”

“Charley!”

My stomach did that weird flippy thing at the sound of Jake’s voice nearing me, but I didn’t slow down. I turned my head a little, hearing his footsteps pound against the running track as he raced after me. He caught up and I gave him a small smile as he turned in front of me and started running backward. Luckily, I wasn’t running very fast, or he might’ve found himself on his ass. “Hey, Jake.”

He rolled his eyes. “‘Hey, Jake’, she says casually as if I haven’t just embarrassed myself chasing after her.”

And he wasn’t just talking about running down the school track after me. The last three weeks Jake had been paying me so much attention, the entire school was talking about it. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire town was talking, as my mom had even mentioned it at dinner the other night. So far Jake had asked me out twice—I’d said
no
the first time (considering it was only two days after the party) and
maybe
last time. It was last week and we’d spent enough time around each other for me to know that my hormone-riddled teenage body didn’t just want him.
All
of me did.

“Do you care what anyone else thinks?” I slid him a sly smile knowing he did not. Since he’d started pursuing me, I’d heard that he’d been catching a lot of crap from Brett and his goons. I was glad to hear that Alex had nothing to do with it. Still, it was irritating. It hadn’t seemed to have put Jake off, though. I got the impression Jake wasn’t the kind of guy who backed down from anyone.

Jake’s lips twitched. “You’re killing me right now. That smirk, the hair, the sweat, those shorts …”

“The sweat?” I wrinkled my nose, suddenly feeling very unattractive.

He shrugged, a devilish gleam in his eyes. “Sweat makes me think of the things we could do together to get sweaty. Good and sweaty.”

I flushed. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m awesome,” he corrected me, repeating my words from the first night we’d met. Suddenly he stopped, his arm reaching out to catch me as I passed. I found myself being swung around and held tight against him, a surprised gasp escaping my lips as my hands fluttered against his chest.

My skin flushed hotter than it already was from running as I tilted my head back to stare up into his face. “What are you doing?”

His arm tightened around me. “It’s been three weeks since we met and I still haven’t gotten you alone. I’m not cool with that. Life is too damn short. So, Charlotte Julianne Redford, will you go out on a date with me already?”

I fidgeted as I tried to catch my breath. My hand slid across his chest as I did, coming to a rest just above his heart. To my surprise, I felt it pounding against my palm as hard as mine was. I looked up into his eyes. “Why?” I didn’t know if I was asking about his racing heartbeat or why he’d chosen me to relentlessly pursue.

Jake’s other arm came around my waist and he pressed me even deeper into him so my arms had to slide up around his neck. He bent his head, his eyes flaring as my breasts brushed his chest. Our mouths rested close to one another as he answered softly, “My mom came down on me last year for moving too fast with girls, breaking hearts, for not taking girls seriously. I told her I never made any promises and she told me it was about time I did. My dad heard and told her to lay off, that I was young, but that one day I’d meet a girl who would knock me flat on my ass.” He grinned, his nose brushing mine. “Well, he was right, and it happened sooner than I thought it would. You’ve knocked me on my ass, Charley. I think it might have something to do with the fact that you make me laugh a lot and you’re really smart. And really hot. Really, really hot,” he murmured against my mouth. “All I know is that you probably deserve better than me, but I’m too selfish to let you. I’m into you, and I want you to be so into me, you don’t even care that I’m not good enough for you.”