Page 8 of Come As You Are
I grimace. “Please, my friends call me Rummy.”
The only familiar face in the room when I arrive belongs to Matt Haley, and he’s thoroughly occupied by a pair of gorgeous girls who look at him like they plan to give that rope ladder a workout tonight. Clearly, I won’t be interrupting, so I take myself over to the drinks table instead and pour myself a Sprite.
“You’re Evie, right?”
I nearly spit out my drink at the sound of that familiar accent, but I manage to choke down the bubbles and only halfway resemble a gaping fish as I turn around to face Farmboy, a.k.a. (per his name sticker) Lucas Burke. “Right. Wow, it’s nice to hear my name and not ‘Rumson Girl,’ so thank you for that.”
The regrets at mentioning my stupid nickname and predicament settle in immediately, but Lucas just laughs. “It’s apretty name,” he says, clearly determined to make me melt into the floor. “But ‘Rumson Girl’ is cute too. You’re a celebrity on your very first day.”
“Not exactly what I want to be famous for.” Although thereissomething nice about the fact that Lucas has heard of me.
“There are worse things.” He pours himself a cup of Coke, and we clink “glasses.” “You’ve got your own room, right?”
I brace myself for a gross line to follow, but he’s just looking at me with friendly interest, as if we are normal people having a normal conversation. How novel. “I do. That part is definitely mostly a perk.”
“Mostly?”
“I was kind of looking forward to sharing,” I admit, watching his throat as he takes a swallow of his soda. “Making an instant friend. I don’t know anyone here. I just transferred.”
“Ah.” Lucas’s lips curve into the most charming of smiles. “Well, I will very happily be your friend, if you’re looking.”
The way he says “friend” feels a little… loaded, but maybe I’m imagining things, maybe even hearing what I want to hear, if only a little bit. He isverycute, and beingveryfriendly, and singling me out in a packed room.
I amneverthe one singled out in a packed room.
“That sounds nice,” I say, and I let it sound a little loaded, too, because flirting is fun and I amextremelysingle. “And what is it friends do around here?”
As soon as it comes out of my mouth, I realize it sounds a whole lot flirtier than I was going for, but Lucas doesn’t seemto mind. “There are so many options,” he says, putting his cup down. “Especially with a girl who’s got her own room.”
Oh. Well. He’s just moving right past flirting and into… I don’t know what, but it’s got my heart beating double time in my chest, and my nerves tingling with something that could be nervousness or excitement or possibly even some horny combination of the two.
Craig and I didn’t fool around a whole lot. We’d make out, sometimes he’d touch my boobs, but mostly the effect was of a puppy pawing at me for a treat. Honestly, I thought maybe he just wasn’t that interested in sex stuff.
Until I caught him with my sister and realized that what he wasn’t interested in was me.
So now, having someone look at me the way Lucas is looking at me, gaze flicking between my chest and my mouth, lip caught between his teeth in a way that makes me wonder if he even knows he’s doing it… yeah, I’m feeling pretty good. Turns out it’s kinda nice to have someone confirm you’re not a troll when that’s exactly how your ex left you feeling.
I think about earlier, at Rumson, how channeling Sierra and her attitude was the thing that finally made people listen to me.
And I think about how Sierra would already be halfway back to her room with Lucas in tow.
And I think about how Sierra has always,alwayscome out on top, no matter how terrible her choices seem to be.
And I think that maybe, if I want to get out of her shadow, as I came here to do, it’s time to make some big moves for myself.
I take a deep breath, put my own cup down next to his, and flash what I hope is an alluring smile. “Well, I happen to be just such a girl. Would you like a tour?”
My heart pounds as we slip out of the Student Center and head toward Rumson, even though no one’s paying attention to two students milling about campus when there are so many still making their way to the Student Center. No one even looks twice as we enter Rumson, and no one’s there to see me lead him to my room and close the door behind me.
Now that we’re inside, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do or say; I hadn’t gotten quite that far in my determination to be fiercely adventurous. But Lucas seems perfectly comfortable glancing around my room, and though I wait for the inevitable “Where’s all your stuff?,” it doesn’t come. Instead he just says, “You’re cute.”
Heat rises into my cheeks with a vengeance. “Am I?”
“You know you are, Rumson Girl,” he says with a grin, and it’s the least I’ve ever hated that nickname. “I would get in a lot of trouble if there was a girl like you sleeping right across the hall from me.”
“What kind of trouble?” I try not to wince at how shakily my voice comes out, but he just sounds so… confident. Adult. Like someone who gets into trouble often, and likes it.
And the way he’s looking at me, it’s like he thinks maybe I’m that kind of someone too.
