Page 23 of No One Else
“Here.” I shrug off my jacket and drape it over her shoulders, the thing drowning her.
“I can’t take this,” she insists. “Now you’ll be cold.”
“I’m good.” Seeing it on her warms me up just fine, filling me with a sense of possession I wasn’t expecting. How would she look dressed only in my shirt, nothing under it, after a night together?
I shake my head, stowing the mental image away for another time.
“Thanks,” she says softly, sending me a shy smile as she puts it on properly.
We walk in silence toward the dorms, a quiet chuckle from her interrupting the calm a minute later.
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” she smiles to herself. “It’s just, I’ve never worn a guy’s jacket before. Or had a guy walk me home.”
“Really? What about with-” I cut myself off, afraid to mention Carter. I have no idea if she’s over him or not.
“You can say his name,” she laughs. “He’s not Beetlejuice.”
“Carter didn’t do those things?”
“He wasn’t much for gentlemanly gestures.” She rolls her eyes. “He wasn’t much for anything that didn’t directly benefit him. I can’t believe... God, I just don’t know what I was thinking. Was he always that way? Did he change? Did I change?”
I stay silent for a moment, not knowing if she really expects an answer, but she looks over at me with questioning eyes.
I recall the worst incident I remember of him and the desire I’d always had to tell her. Now finally seems the appropriate time to reveal it.
“I saw him at this party last year,” I start, keeping my focus on the sidewalk in front of us. “It was before you and I really started talking at work. I actually didn’t even know he was your boyfriend then. Not until later. Anyway, there was this girl sitting on his lap and they were making out. I remember it because he was really shit-faced. When he stood up and tried to pick her up too they both fell down and started laughing. Everyone was looking at them.”
She stops in the middle of the path and stares at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know if it was my place. And by the time I found out who he was, it seemed awkward to bring it up. Maybe you were already aware of it or it was a sore spot between the two of you.” Not to mention, I would have looked completely nosy butting my head in where it didn’t belong. “He didn’t change, Natalie. You didn’t just grow apart. He was always like that and he finally got tired of hiding it.”
Tears pool in her eyes and she hastily wipes them away. “That’s almost worse. I couldn’t even see what was going on. Everyone was probably laughing at me behind my back.” Her voice cracks on the last word, a tear escaping down her cheek.
“Hey, no.” I instinctively step closer, wrapping her in my arms as she sniffles. “You’re a positive person. Of course you wouldn’t suspect your boyfriend of anything like that.”
“I did, though,” she says muffled against my chest. “I had this vague feeling in the back of my mind but I kept it locked up tight. I didn’t want it to be true. So anytime there was a whisper of doubt I’d dismiss it.Myboyfriend wouldn’t cheat on me. That was something that happened to other girls. Notme.”
“He’s a fucking idiot to not realize what he had.”
The tickle of her hair against my jaw, that soft, sweet fragrance of hers up close and personal... I could get addicted to this. It feels like forever since she’s been in my arms.
She gives another sniff and steps back, crossing her arms over her chest, her nose red. “You’re a good friend, Evan. Thanks.”
I nod and shove my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching out for her again, the mention of the wordfrienda harsh reminder that that’s all I am to her.
We walk up to her dorm on the fourth floor, several girls eyeing the two of us together as we make our way to her room.
“My roommate doesn’t like any noise,” she whispers as she unlocks her door. “So I’m just going to grab my stuff and we’ll go.”
She tiptoes over to her desk on the left side of the room. Under the covers in the bed on the right is a girl with big headphones over her frizzy red hair, staring intently at her laptop. She glances up, making eye contact with me, and screams, scrambling backward against her pillows.
Natalie rushes over to her, catching the laptop before it falls on the ground. “Morgan, what’s wrong?”
The girl turns her head, relaxing slightly once she sees Natalie, but still stiff. She takes her headphones off, whispering, “I’ve told you I don’t feel comfortable with you bringing guys back here. Go to his place or something.”
“Oh my God, I’m just here to get my textbook. Evan and I are working on a project.”
