Delilah rubs her hands together for warmth. “Let’s go over by the fire, shall we?” she asks, already heading for the large bonfire set up at the far end of the parking lot.
“Or we could just go home,” Rat Boy mutters not so quietly under his breath.
We all walk out of the stadium and over to the fire, my arm still hooked around Olivia’s shoulders. There’s a crowd around the fire, everyone trying to seek warmth in either the flames or the red Solo cups of liquor being passed around.
“Shots?” Some random frat boy approaches us, offering up the red Solo cups in his hands.
“You still driving?” Delilah asks, looking over her shoulder at Olivia.
“Yeah,” Olivia replies. “Go ahead, Dee, I’ll drive you home.”
“You’re the best,” she says, grinning. “Don’t mind if I do.” Delilah accepts the cup, downing the liquid inside. She reaches for the other cup in the guy’s hand and offers it to Rat Boy. “Here, Quinton, you could stand to loosen up.”
I choke back a laugh.
“I’m fine,” Rat Boy spits, indicating he’s anything but fine, his jaw tight and ticking in frustration.
“Sure,” Delilah drawls dryly. Not letting the shot go to waste, she downs that one as well.
“You guys want anything?” the frat boy asks, looking at Olivia and me expectantly.
“No, thank you,” Olivia replies.
He gives her an understanding nod. “Miller?”
“Nah, man. I’m good,” I say, not wanting to drink around Olivia when she’s going to be sober.
“You sure? You were the MVP out there tonight, you deserve it,” he presses.
“No, thanks, man,” I insist.
“All right,” he says, lingering for a few more moments, thinking I’ll change my mind, before heading to the next group.
Another harsh gust of wind comes through, causing the flames of the fire to whip around and a shiver to run down Olivia’s spine.
“Cold?” I ask, running my hand up and down her arm, trying to provide her warmth.
The light of the fire dances across her face, and I can see the tip of her nose is starting to turn red from the cold.
“I’m okay,” she lies, just as another shiver racks her thin frame.
“Come on, Finch, I have an extra hoodie in the truck,” I say, grabbing her hand and lacing our fingers together, then pulling her toward the other end of the parking lot.
“Where are you going?” I hear Rat Boy ask.
“We’ll be back,” I say, not even bothering to look over my shoulder at him.
Halfway across the parking lot I find Chase talking to a redhead from the cheerleading squad, both of them looking a bit intoxicated and very flirty.
“Hey, man, can I have the keys?” I ask, interrupting their flirt fest.
“Sure thing,” he says, struggling to dig them out of his pocket, then throwing them at me. I have to dive to the left a bit to catch them.
“Hey, Olivia, right?” he asks, pointing at her, remembering her from that one time I brought her to our room. His eyes home in on our intertwined fingers, and a wicked grin splits his face. “So are you going to be coming back to the dorm late tonight?” he asks me suggestively, basically asking if I’m going to have sex with her, knowing I never bring girls back to our place to hook up.
I mentally groan, wanting to punch him in his face. “No,” I almost growl in response.
“So, what time do you think you’ll be back to the room?” he asks quizzically, and I already know he’s planning on taking Red back to our room.
