I followed her until the hallway branched out, veering off in several directions. She took a left toward the cafeteria, and I continued straight ahead. I had a break before my next class. Some of the guys should be outside getting high. Might as well join them.
Rebel and Dominik stood outside near the picnic tables where people gathered to eat and hang out between classes. As I’d expected, they shared a joint. Inserting myself between thetwo of them, I swiped the joint from Dom’s fingers and took a large toke.
“Where were you? You missed class.” I hit Dom with a pointed look. He was also taking investigative studies.
“I woke up late,” he said with a careless shrug. His tousled brown hair was still a mess of bedhead. “You can fill me in on anything important that I missed.”
“I need two people to meet with the president of the Camden MC tonight. He wants to double his order.” Rebel cut into the conversation, not giving a damn about our classes.
The motorcycle club in a neighboring town was one of our best customers. They relied on us to supply them with all kinds of pharmaceutical goods, and we did our best to deliver. We had a guy who brought stuff in on a regular basis. We didn’t know how he did it and we didn’t care. All that mattered was that we kept the supply flowing and the money coming in.
Usually, I wouldn’t mind dealing with a job like this. I didn’t really want to this time though. “I’m out. I have something else to take care of.”
Dominik jerked the joint from between my lips with a scowl. “I’ll deal with it. I’ll bring Casper. What do you have to do that’s so important?”
I opened my mouth to deliver some bullshit excuse when Codie rounded the corner headed toward us. She was with Rebel’s fiancée, so they were definitely coming to join us. As soon as Codie saw me, she averted her gaze.
Rebel pulled Storm into his arms, kissing her like he didn’t give a shit who watched. She cut him off when he slipped her the tongue, playfully slapping his arm. I didn’t mind Storm. She was all right. She brought out another side to Rebel, one I hadn’t known existed. He was slightly less of a dick than usual with her around.
Even I had to admit they made a cute couple. Both blue-eyed. Her with red hair and the look of innocence. Rebel with a blonde streak in the front of his dark hair and more tattoos than unmarked skin. Total opposites that somehow worked.
“I have a few minutes to kill before my next class,” Storm said, leading Rebel over to a vacant table. “Hang out with me.”
Codie stood there awkwardly for a minute before sitting at the table across from Storm. I took the opportunity to sit next to her, leaving Dom to squeeze in by Rebel. Storm began to bombard Rebel with wedding talk. They hadn’t been engaged all that long but they seemed ready to move things along. To make it official. They wanted to have an October wedding.
Because I didn’t care about wedding dresses and cake prices, I turned to Codie and said, “You’re looking like a wet dream today. Love the school girl look.”
As I’d hoped, her brows drew together, and she scowled. “You really amuse yourself, don’t you?”
“I do,” I confirmed. “I tend to be a pretty amusing guy. I’m sure you would learn to appreciate it if you weren’t so uptight.”
Codie’s scowl turned into a full on glare. “Uptight? I don’t think so. Anyone who knows me would tell you that I’m not uptight. I just don’t appreciate egotistical jerks who are completely full of themselves.”
I snickered. “And anyone who knows me would tell you that I’m not full of myself. I’m just confident and know how fucking awesome I am.”
Dom let out a bark of laughter. “Oh yeah, super awesome. You’re a real class act. Not at all your own biggest fan or anything.”
“Hey, dick. Do you want to be homeless?” I smirked in his direction. To Codie I added, “Don’t listen to him. You can’t trust a word this guy says.”
Codie rolled her eyes, pretending to be too engrossed in her phone to look at me. “I don’t trust a word you say either. I know better than that.”
Storm interrupted then, turning her phone to show Codie a picture of a dress. “What do you think of this one? You have to come with me when I try it on. I need your opinion.”
Codie seemed relieved to have an excuse to ignore me and redirect her attention elsewhere. “Of course. I’m there. No worries. That one is really pretty. What about something with a mermaid cut?”
I checked out of the conversation then. Rebel did his best to act interested when Storm shoved the photo at him. Poor sucker. He’d done it to himself though. I couldn’t imagine being so into a woman that I would tie myself to her for the rest of my life.
I got up to leave, needing to get away from Codie to clear my head. I didn’t entirely trust the way she made me feel. Before walking away, I leaned down next to her and whispered, “See you soon, strawberry.”
Storm glanced over then, eyeing the two of us curiously. Codie said nothing, ignoring me. Fine with me. She couldn’t ignore me forever.
CHAPTER FIVE
CODIE
Thankfully, I didn’t see Stray again for the rest of the day. Every time I turned a corner on campus I expected him to be there. Lurking. I didn’t understand why he had this fixation with me. It had to be because I kept denying him. He hated not getting what he wanted.
Because Athena’s classes ran longer than mine, I left campus without her. She’d grab a ride home with one of the other girls later. Turning my music up extra loud, I left the campus parking lot headed for home.
