“Lunch,” Wes reminds me when he returns from the coffee cart, a promise and command wrapped in one word. I should be more offended than I am, but I nod in assent, blushing when he smiles at me before heading off to class.
Then it’s just me and Raf. He silently starts forward, expecting me to follow, and it feels like second nature when I do. We walk the path to our Spanish class without exchanging a word. It’s his thing, I’m learning– this silence that somehow manages to say more than the noise everyone else makes. I fidget with the tuck of my shirt in the waistband of my skirt,keeping my hands busy while my mind spins out of control. He keeps a step ahead the whole way, only pausing to hold the door for me to catch up when we enter the building, then the lecture hall.
We part ways as soon as we step inside, Raf heading to the back left corner of the room while I head for the back right. I initially feared that the seating arrangement in our shared classes might change after I became their Doll, but Raf seems content to keep his distance.
It shouldn’t bother me.
I’m not sure why Raf even wanted me to fill the position, considering he seems to loathe my existence even more than I despise him. Despite our recent cohabitation, my stepbrother remains shrouded in mystery.
As I stride down the row to my seat, I’m relieved to see the only person here who’s never judged me. Bryce looks up as I approach him, that laid-back smile spreading across his face as he tips his chair back on two legs.
“Well, well. You’re alive,” he teases.
“Surprised?” I laugh, dropping into the seat beside him.
“Was starting to think maybe you’d been abducted by aliens,” he snickers, gripping onto the table for leverage as he rocks his chair back and forth gently. “Stopped by your dorm the other day, Richelle said you moved out.”
I flinch at Richelle’s name, instantly trying to cover it with a shrug. “Apparently I have new digs.”
“You can say that again, Doll,” he drawls, eyes dropping to the crown charm glinting at the base of my throat. “Didn’t think you were their type.”
“What, brunette?” I ask, twirling a strand of hair around my finger and trying my best not to take offense to his comment.
“Possessing more than one brain cell,” he deadpans.
I snort a laugh, shaking my head as I reach down into my backpack to pull out my textbook. When I straighten and set it on the table in front of me, I find Bryce staring me down, eyes rounded in concern.
“Seriously, though, they treating you okay?” he asks quietly, furrowing his brow as he leans in.
“I’m fine,” I sigh, waving him off with the flick of a wrist. “For now. But the revolution is still a go.”
His lips curve into a devious grin. “Fuck yeah, babe. Just say when, and I’m by your side.”
I smile back at him, warmth blooming in my chest. From the look in his eyes, he knows damn well that I’m downplaying this, but he’s content to wait for me to tell him the truth on my own. Because Bryce is the freakingbest, and I don’t deserve a friend like him.
Later in the afternoon,the campus is buzzing with the end-of-day shuffle as I walk toward Professor Turner’s office, clutching a stack of books to my chest. Students swarm around me, granting me a wide berth since I’m officially untouchable. I say a little prayer that Turner hasn’t already left for the day as I slip into the administrative building that houses the professors’ offices, stopping in my tracks when I spot Ford leaving the same one I’m headed toward, buckling his belt on the way out the door.
The sight of it hits me like a punch to the gut. Suddenly I’m just standing there frozen, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. It feels like I should turn away, go anywhere but here, but my feet are suddenly rooted to the spot I’m standing in.Ford starts my way, and when our eyes meet, a sharp twisting sensation erupts in my chest.
"Whatcha doin’ here, Ava baby?"
Ford’s voice cuts through my haze, so relaxed that I almost don’t recognize it. He crosses the hall, moving toward me with an arrogant swagger, like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
I’m staring at his hands as they finish with his belt, too stunned to answer. I only lift my gaze when he stops right in front of me, jerking my chin up to glare into those hazel eyes.
"Ford," I finally manage, but it’s barely a whisper.
"Miss me already?" He cocks his head playfully, a smug grin stretching his lips.
I don’t know what to say, how to react. Every shred of rational thought evaporates and all that’s left is a suffocating cloud of emotions I can’t even name.
"Does the sight of me really leave you speechless?" he asks with a lazy chuckle.
I open my mouth only to close it again, sucking in a deep breath through my nose. "I just thought…” I trail off, shaking my head. “I don’t even know what I thought."
Ford gives me a slow, knowing grin. "Didn’t realize you cared."
His words slice through the fog in my brain, leaving me exposed and raw. Maybe Idocare, and that single realization is worst of all.
