“We can’t date.” She said those three words so seriously, and they were a punch to the heart.
I frowned. “Am I not good enough for you?” I was halfway teasing. Maybe she just wanted to be my friend or was only using me for my body. I laughed.
She looked adorable when she puckered her lips and angled her head. “You’re a weird guy sometimes. But seriously. We can’t date because it would ruin the fundraiser. Women wouldn’t bid on you, or guys wouldn’t bid on me.”
A heavy sigh broke free, but my relief was short-lived. My chest burned at the idea of another guy touching her or even taking her out. I had never been the jealous type. I’d never had a reason to be since I didn’t do steady, but with her, I would rip a guy in two if he touched her.
I laughed harder. “You’re worried about that?”
She licked her lips. “Maybe.”
“Bull.”
She was afraid of her old man for all the reasons she’d mentioned before.
The wiggle of the doorknob announced Vicki, who waltzed in. “Oh. I should just go. I saw your father leave, so I thought the coast was clear.”
Haven climbed off me. “No. Ryker was just leaving.”
I was? It was probably best. I wasn’t ready to talk about my feelings or tell her why I cared. The minute I expressed any of my feelings would be the minute my heart would get broken.
And Haven was right about one thing. She had to settle her differences with her old man, because if she didn’t, I would for her.
28
Haven
Ipacked a small suitcase with some of my clothes. I wasn’t moving home permanently, and if my father thought I was, he was in for a rude awakening. I just hoped he hadn’t gone to the admin office to tell them I wouldn’t be living in the dorm anymore.
Vicki yawned out in the common room.
It was only seven in the morning on a Saturday. I couldn’t believe she was up already. She’d gone out last night and had waltzed in around three a.m.
I only knew that because I’d been awake. I hadn’t been able to sleep since my father had paid me a visit on Thursday. But that wasn’t the only reason. Ryker had asked me to move in with him. That was all I’d thought about. He cared. He didn’t want to admit it, but he did.
I had my own feelings on the tip of my tongue, but I guessed we both weren’t ready to talk about how we felt. It didn’t matter anyway. No matter how strong my feelings were for him, my father would stand in the way.
Don’t let him.I wasn’t willing to fight just yet. I had to settle my differences with my father first.
“Knock, knock,” Vicki said in a sleepy voice.
I was hunched over my bed with my back to the door as I folded two shirts and set them in the suitcase.
Her bare feet slapped on the tiled floor. “What are you doing?” She clutched my arm until I was facing her.
My heart fell to the floor. I hadn’t had the guts to tell her I was moving home. She’d turned down joining a sorority so we could room together.
Her face pinched as she surveyed the clothes on my bed and in my suitcase. “I should rephrase. Where are you going? Does this have something to do with why you’ve been a hermit and why you haven’t talked much?”
Hermit was the right word. I’d barely eaten. I’d hardly spoken, and when I did, it was nothing more than to say I had class, or I would be home late, or I was going to the library.
She’d done her best the other day to get me to talk after my dad and Ryker had left, but I’d only told her that I hadn’t been ready to spill the details, especially the part where I’d agreed to move home.
“My father won,” I said in a small voice.
She mashed her lips into a thin line. “If politics turns me into a man like him, then I should change my major.”
That got a soft laugh out of me. “Not all politicians are like him. Look, it’s only until after the election.”
