I groaned loudly as I stood up. “She told me that I shouldn’t feel obligated to Mia anymore.” In a way, I had felt slightly obligated to have Mia as a roommate. My mom thought Mia needed a push in the right direction, kind of like me, but it didn’t work. I hadn’t spoken to Mia since Justin had shown up at the house and I found out that she had been lying to him about me being with Nash. I think she had been avoiding me, too.
“Well, you shouldn’t.” Zoey pulled out a notebook as I continued to clear the rest of my stuff off the table. “You’re way too nice to her, Della. She’s a bitch. We all know it. So, can we kick her out tonight?” She clasped her hands together, looking entirely too gleeful about the idea, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Give me some time to think about it. I’m gonna go to the gym, try to clear my head a little bit. Hopefully I’ll figure something out.”
“Ew.” She scrunched her nose up at the mention of the gym, and I rolled my eyes. Callie and Zoey didn’t understand my obsession with working out lately. I really didn’t, either. My mom harped on me for years to stay in shape, bringing in a personal trainer three times a week to our house. I hated it at the time, but one thing it did do was take my mind off of things, and lately I needed to do that a lot. It was pretty hard to think when you were pounding away on a treadmill, shaking because every part of your body was worn out, and dripping with sweat. “You have fun with that. I’d rather sit here and study my brains out.”
I waved at her over my shoulder and headed across campus to the rec center. Luckily, I’d brought my workout clothes along, so after making a quick stop in the locker room to change, I had my water bottle and IPod in hand.
I picked a treadmill that was set away from everyone else. I didn’t need some chit-chatty girl next to me or some random guy trying to hit on me while I was running my ass off. Didn’t you just love those people that tried to talk to you when you had earbuds in? I mean, obviously they were in there for a reason. Jeez, I sounded like a bitch even in my own head. I was really having an off day.
I set a timer as I stepped on, and selected a pace, letting myself warm up a bit before I went into full-blown crazy-person running mode.
I couldn’t believe my mom was divorcing Gerald. According to her, they both moved on with other people and mutually decided on a divorce, but I didn’t know if I could actually believe her. Whatever. Either way, it didn’t really matter to me.
What I was more focused on was Mia. Should I just kick her out of the house since she wasn’t going to be my stepsister anymore? Yes, she was a bitch to me, especially with the whole Justin thing, but I saw something in her that I had seen in myself when I was going through everything. Desperation. Desperate for attention, desperate for someone to love you—really love you—and desperate for someone to tell you no. I weighed all the pros and cons in my head, hating that I actually had a conscience about the whole thing.
Just as the speed picked up, a cool hand landed on my bare shoulder, causing my body to tingle with goose bumps, and I jumped. I let the treadmill completely stop before I turned around, pulling out my earbuds at the same time. Imagine Dragons faded out of ears as my eyes landed on Justin’s gray ones, and he stood there with a crooked smirk, blatantly doing one of those up and down perusals that guys do when they’re checking you out.
I squirmed in place while his eyes continued to roam my body, and I did the same to him. All he wore was a pair of black athletic shorts and running shoes. Holy balls, had I died and gone to Heaven? Was it possible that I ran myself to death and this is what I had to look at for the rest of eternity? There really was a God. Grams had been drilling it into my head over the years, and now I knew that she was right.
Just as I suspected, his body was even toner than the last time I’d seen him without this many clothes. He must’ve been here for a while, too, because his chest glistened with a slight sheen, and I felt the urge to just lick it all off. Don’t be stupid, Della. Yes, Mia lied to him about what was going on between Nash and me, but he chose to believe her, and then treated me the way he did because of it. He was an asshole. A sexy asshole, but still.
I cleared my throat, which made his head snap up, away from the very intense study he was currently conducting on my boobs. I really needed to start wearing a bag to the gym, instead of a sports bra and shorts. “Can I help you with something?”
“Nope,” he responded, popping the P. “I think I’m good.”
“All right,” I dragged out. Giving up on my run, I stepped off the treadmill and bent over to grab my water bottle, realizing halfway down that I really shouldn’t have done that. All it did was give him a better view. “Are you stalking me or something?” I asked, quickly popping back up.
He raised his eyebrows, pursing his lips, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. I’m glad I was so amusing. “What? You’re not a student here anymore, so how’d you even get in?”