Nervously, Paul shifted his gaze past me and retracted his finger. “I know what the roommate said, okay? I had to play like I was her World History classmate to get questions answered. She said the Lewis Library; I know what I’m doing here.” His tone was much more reasonable.
I followed him through the open foyer, then through the walkway of the main hall and up the stairs, taking two at a time and reminding myself that I was, in fact, following him. All I could think was what if she wasn’t alone. What if she was studying psychosexual development? When we got to the private room where Zoey was supposed to be, my chest tightened and my fucking knees went weak. Paul pushed the door open and I quickly pushed out breaths to even them before stepping into the doorway.
She was there at the table wearing earplugs, with books spread out everywhere. She wore a thick cable knit sweater, looking as angelic as I’d remembered. Her doe eyes were big and pretty with her long lashes and pouty lips that she used her teeth to scrape over. She was surprised to see me.
Zoey…
“You’re making that sound in the back of your throat,” I noted out of pure nervousness. I didn’t exactly have a script planned in case Paul was right about finding her.
~~~~~~~~~~
~Zoey~
At first, I was speechless. I didn’t know if this was real or if I’d fallen asleep in the library again and dreamed of him.
He was tall, almost having to duck into the room. Even in the relentless freezing temperature outside, he wore an open jacket with a V-neck sweater, revealing the various patterns of his body art. He didn’t crack a smile as he studied me. I immediately grew self-conscious about my appearance. My hair was thrown back into a sloppy ponytail. My blue sweater had been washed so many times the integrity of the blue was dim. My lips were dry and I tried licking them discreetly, but who was I fooling. With the depth of Stent’s observation, he likely knew the color of my bra. He always saw right through me.
“And you need to step up your defense. You barely won that last game,” I murmured, sounding like an idiot. I knew nothing about basketball, had yet to watch a game. I didn’t know what else to say.
Paul’s brow line narrowed, probably confused by my very false dig. Stenton chuckled.
“Who was the team we played?” Stenton quizzed, his voice low.
“The one with the tall guys on the team. Duh!” I shot back.
He moved closer and my legs trembled beneath the table. He didn’t sit, but came unmistakably close enough for me not to miss his words…or his scent.
“You haven’t called.”
My eye squeezed shut. From the moment I saw Paul, I knew I’d have to answer for my absence. I just didn’t know how to tell him my life had gone to pieces from the moment I left his car that day nearly three weeks ago.
“I-I know,” I whispered before dragging my lip between my teeth again. “It’s been a crazy time since we last spoke.”
“Really,” he snorted. “I guess I would be privy to that had you simply picked up the phone, but it’s clear that we’re no longer the friends I thought we were.”
His long calloused fingers skimmed gently over my knuckles that were curled into tight fists. I took a deep breath at the shooting surge of electricity from his touch.
With my eyes closed I whispered, “We are still friends. At least I hope so.”
“Best friends?” he pushed. This time his voice was closer, his minty breath hitting my flushed face.
I opened my eyes to find him just inches away, now sitting on the table, hovering over me. It was now Stenton’s turn to seduce. Suddenly my breathing hiked and breasts felt heavy and confined. My eyes darted over to Paul and found him with his back to us on his phone.
“Yes,” I breathed.
“Then why the distance, Ni?a?” I heard the plea in his voice; I saw the shadows of betrayal from my abrupt absence in his marbled eyes.
I swallowed the painful tension, hard. I didn’t want to trouble him with my issues. I knew I’d thrown a lot on him in Alpine with being deceptive and manipulative. God, what he must have thought of me. But I didn’t want to lie to him. He was right; he’d been my best friend, in no time.