There was no way I’d met her before, but something about her face reminded me of something I couldn’t put my finger on.
I stood up and walked toward her. She had the hair of a porn star, and the face of an angel. Her eyes were almond shaped and uniquely beautiful. That was when I saw it: behind the beauty and fake innocence was something else, something cold and calculating. Even when she smiled, I could see sin so deeply ingrained in her that no cardigan could hide it. Those eyes floated above her tiny nose, and smooth features. To anyone else, she was pure and naive, but this girl was hiding something. I knew only because the same sin had dwelled in me my entire life. The difference was she held it deep within her, and I let mine out of its cage on a regular basis.
I watched Shepley until he felt me staring at him. When he looked my way, I nodded in the pigeon’s direction.
Who’s that? I mouthed.
Shepley only responded with a confused frown.
Her, I silently mouthed again.
Shepley’s mouth turned up into the annoying asshole grin he always made when he was about to do something to piss me off.
“What?” Shepley asked, a lot louder than necessary.
I could tell the girl knew we were talking about her, because she kept her head down, pretending not to hear.
After spending sixty seconds in Abby Abernathy’s presence, I discerned two things: she didn’t talk much, and when she did she was kind of a bitch. But I don’t know . . . I kind of dug that about her. She put on a front to keep assholes like me away, but that made me even more determined.
She rolled her eyes at me for the third or fourth time. I was annoying her and found it pretty amusing. Girls didn’t usually treat me with unadulterated loathing, even when I was showing them the door.
When even my best smiles didn’t work, I turned it up a notch.
“Do you have a twitch?”
“A what?” she asked.
“A twitch. Your eyes keep wiggling around.” If she could have murdered me with her glare, I would have bled out on the floor. I couldn’t help but laugh. She was a smart-ass and rude as hell. I liked her more every second.
I leaned closer to her face. “Those are some amazing eyes, though. What color is that, anyway? Gray?”
She immediately ducked her head, letting her hair cover her face. Score. I made her uncomfortable, and that meant I was getting somewhere.
America immediately jumped in, warning me away. I couldn’t blame her. She’d seen the endless line of girls come in and out of the apartment. I didn’t want to piss America off, but she didn’t look angry. More like amused.
“You’re not her type,” America said.
My mouth fell open, playing into her game. “I’m everyone’s type!”
The pigeon peeked over at me and grinned. A warm feeling—probably just the insane urge to throw this girl on my couch—came over me. She was different, and it was refreshing.
“Ah! A smile,” I said. Simply calling it a smile, like it wasn’t the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, seemed wrong, but I wasn’t about to fuck up my game when I was just getting ahead. “I’m not a rotten bastard after all. It was nice to meet you, Pidge.”
I stood, walked around the table, and leaned into America’s ear. “Help me out here, would ya? I’ll behave, I swear.”
A French fry came hurdling toward my face.
“Get your lips outta my girl’s ear, Trav!” Shepley said.
I backed away, holding my hands up to highlight the most innocent expression on my face that I could manage. “Networking! I’m networking!” I walked backward a few steps to the door, noticing a small group of girls. I opened the door, and they swarmed through like a herd of water buffalo before I could let myself out.
It had been a long time since I’d had a challenge. The weird thing was, I wasn’t out to fuck her. It bothered me that she might think I was a piece of shit, but it bothered me more that I cared. Either way, for the first time in a long time, someone was unpredictable. Pigeon was the total opposite of the girls I’d met here, and I had to know why.
CHANEY’S CLASS WAS FULL. I TOOK THE STEPS TO my seat two at a time, and then waded through the bare legs crowding my desk.
I nodded. “Ladies.”
They hummed and sighed in harmony.
Vultures. Half of them I’d bagged my freshman year, the other half had been on my couch well before fall break. Except the girl on the end. Sophia flashed a crooked smile. It looked like her face had caught fire and someone had tried to put it out with a fork. She had been with a few of my frat brothers. Knowing their track records and her lack of concern for safety, it was best to consider her an unnecessary risk, even if I was habitually careful.
She leaned forward on her elbows to make better eye contact. I felt the urge to shudder with disgust, but I resisted. No. Not even close to being worth it.
The brunette in front of me turned around and batted her lashes. “Hey, Travis. I hear there’s a date party coming up at Sig Tau.”