that will smooth over the suffocating tension that vibrates in the cool night air between us, but my mind remains frustratingly blank.
“Maybe you should take the time and get to know me instead of assuming things that aren’t true. If you would give me even half a chance, Demi, I might just surprise you.”
With that, he swings around, stalking down the sidewalk in the direction we’d come from. For a long moment, I can only stare after him as a strange concoction of emotions crash inside me.
There’s definitely relief. And if I’m being honest with myself, a fair amount of disappointment bubbles up as well.
It’s almost enough to make me forget what I stumbled across at the party.
Almost.
But not quite.
11
Demi
I’m startled out of a sound sleep when something—or more likely, someone—lands on my chest. My eyelids fly open, and I stare groggily up at vibrant green eyes that are entirely too awake for—I glance at the digital clock on the nightstand—good lord, it’s not even seven in the morning.
Sunday morning, I might add. One of two days I take off from running and allow myself the luxury of sleeping in. And Sydney ruined it.
“Why are you awake so early?” I slur.
“Please, I could hardly sleep a wink last night.”
“Ugh.” I attempt to push her off my body and roll onto my side, but Sydney refuses to budge from her perched position on top of me. “I really don’t want to hear about your sexcapades.”
“Please, girl.” She rolls her eyes. “You would have heard that loud and clear firsthand.”
She’s right about that. Her and Ethan are loud as fuck. It’s like they’re shooting a porno every single time.
“I’m talking about what happened with you last night.”
“Me?” Any sleepiness I’d been clinging to vanishes in the blink of an eye. “Nothing happened. What are you talking about?”
She gives me a—exactly how drunk were you look. “Um, hello. There are a shit ton of stories flying all over the place. I heard about them before I even left the party.”
Awesome. Exactly what I want to hear at the butt crack of dawn. When I remain silent, she pokes me in the chest with a pointy finger.
“Ow!” I rub the spot. Damn! That hurt.
She folds her arms across her chest. “Oh, and thanks for letting me know you were taking off. Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?”
“Please,” I snort. “The last time I checked, Ethan had his tongue shoved so far down your throat, if was like he was doing a strep test.”
A sly grin curves Sydney’s lips. “All right, so maybe we went at it a little hard. But still, you should have let me know.”
“You’re right, I should have sent you a text.” I’d been so angry with Justin that it hadn’t occurred to me to inform Sydney I was walking home by myself. Probably not the smartest decision I’ve ever made. Usually we stick together at parties. Girls are always safer when traveling in pairs.
“Apology accepted.” Then she redirects the conversation back to the original topic. “Want to hear the stories?”
“Are you really giving me a choice in the matter?”
“Nope.” Sydney holds up a finger. “The first one is that you walked in on Justin having a threesome.”
After last night, I wouldn’t put anything past him, but that definitely didn’t happen.
“Two.” A second finger joins the first. “Rowan beat the shit out of him, and Justin spent the night in the ICU and is now pressing charges.”
Seriously, people?
That’s pure lunacy.
“Neither of those things occurred.” There wasn’t even a fight, for goodness sake. This is a perfect example of the rumor mill at Western running amuck.
“Three,” another finger joins the first two, “Justin found you with another guy and went berserk.”
The corners of Sydney’s lips tremble when I burst out laughing. Jeez. Who makes this shit up? “Trust me, there’s more, but those are the ones I thought could have a shred of truth to them.”
“It’s all a bunch of bullshit.”
“Hmmm.” Her shoulders fall. “That’s disappointing.”
“Really?” I quirk a brow. “You were hoping Justin got beat up, or one of us was caught up in a cheating scandal?”
“Maybe.” She shrugs unapologetically. “You have to admit, it’s getting kind of lame around here. We need something to spice things up.”
There’s no point in holding back what transpired last night. “Then you’ll be delighted to hear that I walked in on Justin getting a blowie.”