better or worse, which meant I was often the go-between for enamored suitors.
Giving her a bland smile, I played dumb. “Who?”
Some of her enthusiasm visibly dimmed at my response, but undeterred, she forged onward. “The tall, dark-haired guy you were talking to outside. His name is Huck. He’s a bartender at one of the most popular bars near campus. Everyone knows who he is, and everyone knows his group of friends. They’re all really popular, but they tend to keep to themselves. I thought it was different that he was talking to you since you’re new around here, and I’ve never seen him act so familiar with a girl on campus like that before.”
Good Lord, just how close was she watching him to notice something like that? The thought was fleeting because I belatedly remembered the boy had entire social media pages dedicated to tracking his every move.
“Sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I could deny with the best of them, even with the girl looking at me like I’d lost my mind. Plus, the truth was, after that little encounter and the way Huck had jostled me, I really might not know Huck Snyder like I thought I did. He was trying to scare me and he almost succeeded.
Huck
My plan to be the great seducer was failing epically because I’d done too good of a job convincing Ollie to stay out of my way. If I walked into a room she was in, she immediately walked out. If I found a reason for our paths to cross either at the house or on campus, she would almost immediately find an excuse to switch gears and go the other way. Not to mention, we were both working and bogged down with schoolwork. Since the beginning of the semester several weeks ago, I would guess I’d seen her less than ten times, and each encounter had lasted less than a few minutes. She was really relying hard on the idea that if she was out of sight, she would be out of mind. However, like I told her when I saved her from the creeper who was hitting on her at the start of the semester, it was like something was buzzing under my skin, and I couldn’t stop the sensation. Even without putting my eyes on her, I knew she was there.
I could feel her. I could smell her. I could hear her. It was as if her presence was seeping into every nook and cranny of the old house. I didn’t have to see her face to know that she was still under my roof, making me more unsettled than I wanted to admit. I would rather have all my teeth plucked out with rusty pliers than fess up to the fact that when I pulled her to my side and touched my lips to her temple the other day, I’d felt the impact of the simple gesture all the way down to my soul. They were familiar gestures that reminded me of a simpler time. But there was a new element there when I touched her, a new awareness of her that made my blood hot and my skin tingle. There was new awareness when I felt how soft her skin was and how silky her hair felt that lingered long after she was gone. All of those new sensations made my dick hard. I would die before I listened to the tiny voice warning me that I was attracted to her because she was my Ollie, not just a cute girl in close proximity. No, I was drawn to her on a much deeper level, and it scared the shit out of me. So, I didn’t exactly mind that we’d been two ships passing in the night the last few weeks.
However, all of that aside, I still wanted her gone and any threats from Sawyer off the table. I didn’t owe Ollie a single thing. But, I owed Harlen and Vernon pretty much everything. I needed to suck it up and charm the pants off of her so I could get her to fall for me, or at the least fall into bed with me. It was my experience that the quickest way to break someone’s heart was to make them think they were special—then show them that they weren’t.
I remembered how much it hurt when Ollie turned on me after the accident. I never thought I was in love with her. We were just kids,