he asked.
She nodded. “Okay, I think. Thanks.” She kept walking.
He fell into stride beside her. “I wanted to talk to you about last night. I wanted to say I’m sorry again.”
“Thanks.” She kept walking, hoping he’d get the hint and move on.
“I was really hoping you’d come to the party with me tonight.”
“I told you last night—”
“I know you did, but you were mad, and I understand why, but I was hoping you would change your mind.” He took her hand and drew her to a stop. “Look, I’m not a bad guy. Won’t you give me another chance?”
Then he gave her that heart-stopping smile of his. She couldn’t help but stare into his indigo eyes and was struck by the sincerity she saw there.
She shook her head. “I’m really tired…”
“That’s probably just low blood sugar. You’ll have a slice of pizza at the party and be as good as new.” His smile broadened. “Really. You’re not going to let me go there without a date, are you? Think of my reputation.”
She couldn’t help smiling. She knew as well as he did that no one would care if he had a date or not. Even if bringing a date was important, which it wasn’t, he could get any girl he wanted. Anytime.
But for some reason, right now he wanted her.
“Okay, maybe I’ll go for an hour or so.”
“Great.” Then he linked his hand with hers, sending her heart into delightful palpitations.
She walked with him to his car.
“If we’ll be drinking, shouldn’t we take the bus?” she asked.
“The party’s near my place, so I’ll drive to my apartment and we can walk from there.”
Once they reached his apartment, they walked a couple of blocks through a nice neighborhood to an old but impressive brick house with a large yard, and loud music blaring from inside. She could barely believe students lived in this neighborhood, but then Kane’s friends all came from money.
They went inside and clearly the party had been going on for a while. Kane led her to the kitchen and sure enough, there were boxes of pizza on the counter. She was starving, since she hadn’t wanted to eat much before the exam. He gave her a large slice on a paper plate and she took a big bite while he grabbed her a vodka cooler and poured it over ice.
She sipped as she watched all the people around them. She recognized a lot of the faces, though they weren’t people she’d ever talked to. A lot of people glanced their way, staring at her as if she didn’t belong … and surprised to see her with Kane. But Kane didn’t seem to notice.
“Hey, Will.” Kane waved to his friend, a tall, sandy-haired guy in a black T-shirt sporting a depiction of an Escher painting. The one with the stairway without end. He glanced their way and smiled, then walked toward them.
“Will, this is River.” Kane said.
“Hi. We’re in the same computer-science class,” Will said.
Unlike the stereotypical computer nerd, who was a small, geeky guy with glasses, Will was broad-shouldered, very muscular, and quite handsome. And his insightful hazel eyes seemed to see right into her soul.
He took her hand and shook it. The warmth of his fingers around hers was … nice.
“That’s right,” she said, a bit timidly. She was surprised he’d noticed her. And she was a little taken aback at his warmth and genuine smile.
“I was telling River that you and I plan to start a business together after graduation,” Kane said.
“Yeah, if I can ever actually graduate.”
“You two go back a long way?” she asked.
“Actually, no,” Will said. “We met here in September, but hit it off. Kane’s not usually the type of guy I hang with. Too stuck up.”
“Thanks, man.”
Will laughed. “But I put up with him.”
“Yeah, anyway. This guy’s brilliant when it comes to anything to do with technology.”
“So why are you worried about graduating?” she asked Will.
“He’s not worried so much as having scheduling issues. His minor is Japanese and the classes are only offered as a full-year credit, but that doesn’t tie in with his co-op placement, which is every four months starting in second year.”
“You speak Japanese?”
“No, but I want to. So much of our culture is affected by manga, anime, video games developed in Japan—”
“Oh, God, don’t get him started.”
“Hey, Kane … Will … what the fuck?” Three guys ambled in their direction, the one talking clearly drunk. “There are chicks crawling all over the place … and I