Next Man Up (Making the Score #2) - Tawdra Kandle Page 0,18

care if you remember or not indifference as he stared at me, frowning slightly.

I hadn’t expected him to know me—not really—but it seemed that some small part of me had still hoped. It stung that the night I recalled with such clarity hadn’t meant one damn thing to him. As the conversation continued around me, I remained silent, staring at the floor.

“There’s a party tonight at a fraternity called Lambda something or other,” Gia sang out. “Do you all want to go?”

“Not me.” Nate glanced at Quinn. “Sounds a little too crowded.”

My roommate shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere. Leo’s going to call tonight, and besides, I’m not much into parties.”

“Awww, come on, you guys.” Gia cajoled. “I don’t want to go by myself.”

“I’ll go with you.” I spoke up without giving it much thought. “I’m always in the mood for a party. But you’ll have to find your own way home, because I’ll probably find a fuck buddy, and I don’t want to feel rushed.”

I didn’t meet Eli’s gaze, but I did wonder how he’d react to my words. If he had even a glimmer of memory about who I was and how we’d met, would he feel the slightest bit of curiosity—or would he see me as some kind of kindred spirit, someone else just like he used to be?

Before I could go into full brooding mode about it, Gia popped up from her seat on the floor. “Awesome! I’m so glad you ended up as Quinn’s roommate, Zelda. Who else would have fun with me, otherwise?”

I allowed my lips to curve into a slight smile. “Who else, indeed.” Pushing away from the desk, I gestured toward the door with a jerk of my head. “C’mon. Let’s go back to Gibbons now so we have time to find sufficiently slutty outfits to wear tonight.”

“Hey, you two—don’t get into trouble tonight,” Quinn called after us.

“No promises, doll.” I winked at my roommate. “Trouble’s my middle name—and my kind of trouble is way too much fun to avoid.”

Quinn rolled her eyes, and I laughed.

“Don’t wait up for us. I predict I’m going to spend most of the night in a bed that isn’t mine.”

That first meeting set the tone for the rest of our freshman year—at least, when it came to interaction between Eli Tucker and me. I rarely if ever addressed him directly, even though we were frequently in the same room. If I happened to see him out on campus when I wasn’t with Quinn or Gia, I didn’t acknowledge his existence. I tried not to look at him if I could help it.

For Eli’s part, although he clearly didn’t remember our earlier meeting, he never tried to engage me in conversation, and he didn’t call me on my borderline passive-aggressive comments, either. I wasn’t sure if it was because he just didn’t care, or if he didn’t like me. The former seemed more likely, because I noticed that despite his obvious good looks and his drool-inducing body, Eli didn’t have friends outside Nate, Quinn and Gia. He spent most of his free time in the room he shared with Nate, and according to Quinn, no one ever came to visit him there.

“Nate says he thinks Tuck has a huge chip on his shoulder about his wheelchair. I mean, about the fact that he has to use it. I guess he used to be pretty popular—well, high school quarterback, no surprise there—and now that things are different . . .” Quinn trailed off. “Not that he’s not still really hot. But he’s just not very nice, sometimes.”

I couldn’t help my snort at that. Quinn tilted her head, her eyes narrowing.

“You don’t like Tuck, do you?”

I turned in my chair so that I was facing my desk, with my back toward Quinn. I didn’t want her to see my face. “Why wouldn’t I like him? I honestly don’t have feelings about the guy one way or the other. He’s just like all of the other men in the world.”

“Yeah.” I heard the mattress squeak as Quinn shifted on the bed. “But you don’t treat him the way you do all the other men in the world. Don’t forget, Zelda, I’ve seen you in action. I know what you’re usually like around guys—flirty and teasing. You twirl your hair—”

At that I whipped my head around to glare at my roommate. “I do not!”

“Oh, you so do. When we meet boys you don’t know, that’s one of your go-to moves.