I would.”
It took effort to speak. His hand had landed right on the small patch of bare skin around my middle, and the feel of his fingertips brushing my skin was doing strange things to my body. I swayed into his touch unconsciously, and he wrapped his other arm around me too, bringing us chest to chest as he bent his head to speak into my ear.
“I know you did. But I wasn’t sure you would, after…” He drew back slightly, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth as his eyes searched my face. Then he shook his head, moving his hands to my hips and squeezing gently. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I wasn’t quite sure what to say in response, so I didn’t say anything. He kept his hands on my hips for a second longer as mine rested on the soft fabric of his t-shirt, feeling the warmth of his chest underneath.
Then his broad grin appeared again, the one that made it basically impossible not to smile back. When my lips twitched upward, he nodded in satisfaction and spun me toward the drinks table.
I caught sight of Leah, Maggie, and Dan in a corner, gathered in a tight circle, clutching red Solo cups and laughing about something.
Wait? Leah knows about these parties?
I shouldn’t have been surprised she’d never mentioned them to me. She’d known I wasn’t much for social events, and she’d also known I was trying to avoid the Princes. She probably hadn’t wanted to throw it in my face—but I still felt a little hurt that she’d been going to the monthly parties without telling me.
As if drawn by my thoughts, her gaze flicked up to meet mine. The laughter on her lips died at the sight of Finn’s arms wrapped around me, and for a moment, she just stared at me. Then she shook her head, going back to her conversation with Maggie and Dan and angling her body away from mine to put me completely out of her line of vision.
Well. That message couldn’t have been any clearer.
I knew it. She is pissed about this.
She might’ve said it wasn’t a big deal when I had to bail on our shopping trip, but ever since then, things had been weird between us. We hadn’t even talked in a few days. I was used to getting texts from her at odd hours about random things, but there’d been radio silence for a week.
I didn’t know how to get things back to normal.
But I missed her.
My footsteps faltered. I wanted to go over and say something, but I wasn’t sure what would repair the damage. I’d gotten swept up into a whole new life, a whole new world when the semester started, and I didn’t know how to bridge the gap between the old and the new.
“Come on, Legs.” Finn’s voice tugged my attention back to him, and he swept his arm out in front of the booze table like a game show host. “What do you want?”
I scrunched up my nose, sending one last backward glance at Leah, Maggie, and Dan. “Um… anything but vodka, whiskey, or beer.”
He quirked his eyebrows. “Hmm. A woman of discerning taste. Do I dare give you tequila?”
“I dunno. Do you?”
“Fuck yeah. Let’s live a little.”
He poured some into a cup, then grabbed an open bottle of orange juice and topped it off before handing it to me with a flourish. I took a tentative drink, but all I could really taste was orange juice. There was a slight burn, but nowhere near as sharp as the whiskey. I liked it.
Finn watched my face carefully, and as I swallowed the first sip, he crowed triumphantly. “She likes it! All right, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Out of here?” I asked, glancing up at him as he led me through the crowd. “I just got here.”
He squeezed my waist again, making my breath catch. I got the feeling he was a few drinks in, and it was making him friendlier than I could handle. “Oh, Legs. We’re not leaving the party. Just going to a better one.”
As he spoke, he nodded at two junior boys I recognized and pushed through the door they were lounging in front of, leading us into the back half of the dorm’s first floor. The front was where the main common room was, but the back had smaller study rooms and meeting rooms.
I could feel the difference in the atmosphere immediately. This area was dark too—even darker