Who was I kidding? Certainly not myself. What I wanted had run away in the opposite direction. What was I still doing here?
And knowing that he was likely no good for me, that I’d suffer more heartache than any one girl should, I left the gym without a single look over my shoulder.
William throwing my words in my face had taken hold like a foreign bacteria. What was the use in pretending when I knew what I wanted? When, maybe somewhere all along, I’d always known what I’d wanted but it only became obvious to me when it appeared in the form of a man I met one week ago who had a knack for infuriating and confounding me.
The cool night air whipped me as soon as I opened the door. I zipped my hoodie jacket up as far as it would go, thankful I’d remembered it. It was a breezy, chilly night—the kind that had one checking over their shoulder. Winter clung to the air, that sterile, suffocating smell that blanketed any scent of spring in the breeze.
Back home, I would have been in shorts and a tee, but here, even in my jeans and jacket, I wished I’d brought an extra layer of insulation. What a difference moving one state away could make. I hugged my arms around me and decided I’d jog back to my dorm. I’d get there quicker, stay warmer, and I hadn’t worn my trusty sneakers for nothing.
“Hey, beautiful.”
The address was out-of-context, but since there was no one else around, I stopped. More like froze, as a male figure drifted out in front of me, as if he’d materialized with the snap of his fingers. He made no attempt to hide in the shadows to remain unrecognizable, which would have eased my discomfort had it not been for the smile plastered on his face. It was far too wide to be friendly.
“Can I help you?” I asked, scanning the surroundings for some other life form, or an escape route at the least.
“I certainly hope so. I’m Ben, and no need to introduce yourself. I already know who you are.” He took a few steps towards me, allowing me an even better view of him. From the youth of his face, he could have been a student, although the dark three-piece suit he was wearing aged him in an odd way.
“I’m looking for someone,” he said, clasping his hands in front of him. “And since you were cozied up to him earlier tonight, I believe you can assist me in my search.”
I caught the gasp in my throat before it got out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, feeling adrenaline surging through my arms and legs.
“I’m not the kind of person you want to play games with,” he said, his voice perfectly level. “Let me repeat myself”—he eyed me parentally—“where is William?”
This time, a gasp did make its way out, at the same time the auditorium door flew open and another man—also wearing a suit and an aura of trouble—jogged towards us.
“He’s not in there,” he called out to Ben, before acknowledging me. He hopped to a stop and surveyed me once, then twice, before whistling through his teeth. “Hello, hello.” There was no greeting in it. “This the girl?” His eyes didn’t leave me.
“This is her,” Ben replied, sounding bored. “Although she’s not being as cooperative as would be healthy for her.”
I don’t know what had taken my body so long, but for the first time, I got chills. I felt another injection of adrenaline—like nitrous burners exploding to life.
The new man clucked his tongue. “Yeah, well that’s why you brought me along.” His eyebrows twitched twice and his tongue slid along his upper lip.
“That’s the only reason I bring you along, Troy,” Ben said, shrugging his shoulders in my direction, looking expectantly at him. “Time to earn your paycheck.”
I ran.
CHAPTER FOUR
SEEING STARS
I sprinted into the darkness, feeling nothing but my legs pounding the earth beneath me and my arms pumping through the damp air. If I’d run like this at the state conference in high school, I could have annihilated the record. Nothing like a little adrenaline and the fear of losing your life to make you run like an Olympian.
I heard nothing but my erratic breathing and saw nothing but the dull glow of lampposts dotting the campus grounds. How, in a campus this large, could there not be a single person around other than the two I was fleeing?
I surveyed the ground in front of me before checking over my shoulder—neither man had called out after me, nor had I heart their footfalls in pursuit.
I screamed at the same time Troy’s arms cinched around me, whipping me to a stop.
“You’re fast,” he said, no hint of exertion in his voice. “But you’re got to be faster if you want to outrun me.”
He twisted me around in his arms, thrusting me tighter against him. His breath heated the space between us.
“I’ll only ask once, and keep in mind I’m not nearly as nice as him”—he pointed his eyes to the side, where Ben was leaning up against a tree, cross-armed and looking bored. “Where is William?” he growled.
A cough escaped my lungs, no doubt a result of the cold air gulped from my all-out sprinting. I looked him straight on, feeling confidence rising, despite the angry veins that were bulging like roadmaps over his face.
I pointed my eyes at his shirt collar. “I think that tie’s cutting off the circulation to your head.”
I’d barely finished my sentence before I was flying backwards through the air. Before I could wrap my mind around the idea that I’d just been “pitched” like I’d weighed all of a pound, I came in contact with something as hard as it was unforgiving. My head bounced like a beach-ball against the brick wall of the building.