The Hazards of a One Night Stand (10 page)

“Oh yeah? Are you going to run off on me again? Maybe go flirt with your ex, for what the third time tonight?” Tanner let his jealous side show, and it wasn’t pretty.

“He’s not my ex,” I snapped.

“Calm down. It was a joke.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right.”

“I think you need that drink.” He led me over to the bar.

“A mojito, and a Jack and Coke,” Tanner ordered.

“IDs,” the female bartender said automatically.

Tanner turned to me nervously.

I fished mine out of my wallet. “Here.”

The bartender studied the ID before returning it and looking over at Tanner’s. After returning his, she made our drinks.

I waited until we were out of the bartender’s ear shot to turn to him. “In the future, don’t look at me that way when I’m getting carded.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I just wasn’t sure if you had one.”

“That’s probably something to ask before you drag me over to the bar with you.”

“I’m not used to dating younger girls.”

“Have you ever?”

“Dated a younger girl?”

“Yeah.” I turned my glass in my hand.

“Nope. I’ve always been with girls my age, I guess.”

I thought of Jana. “Oh.”

“Was that high school boyfriend of yours older?”

“Yeah, by a year.” Sometimes I wondered if his age was why I was so excited to date Jack in the first place. There was something exciting about dating someone older, and at least in theory, more mature than guys my age, even if it was just a year.

“I still can’t believe he was your only boyfriend.” Tanner sipped his drink but kept his eyes trained on my face.

“Why not?”

“You’re hot and confident. That usually means a lot of dating.” Tanner’s voice sounded a little off, but he couldn’t have been drunk yet.

“Not always.”

He laughed. “See, there’s the confidence. Some girls would be all ‘I’m not hot.’”

“I’m not one of those girls.” It’s not that I had amazing self-confidence, but I certainly wasn’t going to let a guy like Tanner see an ounce of self-doubt come from me.

“I get that.”

“If I asked you to get out of here, would you get the wrong impression?” He studied my face.

“That depends on what you wanted to do.”

“I don’t know.” He put his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “Walk.”

“You want to go for a walk?”

“Are you in?”

“I need to finish my drink.” I held up my nearly untouched glass.

“Take your time.”

I took it. I didn’t want to seem overeager, because I wasn’t. Tanner wasn’t a bad guy, and he was definitely attractive, but I doubted it was going to go anywhere. Still, there was a chance it could work and that was enough to warrant spending more time with him. At least, that’s what I tried to convince myself so I wouldn’t feel like a horrible person for leading him on. I sipped my drink slowly, watching the crowd.

“The pledges left. Aaron sent them out.”

“Oh.” Had he figured out what I was doing? “I wasn’t looking for them.”

“Sure you weren’t.”

“I wasn’t.” I set down my now mostly empty glass. “Still want to take that walk?”

“Definitely.” He set aside his drink and took my hand.

When I didn’t see Cara or Juliet, I sent them a quick text to let them know I was leaving—and going home to our room. Tanner pushed open the door, and we walked out.

“We don’t have to go too far. I know your shoes aren’t the most practical.”

I glanced at my heels. “But they are cute.”

He looked down at them, and then at my legs. “Very cute.”

“And my feet aren’t hurting so bad.”

“Maybe the drinks are helping.”

“I only had two.” I didn’t need him thinking I was a lightweight.

“How many drinks does it usually take for you to feel them?” He put an arm around my shoulders.

“A few.”

“That doesn’t help.”

I laughed. “Is it supposed to be an exact science or something?”

He adjusted his hand on my arm. “I need something more to go on than just a few.”

“Why?” I wondered why he cared so much.

“Because I need to make sure you don’t get sick or anything.”

“First of all, that implies we’ll be going out a lot. Second of all, that’s kind of patronizing.”

“You already agreed to another date, and it’s just called caring.”

“I’m an adult. I can decide how much I drink.” I pulled away from him.

“Ah, there’s that look in your eyes again.”

“Are you trying to make me fight with you?”

“I wasn’t, but hey, it’s kind of fun.”

I walked away, assuming he’d follow. I’m all about girl power, but walking around a city alone at night while wearing a short dress isn’t the smartest thing.

He caught up with me and spun me around into his arms. “I like you, Mallory.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. But I don’t want to play games.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re the one riling me up.”

“Are you into Colt or not? I’m not fighting with a freshman for your attention.”

“I’m not into Colt.” I wished my body agreed with the statement.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.” I tried to convince my heart and mind of it too.

“Good.” He brushed his lips against me.

I stepped back, not wanting the light kiss to go further. He didn’t get that. He closed the space between us and really kissed me this time. His lips moved against mine slowly, and then a little faster. I slipped away before he could deepen it.

He didn’t move to stop me, but he left his hands resting on my hips. “You are really good at this whole distraction thing.”

I shrugged. “Glad you think so.” Had he missed the fact that I wasn’t into the kiss?

He laughed. “So when are we going out again?”

“I don’t know. When are we?” I’d already agreed to another date. I wasn’t going to cancel. So I wasn’t into kissing him, maybe that could change.

“I’m going to a house party Saturday that some of my friends from my freshman floor are throwing. You want to come?”

“A house party. Romantic.”

“Oh, now you want romantic?”

“No. Not at all.”

“If you say so.” He moved his hands from around me, but quickly picked up my hand. “Ready to head back?”

“Not to your place.”

“I figured that.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. And you’ll be worth the wait.”

“Think the sex will be meaningful enough for you?” I tried to play along.

He leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Oh, it will be very meaningful.”

I shook my head. “Keep telling yourself that.”

The last thing I wanted to do on Friday morning was go to class. Thursday night parties were fun, but they made getting up the next morning hard. My alarm didn’t go off because I’d been so tired I never set it, and I barely made it to my first class on time. Without time to grab breakfast or even a coffee, I was dreading my morning classes.

“You still like yours with milk and Splenda, right?” Colt held out a large cup of coffee as I slid into my seat in anthro less than two minutes before it started.

“Oh my god, you’re a savior.” I accepted the coffee. Just because I didn’t want to date him, didn’t mean I shouldn’t act appreciative.

He laughed. “I figured you could use one.”

“Weren’t you up late too? I heard Aaron had you guys leave to do something.”

“Yeah to sleep. We’ve got something big going on tonight I guess.”

“Oh. Well, at least he thought ahead.” I opened the little flap on my coffee and took a tentative sip. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“I’m impressed you remembered how I take my coffee.”

“I’m glad you’re impressed, but you shouldn’t be surprised.”

Professor Cains walked in, starting the class before he even reached the front of the room.

Class wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected, mostly thanks to the coffee. The gesture had been really thoughtful and perfectly timed.

Colt and I walked to our next classes together. I didn’t attempt to ditch him. The coffee had definitely put him in my good graces. “Do you want to meet up this weekend to start working on the first project?”

“This weekend?” Wow, he was on the ball.

“Yeah. It’s due in a week.”

“Aren’t you busy with Kappa all weekend?”

“Tonight and some of Sunday, but I’m free tomorrow.”

“I have plans tomorrow night.” I was less excited about my next date with Tanner than the first. Going to a party where I knew no one didn’t sound like much fun.

“Yeah. I know.”

“How?”

“I ran into Tanner this morning. He was quick to make sure I knew.”

“Oh.” Lovely. Tanner really had a possessive side. Either that or he was incredibly threatened by Colt.

“Do you even like him?” Colt’s words weren’t tentative. He was challenging me.

“Yes.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I did like certain things about him.

“Come on, Mallory. You don’t.”

“I don’t know him well yet.” I looked around Colt to the bustling quad. I wanted to get lost in the crowd so I could escape the conversation. I appreciated the coffee, but I didn’t like where the discussion was headed.

“In other words, you’re not ready to admit you’re using him as an excuse.”

“Just when I thought you were being cool, and we could be friends…”

“It’s not like you. You don’t use people. Remember that.” He nodded before walking into his building.

I sighed. Great. Just what my conscious needed. I was still thinking about his words when I slipped into my seat next to Reed in econ.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” I booted up my laptop.

“I heard you had fun last night.”

“Yeah, it was cool. How about you?”

“It was nice.” He got a goofy smile on his face, and I could tell he was thinking about his night.

“Anything with Juliet is fun for you.”

“That it is.” He smiled brighter and got his own laptop ready. “So you and Tanner, huh?”

“I guess.”

“You guess? I heard you’re going out again tomorrow.”

“We are.”

“Why do I get the sense you’re not into it?” He turned to me.

I couldn’t get Colt’s words out of my head. “I am. It’s just early.”

“I get that.” His expression didn’t quite match his words. I appreciated that he didn’t try to push me any further on it.

Class started and I was more than happy to concentrate on economic principles rather than my love life. It was far simpler.

Sisterhood movie nights are one of the best ways to spend an evening. A night without guys can be more rewarding than you’d think, and it was exactly what I needed at the moment. The first one of the year was on Friday night, and I happily settled into watching a movie with the other girls. We’d ordered in Italian and broke out some popcorn and candy—all movie theater style.

I sat on the floor and leaned back comfortably against the couch. We had nearly perfect attendance, which meant there were close to sixty girls watching the movie. The den was a little over crowded, but no one seemed to mind.

My phone rang halfway through the movie. I saw my mom’s name on the screen and headed toward the stairs to answer it. “Mom?”

“Mallory, hi.” Something was off. She didn’t sound right.

“Is everything okay?” I quickly took the stairs. Juliet glanced up at me questioningly. I waved her off and went up to my room.

“Yes and no.”

“What’s that mean?” I lay down on my bed.

“Mallory.” She paused, as if carefully considering her words. “It’s your father.”

“What about him?” I hadn’t seen or talked to my dad in ages. As far as I knew, neither had she. The birthday card and my quick thank you note were the only communication we’d had in months.

“He had a heart attack.”

“What? Is he okay?” I felt the stinging of tears. We may not have been close anymore, but he was still my dad.

“From what I got from his assistant, he’s still in the critical care unit in the hospital.”

“Should I go there?” I asked nervously. I wasn’t sure what answer I wanted to hear.

“Davie asked the same question. We’re going to wait until morning and reevaluate.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know, honey, but I hope so.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“Are you alone?” Concern filled her voice.

“Nope. I’ve got a house full of company.” Although unusually quiet thanks to the movie, there were tons of girls around.

“Good. I’ll update you in the morning. I love you, sweetie.”

“I love you too. Tell Davie and Rob I love them too.” I tried to control my voice before hanging up.

“Mallory?” Cara asked softly from the doorway. She waited with Juliet.

“Hi. Sorry.” I used the side of my hand to dry my eyes.

“Why are you saying sorry?” Juliet took a step into the room. Cara followed and they closed the door behind them.

“I don’t know.”

“What’s going on?” They both sat down on my bed.

“My dad had a heart attack.”

“Is he okay?” both girls asked at once.

“We don’t know.” I wiped my eyes again.

“This is your dad dad, right? Not your stepdad?” Cara slipped off her shoes and pulled up her leg so she could look at me better.

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to Charlotte? Do you want me to take you?” Juliet offered, mirroring Cara’s movements.

“I’m not sure. My mom’s supposed to update me in the morning.”

“I’m so sorry. Is there anything we can do?”

“No. I think I’m going to take a walk.”

“A walk?” Cara asked. “Now?”

“Yeah. I need to move.”

“I’m in then.” Cara slipped on her flip flops.

“Same.” Juliet put on her sandals too.

“It’s okay. You guys can finish the movie.”

Juliet stood up. “Not a chance.”

“I appreciate it, but I need some time alone.”

“You sure?” Juliet asked.

“It’s getting late. Will you get back before dark?” Cara fidgeted with her necklace. It was a ‘C’ with a small diamond.

“I won’t be gone long. I appreciate you guys offering to come though.”

They nodded. I loved that my friends were awesome enough to offer their company, but they also knew me well enough to know when I needed them to back off.