“What?”
He shook
his head, still smiling. “Nothing.”
I snuggled into his side and breathed in his smell: clean laundry and Ian. His pheromones. They were the reason he drove me wild. His left hand moved to my hair, absently stroking it as his attention returned to the movie. Delightful shivers tingled through my scalp and down my neck. I had to admit, lying here beside him and watching a movie together felt pretty good. I’d never had that before. Never felt a connection to someone like I did with Ian.
I would do a lot for him, I knew that. In fact, I was pretty sure I was falling in love with him. That was the most dangerous part. Not dealing with his boss and student council and not the rumors that would circulate from dating a campus celebrity—but what could happen to my heart.
And Ian...he didn’t seem like the type to fall in love. He’d assumed I wasn’t a virgin for a reason, and my guess was that he hadn’t run into many of them while modeling in New York. He’d probably lost his own virginity when he started modeling at fourteen—same with the women he’d met.
I nestled in closer to him, trying to push the heavy out of mind. I was with Ian now and he wanted to date me. In his world, that had to mean something.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Despite pressure from Ian, I went home that night. Melissa was studying at her desk, that damn pencil between her teeth again.
“Hey,” I said and dropped my bag on the bed.
She didn’t look up. She did, however, pull the pencil from her mouth and begin tapping it on her textbook. I wasn’t sure which was more annoying.
“Where have you been all weekend?” Still not looking at me.
Her tone contained an edge and it felt oddly similar to being interrogated by my mother. Slowly, I sank down on the edge of the bed.
“Um, studying mostly.”
“Hmm.” She sniffed. “Ian’s been coming around, and it didn’t seem like it was about your course…Music Whatever.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that so I just didn’t. Finally she looked up at me, and her face was hard.
“Out with it, Alexis. What’s going on?”
My heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”
“Cut the crap. What have you been doing?”
“I already told you. I’m just stressed out. Don’t want to flunk my first year.”
“And that has to do with Ian how?”
“We’re in a class together.”
“Like I said, I don’t believe you.”
The truth was, she really didn’t want to hear the truth. Not in this mood. So I changed the topic to her favorite subject: Melissa. Some people might catch on to this trick, but with Melissa it was a sure win. She couldn’t help but talk about herself.
“You seem upset. What’s wrong?” I asked in the most compassionate voice I could muster. “Everything going all right with you and Gary?”
Her eyes went cold. So cold, I had to suppress a shiver.
“No, they are not going all right.” She glared at me for a moment longer before her shoulders slumped and she let out a defeated sigh. “He said he would call—you know, after that night—but he never did.”
“Shitty.” I looked down at my hands knotted in my lap. I sucked at girl talk. “Have you seen him? In class or anything?”
She snorted bitterly. “Yeah. He acts like he always did. I guess I just had a different idea about what happened between us. He probably does that with tons of girls.”
The image of Gary spanking a girl behind a screen popped into my mind and I quickly shoved it aside. Gross.