As we crossed campus, he draped his arm over my shoulders. The touch was casual, something I’d done a hundred times with Jordan, yet it didn’t feel like when Jordan did it. Nothing about what I felt for Barrick was like what I’d felt for my best friend. It was exciting and scary all at the same time.
“We’re going to a bar downtown tonight,” he mentioned as we neared my dorm. “The place is called Jameson’s. Lyla knows where it is.”
“Jameson’s?” I laughed at the irony. My mom’s maiden name was Jameson, not that I would be telling her about it if I decided to go. I was pretty sure mentioning I was at a bar wouldn’t go over well with her.
“Will you come?”
I hesitated. “I have a class to teach at six, so I’ll have to see how my knee feels after that,” I hedged.
Opening the front door to the dorm, he waited for me to enter. “I want to see you tonight,” he said in that low, deep voice that made me shiver. Lowering his head, he stopped only a few inches short of brushing his nose against my own. “Come—for me.”
The air around us seemed to crackle with sexual tensi
on, and I gulped. “I’ll think about it.”
He brushed his thumb over my cheek as he tucked a few strands of my hair behind my ear. “See you later, Mia,” he murmured in that sexy as hell voice. Stepping back, he winked, making my legs weak for a moment as he walked away.
Chapter 5
Mia
Waving to the last of my students in my Wednesday class, I pulled my phone from my bag as I headed across the street to get back to my dorm.
Seeing I already had a text from Lyla asking if I was going out and if I wanted her to pick me up, I shot her back a reply telling her I would just meet her there. I wanted to shower and change clothes before I went to Jameson’s, and she was already out.
Which only had my phone ringing two seconds after I hit send. “Are you sure?” she asked as soon as I answered. “I’m just having dinner with my brother. I can cut it short and come pick you up.”
“No, it’s fine. I need to figure my way around this town anyway,” I told her and groaned when I got a text. Taking a glance at my phone to see who it was, I quickly put it back to my ear. “I have to go. See you later.”
“Just be careful, Mia. Take a cab or something so you don’t strain your knee.”
Smiling at the concern I heard in her voice, I agreed and ended the call so I could concentrate on the text I’d just gotten.
As I looked down at the message from my best friend, my heart lifted and I had to blink back tears.
Jordan: College sucks. I thought this was supposed to be the best years of our lives. Instead, I’m bored in class all day, then bored at these stupid frat parties I’m expected to go to. Tell me your experience is going better than my own!
Nibbling on my lip, I considered what to reply as I walked toward my dorm. We’d only texted sparingly since the night everything happened, and usually even those were tense conversations. This, however, was just like old times, and I knew I had a stupid grin on my face as I reread his message a half-dozen times.
Me: I have a badass roommate who I suspect is a local mob princess or something, from how people treat her. It’s kinda cool, and I’m glad to have the attention off me for once. Made a few other friends. No one can replace you, though. Classes are boring, but everything else is fun.
For the rest of my walk, we texted back and forth. I told him about my job, my classes, and even about meeting Braxton at physical therapy that morning. But for some reason, I didn’t mention Barrick to him. I wasn’t ready to talk about how he made me feel, and I knew Jordan, of all people, would see through my bullshit.
After a quick shower, I put on a little makeup and got dressed. On the cab ride to Jameson’s, I continued my earlier text conversation with Jordan. Since we’d been avoiding each other for so long, there was a lot to catch up on in both our lives.
The cab driver pulled up in front of the bar that had a huge sign over the entrance declaring it Jameson’s. People stood outside smoking and talking, all of them at least twenty-one. I pulled out my wallet, searching for the fake ID Jordan had gotten for me when we were seventeen. I wasn’t sure where he got it from, but the thing was exceptionally professional-looking.
A bouncer stood at the front door, checking IDs before letting anyone in. I offered mine, and he gave me a chin nod as he handed it back. “Barrick is at the bar,” he surprised me by saying.
Inside, the music was so loud it made the walls pulse, but I had to admit it was good. Glancing around, I took in the layout of the place. There were two floors, with the bar on the first level. There was a jukebox across from the bar, and at least twenty people were dancing in front of it. A set of stairs led up to the second floor on either side of the room, but the majority of the people upstairs were leaning over the banister as they talked, people-watching.
Or rather, person-watching.
It wasn’t hard to determine where Barrick was. There was a group of chicks surrounding him at the bar, making it impossible to see anything but his head from where I was standing. Braxton was beside him, and both of them had their backs turned to the females behind them.
I stood there watching them, feeling the icy hands of jealousy trying to claw their way into my sanity.
Obviously, the chicks had all been drinking, and as I looked on, two of them seemed to grow a pair and moved closer to Barrick. As he shifted, I saw he was wearing a black muscle shirt with a pair of jeans that hugged his ass just right.