“You don’t have a dick.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have balls.” I lift my chin.
“You think way too highly of yourself.”
“Maybe so, but if you won’t want to know my name, that’s fine. We can just go our separate ways. Believe me. I don’t plan on talking to Rob anymore, so there’s no reason for you to be so pissy with me.”
“If you think this is pissy…” Zac just shakes his head, his eyes so dark they almost look black.
“Goodbye, Rob’s friend,” I toss as I start to walk around him.
His foot shoots out, but I anticipated his trying to trip me, and I avoid the attempt, but I wasn’t ready for him to then escalate things and shove me hard from behind. I stumble but don’t fall, whirl around, and give him the double bird.
He grabs my fingers and yanks me closer to him. “My name is Zac Stryker,” he says in a hushed, dangerous tone. “You might want to watch your step around me.”
“Try to trip me again, and I’ll be sure that my knee falls upward right at your groin,” I say, my tone saccharine. “I’ve had to deal with asshole guys before, and I have kneed a guy before.”
“I have balls of steel.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. “Sure you do, but I didn’t knee him in the balls.” I lift onto my tones and lean closer to him. “It was his erection I hit. Maybe it’s you who should watch your step around me.”
He squeezes my fingers, but I just have my lips stretch wider and wider into a huge smile, trying desperately to show that he doesn’t affect me at all.
But he doesn’t release me, just stares down at me, and I have to admit that his hair is lovely. It’s a bit bushy, the red more evident today maybe because I’m so close to him, or it might be the sun shining down on us, but he has no halo. That’s for damn sure.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” he says, almost growling.
“Why not?” I ask, feigning indifference. “Not that I have anywhere to be, but why do you want someone you clearly dislike to stick around?”
“You haven’t told me your name yet.”
I snort and roll my eyes. “You know I was with Rob, that I turned him down for sex last night, so he’s in a foul mood and talking shit. He never mentioned my name?”
“Katie what?”
“Katie Quake.”
Zac shakes his head and laughs as he walks away.
I bristle. I’ve always disliked my last name. Erika loved it, but in grade school, the first few years, I weighed a little more than I should’ve. Some of the kids teased me once they learned about earthquakes in the second grade, saying that I was going to cause an earthquake with every step I take.
But I need to relax. Zac is clearly just messing with me, and I won’t let him get into my head. He didn’t say anything about my surname. I need to just let it go.
I make it to class. Things go well enough there, but I have another one to get to immediately after, and unfortunately, I’m cornered by Ace. He is powerfully built, and if anyone could cause a quake when they walk, it’s him. No fat anywhere, stellar athlete, but still, I would not want to get into a fight with him.
“Katie Quake, huh? You think you’re too good for Rob, is that right?”
“That’s not the truth at all, but if you want to listen to gossip, you do you. If you’ll excuse me…”
“If you think you can be a bitch to one of my best friends—”
“You and the Grim Reapers are all super tight, huh?” I ask.
Ace’s dark eyes flash. “What are you implying?”
“I think that when it comes to your friends, you tend to ignore reason and just accept whatever they tell you, regardless of how accurate it is. There are two sides to every story, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear mine. No big deal. I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t even know your name—”
“Liar.”