Maybe mind reading was his superpower. I internally rolled my eyes at myself. There was no way it was him. If it was, he wouldn't want to know my secrets so badly. He'd be happy that we both had them. Besides, I was pretty sure I could recognize him in sweatpants and a hoodie. Right?
"This is definitely going to be a problem," Professor Bryant said as he wrote down James Hunter on the board yet again.
I shook my head. Professor Bryant would have had more interesting topics if he hadn't grouped so many girls together for the project. By the time all the names were called, James Hunter was written down six times.
Professor Bryant placed the chalk down and brushed the dust off his hands. "We can't have any repeats. So the groups that chose Hunter need to talk and decide on some new ideas. Everyone else is dismissed."
"Want to get some lunch?" Eli's hand fell off my thigh as he stood up.
"That would be great. I'm starving. We can finally check out the dining hall together."
As soon as I stood up, he slid his hand into mine.
"What happened to your hand?" Eli turned over my palm.
"I tripped. It was nothing."
Something flashed across his eyes. I could have been wrong, but it seemed like anger. Again, it felt like he truly felt my pain. It was comforting. I knew without a doubt that Eli wouldn't stand me up again. He did care.
He lightly kissed my palm.
Maybe Eli wasn't the vigilante. But that didn't mean he wasn't my superhero.
Chapter 27
Friday
I took another sip of beer. The more I drank, the less I seemed to look over my shoulder. It calmed my nerves. It made me blend in. It made me feel like a normal college student.
"I told you this would be fun," Kins said. She tapped her red solo cup against mine. Some beer sloshed over the rim and she laughed. She was definitely drunk.
I giggled and looked down at my half empty cup. Was this my third? Crap. I was definitely drunk too.
"Oh, there he is!" Kins shouted. She ran over to Patrick and jumped into his arms.
He laughed, despite the fact that she just spilled some beer onto his shirt. I wasn't sure why she couldn't see how great he was. No, he wasn't a bad boy like she wanted. He was cute though. He had shaggy blonde hair and green eyes. Every time I had seen him he was wearing some grunge band t-shirt. Was he in a band? How was a rock star not what she was looking for? Especially one that looked like Patrick.
I looked away as they started making out. I thought Eli was coming with him. My eyes wandered to the entrance of the stadium. Students were starting to head that way. The game would be starting soon. Without Eli here, I felt weird about going in. It made it seem like I had just come to see Miles. And that definitely wasn't the case. I bit my lip. So why wasn't I walking way? It felt like something was drawing me to the stadium.
"Hey, Sadie."
I jumped when Patrick touched my shoulder. "Hey, Patrick." His arm was slung around Kins' back and she was clinging to him. It didn't look like she had Miles on her mind at all. I was surprised by how much that relieved me.
"Eli wanted me to tell you that something came up and he couldn't come."
Not again. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. "Did he say why?"
Patrick shrugged. "Something about a new class."
"Oh, yeah. He did mention that." He just hadn't mentioned that he'd be standing me up again. I took another sip of my beer as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. There was a missed text from him that I must have not heard come through because of all the rowdy soccer fans. I clicked on it.
"Sorry, I can't make the game tonight. I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise."
"No problem," I typed out and pressed send. But it was a problem. He said he was taking the boxing classes for me, so why did it feel like he was avoiding me? I tossed my now empty cup into the trash and followed Kins and Patrick into the stadium. It was packed with screaming fans.
"It's already started," Kins said and grabbed my arm. "Let's find a seat."
We had lost our floor a long time ago in the sea of tailgaters. But it didn't really matter. I preferred to hang out with Kins anyway. Now that Patrick was here though, I kind of wished I wasn't the third wheel. We squeezed our way into the front row. I was all for sitting in the front row of class. But standing in the front row of a game I barely understood wasn't exactly something I normally did. The crowd was electrifying though. I wasn't sure if it was the booze or the fact that my eyes had just landed on Miles, but I started cheering along with them.