My body was burning up, nerves tingling and legs trembling. I couldn’t get the thought of his hands on me out of my mind. I wanted to hate his touch, but I didn’t. I wasn’t scared of it, either, even though I knew I should be.
He leaned even closer, warm breath fanning over my lips as he softly exhaled. My heart skipped a beat. For a second, I thought he might kiss me, but then his eyes narrowed. “Stay the fuck away from my friends,” he said through gritted teeth.
Before I could respond, he stormed off down the path, leaving me alone in the moonlit clearing.
“Asshole!” I called out, stepping back onto the path as well. I wanted to be mad at him, but truthfully I was angrier at myself. My traitorous body wanted that kiss, and I hated that about myself. Hated that I would ever crave such a horrible man’s touch, especially after the things that had already been done to me by other horrible men in my short life.
Maybe I was damaged by my past, so broken I sought out pain and suffering because I was used to it.
“Time to book myself into therapy again,” I muttered to myself as I turned back onto the lakeshore and trudged along the sand.
“Hey, there you are!”
I looked up to see Trina running toward me. “Hey,” I said weakly.
“I was worried about you,” she said when she reached me. “I saw Chris come back without you, and then I saw Hunter stalking back from the same direction. I thought he might’ve done something to you.”
Goosebumps broke out over my skin as I pictured his hands on me, mouth almost closing over mine. Oh, he did something, all right, I thought bitterly. I’m just not quite sure what it was.
“You look freezing,” Trina went on, noticing the goosebumps. “Let’s go to the fire.”
I followed her over to the fire, ignoring the icy stares from Talia and her crew.
“Where’s Adam?” I asked, peering around the party.
“Over there,” Katrina said, pointing over my shoulder. “Talking to some guy from his class.”
I turned to see Adam laughing and chatting with a cute redheaded guy. As I looked, I couldn’t help but notice another guy nearby, throwing interested glances at Trina.
“Hey, there’s your English class hottie,” I said, nudging her.
She blushed. “So?”
“So you should go and talk to him! I think he likes you.”
“I’m staying right here,” she said, shaking her head.
“Why?”
“Because Adam’s busy with his friend, so if I went off to talk to someone, you’d be alone,” she said. She turned her gaze in the opposite direction, toward the lake. “Hey, look. The fog is gone.”
She was right. Every last cloud had dissipated, and the water was shimmering brightly under the stars and moonlight. In the distance, I could see the dark outline of the island that sat in the middle of the lake.
I pointed to it. “What do you know about that island?” I asked.
Katrina’s forehead wrinkled. “That’s Harker Island. Named after one of the guys who discovered this whole area, I think.”
“It’s not on the campus maps,” I said. “I only realized it was there on my first day when I went to the old observatory in my room and saw it through some binoculars.”
She shrugged. “I guess they didn’t think there was a point adding it to the map,” she said. “It’s not very big.”
“But people go there, right?” I asked, remembering the narrow dock I spied through the binoculars, along with the strange lights.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Oh. I saw an old dock, so I figured someone was using it.”
“Hm.” Trina twisted her lips. “I guess the swimming or rowing clubs might’ve gone there sometimes, way back in the day, but I’ve never seen anyone head out there before. Not as long as I’ve been at RFA.”