Beau’s nostrils flare in anger. “Kellan is a dick.”
“He certainly is,” I agree. “Look, I’m sorry I interrupted your activities.”
As Beau continues to hold the ice pack to my lip, he doesn’t say anything but continues to examine the cut near the corner of my mouth.
“I’m not sure how your lip got cut, and nose survived.”
“Big lips,” I blurt out, then close my eyes in embarrassment. “Ignore that, please.”
Beau chuckles. “Okay, sure. So, you never mentioned you were in the city.”
“Last minute work thing.”
“Work.” He lingers with a smirk. “I forgot you sold out to the corporate life.”
“Kind of had no choice,” I admit, then sigh. “NYU is beautiful. I’ve never visited this campus. My cousin Andy went here.”
“You missed out on the whole touring college campuses experience. Though, for me, it just made sense to stay in the city.”
“What exactly do you want to major in?”
Beau shrugs his shoulders. “Not sure. I knew I needed to complete my undergraduate, and I guess we’ll see what happens.
“So, you applied without a plan?”
He removes the ice pack to examine me again, moving closer so we’re only inches apart.
“Too much pressure to decide at a young age. I’m sure I’ll figure it out in the next few years.”
It never occurred to me to attend college without direction. All my sisters knew exactly what they wanted to do. So did Mom and Dad. I’d been conditioned my whole life to think I had to know in senior year.
“Your lip looks bad,” he murmurs, continuing to stare. “People will think I beat you up or something.”
I place my hand on his shoulder jokingly. “You did beat me up, my brain, that is. I’m not sure if I can unsee what I saw.”
Beau rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, Brittany is just—”
“A girl who likes to give you blowjobs?”
“Yes, but we’re not dating. It’s all just casual.”
“College life.” I grin, then attempt to stand up, but my head spins. “Whoa. Did the ground move?”
Beau catches me as I stumble into his arms. “Okay, you need to lie down.”
“I can’t. I need to go back to the hotel.”
“Alexa,” he warns, bringing me down to his bed. “You need to rest, even just for an hour.”
“Okay, I can manage an hour.”
It doesn’t take me long to doze off, given Beau's bed is soft and his sheets have this nice smell. When I wake, I let out a groan and wet my dry lips. Everything hurts, making it all the more difficult to sit up in bed.
“What time is it?” I croak, noticing the daylight has disappeared from the room.
Beau is sitting at his desk on his laptop with what appears to be some essay on the screen.
“It’s seven,” he informs me. “You slept for like four hours.”