He watched as her throat worked, and then she straightened her spine.“Fuckeveryone else’sfuckingopinion.”
He laughed and released her hand. “Beautiful. How’d that feel?”
“Like a lightning bolt might strike me down,” she admitted with a sheepish smile. “But also really good.”
He peeked up at the ceiling. “No lightning bolt. I think God has bigger things to worry about than salty language.”
She let out a breath. “Thanks.”
“No problem. I know you can do this,” he said. “You should be proud of yourself. Coming here took a lot of guts.”
She gave him a wry look. “So you don’t think I’m aFelicity-style stalker?”
“Noooo, because then I’d have to admit I’ve watchedFelicity.”
“Oh, you can’t hide that. Maya told me you totally got hooked when she was bingeing all the retro teen dramas. I know your dark secrets, Auden Blake,” she teased.
Dark secrets.A little warning bell sounded at that. He wanted to help O’Neal, but he needed to keep the boundaries clear. “Fine. I may have watched afewepisodes. So let’s clear the air. Did you come here because you think I’m your Ben and wanted to stalk me?”
She tilted her head, expression droll. “The kiss wasn’tthatgood.”
He laughed, relief filling him. “Ouch.”
She smiled. “Their journalism program is, though. It’s totally worth stalking.”
“Good. We are stalker-free then.” He stood, feeling lighter now that they’d talked, and cocked his head toward the door. “Ready to grab something to eat? Lennox is probably asking incoming freshmen if they have any snacks he could buy off them by now.”
She laughed and stood, grabbing her keys and student ID off the desk next to her bed. “Let’s go.”
They wound their way through the hall, dodging people with boxes, and he found himself putting his hand on the small of her back to guide her through. He told himself he’d do the same for his sister in a crowd.
“So Lennox is a good guy?” O’Neal asked as they neared the exit.
“The best,” he said without thinking. “And you don’t have to worry about him hitting on you or anything.”
“What?” she asked, sending him a confused look.
“He can be a flirt,” he explained. “I told him you were off limits.”
She stopped and turned to him, annoyance there. “What? Why?”
He winced inwardly. He should’ve kept his damn mouth shut. “Because Len can be a lot. And he’s in grad school and you’re a freshman. And you’re Maya’s friend. And just…so many reasons.”
“Uh, hi,” she said, tone as pointed as he’d ever heard her. “Last I checked, I was a grown person. You don’t get to make those decisions for me.”
He sighed, feeling like a jackass. “You’re right. I don’t. I’m sorry. But just…trust me on this one, okay? Advice from a friend. You’re going to be experiencing a lot of new things here. Start slow. Lennox is…not that. He’s graduate level in more things than his transcript.”
Her eyes widened a little, and her throat worked as she swallowed, nervousness flickering in her expression. He’d gotten through. She started walking again. “Fine. I get what you’re saying, and I wasn’t even implying that I wouldwantLennox to flirt with me. I’m just—I’m tired of other people making decisions for me. I’m here to make my own choices. I don’t need another person protecting me from the big, bad world.”
He peeked over at her. “Message received.”
She jutted out her chin. “Good.”
Lennox was leaning against Auden’s BMW when they made it to the parking lot. He smiled at the two of them. “Table for three then?”
“Yep,” O’Neal said, the tremor in her voice giving her away. She was probably weaving all kinds of sordid stories about Lennox in her head now. But no matter what she could come up with, they wouldn’t come close to the truth. “You guys lead the way. I don’t know what’s good around here.”
Lennox’s smile curved wider, and his gaze flicked to Auden’s as he opened the car door for O’Neal. “We can definitely do that. We know all the best-kept secrets in town.”