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“Why are you all dressed up?” Declan asked, finally moving to put his bag down. He could not take his eyes off me.
Did I look that bad?
I said nothing as I went into the bathroom, to the full-length mirror on the door. Nope. Looked damn good. Super fine. Definitely sexy, so why the hell was Declan staring at me like he’d never seen someone so hideous before?
Emerging from the bathroom, I said, “I’m going to a party. You could come, if you want.” The light coming in from the windows was fading slowly but steadily. Soon enough it’d be dark; prime partying time when it came to college parties. No one started their party when it was still light out.
Of course I knew Declan wasn’t going to come. He didn’t seem like a partying sort. He was more of a stay-in-and-wish-my-life-was-better kind of guy. Sad, really, because sometimes you needed to party. Sometimes you needed to let loose and dance the night away. There were times when rubbing your sweaty body against someone else’s was the only thing keeping you sane.
“Whose party?” Declan asked, eyeing me up, like he still wasn’t sure if I looked good or like shit.
“Sawyer’s,” I said quickly. “Come on, dude. Just tell me if you don’t like the outfit. Does it look that bad?” I glanced down at myself. “Most of my clothes are more of the same—and I’m sure you guys are used to a different type of girl, but—”
It was clear Declan heard not a word I said after Sawyer. His dark brows came together; he almost looked upset. Almost. It was hard to get a true rise out of him, I found. Or maybe that was just because I reminded him of his dead girlfriend. Who knew?
“Why would you go to Sawyer’s party? He’s—”
It was now my turn to interrupt, “I know. Trust me, I know.”
“No,” Declan said, shaking his head as he took a step towards me. An arm’s length between us, yet it still felt like not enough. Not when he was staring at me like he didn’t want me to go. “No, you have no idea what Sawyer’s like. I grew up with him. I know everything he’s capable of.”
I held up a finger, going back to my desk and pulling out a small object. The rape whistle my mom never wanted me to leave anywhere without. I didn’t tell her I’d been going to class all week without it, but tonight? Tonight I’d be sure to send her a picture of it in my hand as I was walking, just to put her mind at ease. I loved my mom, I did, but sometimes she was nuts.
“That’s a whistle,” Declan muttered.
I put the whistle in my front pocket. “Yep. For my mom. Sorry—you were saying?”
“I…you can’t go to this party.” He was so serious about it, too. Kind of hilarious, in an annoying, overbearing way. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was worried about me. Stupid, because I was his friend, but he wasn’t mine. I was nothing to him—or at least I should be nothing.
“Declan, you are aware you can’t tell me what to do, right?”
He blinked, as if remembering our agreement. He took a step back, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just warning you—Sawyer’s parties are wild, and I’m sure the moment he realizes you’re there, he’ll try to get to you.”
“I can handle anything Sawyer throws at me,” I told him, wondering if maybe a kernel of him was worried about me. If he was worried, it meant he cared. If he cared about me, at least a little bit, that meant he sort of liked me. If he…okay, not sure where the hell that train of thought was going. “And don’t worry, I’ll be home before it gets really wild.”
Declan sighed, a hard sigh with so much pent up emotion behind it. “Fine, but if you need me…”
Honestly, I had no clue where he was going with this, not until he went to his bag and got out a notebook, tearing off a small corner piece. He scribbled something on it and handed it to me, keeping his dark gaze on the ground.
His number. Declan just gave me his number, and he was blushing like crazy.
I couldn’t help but wonder how badly he blushed while getting freaky…
“Thank you,” I said, over-enunciating each word as I tried to get my mind out of the gutter. I stuck his number in one of my back pockets.
“Just be careful, okay? Those guys, and anyone who’d go to their party…don’t trust any of them,” Declan warned.
I found myself taking a tiny step towards him. Tiny because I didn’t want to overstep and make him feel uncomfortable. Also tiny because I didn’t trust myself to be that close to him, not with my wandering mind. “Don’t worry,” I said, giving him a cheeky smile. “I’ll be fine, and I’ll be back before you know it.”
Declan didn’t look like he believed me, but he said nothing as I went. I stopped at the union and ate dinner, texting Kelsey about the party. Kelsey was all for it, and not only that, but she wanted me to start putting some notches on my bedpost. Hey, I was down for nailing some hotties, but right now, I was too focused on the whole Declan-Sawyer feud.
I set my phone down, wondering that since I reminded Declan of Sabrina if I reminded Sawyer of her, too. Seemed almost too ironic that I, the one girl in all of Hillcrest, reminded Declan of her. Almost like it was all set up to be like this.
But that was a conspiracy theorist’s thought. I didn’t believe in coincidences like that, unless the evidence was laid out before me.
I lingered in the union until it was about to close. The world outside went dark, and it was officially time for me to head out, to the party I was told not to go to. Would it be fun? Would I regret going? Would I somehow fall for whatever asinine thing Sawyer said? Hmm. More likely I’d find Travis. Out of the two of them, Travis would be my choice. All those tattoos—what was not to like?
I’d really like some tattoos of my own…but my mom would kill me, even though I was an adult. As soon as I was out of her house, and also as soon as I had the money, I’d be getting some.
