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Price took off toward the lawyers, effortlessly falling in with the group when he reached them. He had them laughing in no time and I shook my head. Maybe if I hadn’t had enough of lawyers in the last decade to last me a lifetime, I would have been right there with him.
I knew how important connections were in this life. God, did I know, but networking just wasn’t on my radar tonight. Things were a little turbulent in Camp Thayer right now. No one I met now, in the before, would want to know my name in a few weeks anyway.
If I was going to take the time to network, I’d do it in the after. Once the bombs had dropped. At least then I’d know who I could trust to actually take my call if I ever needed them.
As I went to refill my recycled jam jar with red wine, a girl standing near the wall caught my eye. She looked vaguely familiar. Maybe we have a lecture together or something.
She looked up and caught me staring, raising an eyebrow before excusing herself and making a beeline for me. As she approached, she flashed me a toothy grin and nodded at the box I was pouring the wine from.
“We’re so elegant, don’t you think?”
I shrugged. “There are worse things in life than free booze.”
She grinned again, and this time, I almost shuddered. Up close, she was very pretty, but not at all my type. Way too loud and with far too many teeth on display at all times.
While she’d spoken at a perfectly reasonable volume, I could tell from her energy that she was one of those people who was always making their presence known. As she was now, coming over just because I’d been trying to figure out where I knew her from.
“You’re the guy from ethics,” she said. “I’m Tasha.”
“Holden.”
“I know.” She laughed, proving that I’d been right about her being loud, and leaned over to refill her own glass. “We’re in the same lecture twice a week and it’s been a few weeks. Our class isn’t that big.”
“It’s big enough.”
“Clearly.” She glanced up at me while waiting for the dwindling wine supply to trickle into her glass. “Are you having fun at the party?”
“No.”
She laughed again. “Do you have a study group yet?”
“No.”
“Well, you do now.”
“That seems presumptuous. I haven’t even been invited to one, but you think I’ll agree to join yours?”
“You will.”
“You’re pretty optimistic, aren’t you? You don’t know anything about me. There’s no way for you to know if I’ll agree.”
“Maybe I don’t know anything about you, but I do know a lot about me, and I’m collecting the people who take the best notes. From what I’ve seen, you’re not one of them, but I’m feeling generous, so you can join us.”
A guy behind us said something I didn’t catch, but Tasha spun to face him without skipping a single beat. “Are you seriously going to stand there and say capitalism won’t survive climate change? I mean, are you serious?”
He blinked hard. “I didn’t—”
“Yes, you did. I was standing right here.” When he glanced at his friends, she folded her arms. “Don’t look at them. They’re not going to save you.”
The guy muttered something but then turned and walked away. Tasha shook her head. “That’s what I thought. Just another spineless blowhard whose mouth is bigger than his brain.”
Without paying any attention to his gaping friends, she turned back to me. “You really should join my study group. We’re mostly normal. Except for the law students.” Tasha leaned closer. “They’re not invited.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because I hate lawyers.”
Okay, I like her. Platonically, obviously, but between that statement and the fact that she’d just given a complete stranger shit about his incorrect point of view, she seemed like she would be fun to be around.
