Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Wanna chat?” he asks in that cool, breezy way he has.
“About?” I don’t make eye contact, but he’s unusually quiet, so I finally break and look to see him glaring at me.
“Oh, I don’t know, Miles. I thought we could have a deep philosophical discussion about Impressionism. What do you think?”
“I’m more into modern art,” I quip, and he smirks.
“At least you have more of a sense of humor now than you did over the summer.”
“And here I thought you’d figured out that the best thing to do was to stay away from me.” I finish stuffing my things away and push to my feet.
“I honestly don’t know how you think I’ve figured anything out about you. First you’re picking a fight with me.”
“You know you were tripping me up to get me back for the fire.” I don’t believe that for a second, but I need to get away from him.
“That’s not what was happening. I was being friendly with you.”
“Your mistake.”
“Well, if it was such a mistake, why were you escorting me home, seeming genuinely worried about me?”
I reflect on that night at the party. He seemed to be drinking a lot, which was none of my fucking business, but he was holding it fine. At least, it looked like it. But since I wasn’t sure that would last, I tailed him as he headed back to Alpha Theta Mu. In my mind, I would just follow him a bit to make sure he was all right, but the way he was walking, or maybe because of how high I was, it was hard to tell if he was stumbling or if that was just in my head. We were about a block away from the party when I noticed I was still following him and how fucking weird that was. Why did I even give a shit if he made it home okay? I didn’t even know the guy. Then he took a fall, and I sprinted into action.
Now it’s biting me in the ass.
Dax’s brow creases. “I can’t make sense of you. You ignored me most of the summer. Then you’re storming out of class one minute, and now, here you are.”
“Here I am.” I’m not giving him more than that.
“If we’re gonna be in the same room for the next few months, don’t you think we could squash whatever this is?”
“Maybe I just don’t like you, Dax.”
He winces. “Everyone likes me.”
He’s not wrong, and it’s frustrating that he doesn’t even get it—he’s not the asshole; I am. That’s why he shouldn’t be messing with me.
He stares me down, studying my face, and a rush of adrenaline pumps through me. One thing everyone knows about Dax is how good he is at reading people, and I fear he’ll somehow catch on to more than he should.
He opens his mouth to speak, but I need to get the hell out of there, so I walk away. As I hurry out the studio door, I glance back and see him standing there, mouth hanging open, surely just as confused as when he first approached me.
And if it’ll get him to leave me alone, that’s probably for the best.
4
Dax
I’ve never had such a thing for an asshole before.
Not that I’m into Miles, but I would like to fuck him. He’s too sexy not to want to fuck, with his straight, light-brown hair that hangs over his forehead in a way that really shouldn’t be so hot but is. The guy’s jawline looks sculpted—I’ve never found myself attracted to someone’s sharp jaw before, but I am with him.
With anyone else, if they spoke or acted the way he does, I’d want nothing to do with them. But there’s something so damn intriguing about him. He’s like a villain most of the time, but every once in a while, he turns into a hero—okay, once; once he turned into a hero, and less a hero and more like a normal fucking person who does something nice, but still. I blame my fascination on him being so damn hot—and maybe also because everyone else feels boring right now. Like I’ve fucked my way through all the nice guys, or hell, all the guys who end up happily in love with someone else, and now my dick craves something different.
Tonight is the first Alpha Theta Mu party of the year. I’m stuck between being bummed that this is the last year I’ll be doing shit like this and feeling over it all. That’s definitely not like me. I’m always down for a good time. I love people and being social, and I still do, but…something’s off. Maybe the fact that so many of the guys I started at Peach State with are gone now has me all up in my feels.
“Got the keg!” Keegan makes his way into the house, with Jaxon helping him. They’re from Sigma Alpha and offered to help. With the fire last year and Sigma Alpha rooming with ATM, we’re closer than ever. I like the bond between the frats, that we can be competitive but still there for each other and all of us just wanting to have a good time.