“Fingers! They both did. Shut up before he hears us!”
“Did he say anything?” She’s practically jumping around.
“He told me he’s thought about being with me, but that we can’t be together because of our age.”
She rolls her eyes. “Men. But this is a start! It means he wants you. We can use that.”
“Let’s not get too excited.”
“Too late.” She grabs my hand and pulls me toward a row of jeans, grabbing a few for each of us. “You never even thought this would happen. Now look at you, getting fingered by two men in one night. There should be some sort of award for this.”
I scoff with a laugh. “Are you done yet? We have a test to study for.”
“Ew. Studying. Fine. Let’s go pay for our things, then grab some coffee.”
“Okay.”
We head toward the register, where the cashier is keeping the clothes for us so we didn’t have to carry them.
After paying for it all, we start the four blocks toward our vehicles, hers a few streets away from mine. We could’ve taken the train like almost every college student in Manhattan, but that would mean we have normal parents.
My father doesn’t want me taking public transportation. Too dangerous, he says. That was one thing he wouldn’t budge on. Wanted Devlin to drive me around, but I wanted to have my own car so I didn’t have to depend on anyone. I won that battle. Sure, Devlin still takes me places, but I take myself places too.
Karen’s mother is just as overprotective and refused to allow her to step foot in a subway. It’s why we walk to most places when we can. So much easier than finding parking. That’s what hell feels like. It took us forty-five minutes just to find these spots.
Devlin drove my car in just so he didn’t have to take his. His SUV would’ve been way worse to park than my sedan. On campus, at least there’s a parking lot. Nothing big, and you need a special pass that my father was able to get us.
“Alright, I’ll see you back at school.” I give Karen a quick hug before she gets inside and drives off.
With Devlin beside me, we start toward the rest of the way.
“How are you feeling today?” he asks.
My cheeks heat up when I glance at him. I get all shy whenever I think about what happened between us.
“Good, yeah, fine.”
He doesn’t say anything in response, remaining silent the entire way while I grow insanely uncomfortable at this awkwardness between us.
When we’re finally in front of my car, I rush toward the passenger side, clicking the doors open, more than happy to let Devlin drive in the city.
When I open the door, though, I find a note on my seat.
“That’s weird…” A creepy sensation crawls up my spine.
“What is it?” he asks, coming around just as I open it.
“What the…” My breath hitches as I read the mysterious words.
Do you really know who Devlin is? He’s a liar. Has he told you what he did to his brother? Maybe you should ask him.
My hand jitters, fear settling deep in my gut. Who left this for us?
“Eriu?” He snaps the note from my grasp.
When he reads it, his nostrils flare, and he crumples the piece of paper in his palm.
“Who sent that?” I whisper, not sure what any of this means.