Page 84 of Out of Bounds

"Oh."

"First one in the family to crack through college, she was proud of that. She didn’t understand the whole animation thing. But it never bothered me." Kassie shrugged. "I’m paying for it out-of-pocket. Nobody gets to question me on that."

The way she said that final sentence told me everything. Kassie was ready and waiting for me to slide in a comment about her art major. But, while I didn’t understand it, I didn’t want the conversation to end like that. I liked hearing about her. Getting to see what made Kassie tick.

I cleared my throat. "I’m sorry about—"

"Don’t worry about it."

It was quiet again. The only sound was the pen scribbling across the paper.

The student reporter.

We turned together at the same time and I stared at him, stunned. I’d completely forgotten about him. It slipped my mind. If I would’ve remembered, I would’ve saved the questions for later.

"Wait, wait—” Kassie blurted out. “Hold your horses—could you not print that?"

"Oh, it’s not about your major," the reporter reassured her. "It’s about volunteering to make sure your family was fed."

A bright blush spread across Kassie’s cheeks. "Yeah—that. Please don’t print that."

"That won’t end up in the article," I promised. It was both something to assure Kassie and a direct warning to the student reporter. He should’ve counted himself lucky to stick around for the ride. If she didn’t want it on paper, it wasn’t happening. Simple as that.

The student reporter’s pen stilled. "Are you sure?"

"We’re positive," I replied, my voice curt.

I wasn’t blushing like Kassie but shame caught me anyway. We were having a nice conversation. And I’d completely forgotten about the student reporter and the photographers and all the other crap in the background. Something had to come along and ruin the couple of minutes that I felt like I was finally making progress.

Kassie hurried through the boxes again and didn’t look up for a long time.

I kept stacking things and taking them off to the van but at every free moment, I took another look at her again. Her, with her dark hair in braids down her shoulders, with the jeans that cinched at her waist, showing off her curves. The way she bither lip when she concentrated. How she smiled so openly at the other people she recognized on the floor, the little indent at the side of her lips when she smiled for real.

How do I get Kassie to talk to me again like that?

I had questions. There were things I wanted to know. Things I wanted to understand.

"Hey?" I set down another box, contemplating things. "What if none of this happened?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think we would’ve been—?" I stopped myself, trying to pinpoint the correct word. "If the dinner hadn’t happened, do you think we would’ve been friends?"

Kassie snorted. "Not in a million years."

Damn.

"Really?" I frowned, trying not to let it show how much her answer bothered me. "Why?"

Quickly, Kassie glanced up at me and did a double take, finishing up putting things aside. "I mean…we’re different people, Ryan. We’re in different circles, I don’t—maybe. I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t even go to football games."

"I could’ve gone to one of the bars you worked at."

"I hated the football players. They were all assholes." She hesitated, drumming her fingers along a box of crackers. "You’re not an asshole though."

A smile tugged up on my lips.

"I mean, youcanbe," she corrected herself with a laugh. "But you’re not the barhopping asshole."

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