Page 24 of All Saints: Pledge

“Are those…sharks?”

His accent sends ripples through my body. I glance to where my legs end in fluffy Great White sharks. “Indeed,” I answer imperiously, using my poorest British accent.

He looks up at me and squints. “You know, most Americans arenotcharming. I believe you might be an exception.”

My stomach flips, and I smile just before my memory of last night crashes in on me.Shit. I signed a paper strictly prohibiting me from dating someone. In the moment, it had felt good to takethe next step brazenly, to challenge the authority, to prove I had what it took to be a part of the brotherhood. But now?

Now faced with Dominic, and his mouthwatering designer T-shirt and distressed jeans? I think I made an error of judgement.

“Helena?”

I blink up at his face. “Er, sorry. I just woke up.”

“I can see that. You missed breakfast. Want to come to a Tuck shop and get something with me?”

I look behind him, expecting to see Li.

Dominic clocks my movements, a flush rising in his cheeks. “Er, I didn’t knock on Li’s door yet. I thought—” he coughs.

“No.” I interrupt him. “No, it’s okay.” I close my eyes, willing my brain to wake up. It doesn’t help that I laid awake forhourslast night contemplating my future. I open my eyes. “I mean, I want to go with you. I’m happy if it’s just the two of us.”

Hope glints in his eyes as he smiles.

Shit.The damned agreement. Okay, well, this can be a friends-thing, right?Shit shit shit, maybe weshouldbring Li. No, I tell myself. Two people can go get breakfast together. It’s completely normal. It’s what friends do. I’m a modern woman. This is fine. This is totally fine. I’m not breaking any rules. I’m not going on a date. I’m wearingshark slippers,for God’s sake.

I scribble a note for Clara, letting her know I’ll be back in a few, put trainers on my feet, and we head out toward High Street.

Outside, a beautiful late fall morning blooms. We wander past the cam—The Radcliffe Camera, a huge round stone building on campus. Bicycles zoom past, people weave in and out of shops. Sleepy and hungover college students meander in and out of cafes. The scent of coffee hangs in the crisp air, and I pull my puffer around me.

“You’re not wearing your coat,” Dominic observes.

I don’t need to ask which one. I glance at him, my face heating. “Yeah, well, I’m in day-old clothes and onlyjustditched my sharks. I’m underdressed for that coat.”

His lips quirk up. We wait to cross the street, and he reaches out to straighten the collar of my puffer for me. “This one is cute, too.”

My heartbeat speeds up. We’re standing too close. Dear God, I’m in his orbit. His beautiful, lovelyoff-limitsorbit. And he’s smiling, and doing that cute coat-obsessed thing, and if I don’t figure out how to put some space between usstat, I’m going to throw myself at him.

“Oh! Is that Li?” I exclaim, pointing frantically behind him and leaping away as if I’ve been burned.

He jerks around. “I—ah—maybe? Where?”

“Oh, you know what? Never mind. Not her.”

Dominic pivots back to me.

“Same hair,” I say with an overdone shrug. We cross the street with the crowd of students and I drag him into the first tuck shop we see on the other side.

“I thought we could go to the other one down the?—”

“I’mstarving,” I interrupt him.Lies. My stomach is churning. This was a really bad idea to put myself in this situation. I grab his hand and pull him in, forcing my way through the crowd. We’re not the only people after an early lunch.

To my right, someone calls my name. It’s a perfectly put-together Clara, waving at me from a table. I don’t miss the way her eyes catch where I’m holding Dominic’s hand, though I drop it quickly. She motions us over, and I nod at a loss for what else to do. “I was just going to eat and come to your room. Come sit with me.” She has to raise her voice to be heard over the din.

“No problem, this is great.” I paste a smile on my face before getting into line to order. I shuffle back to the table. Dominicpulls up an extra chair, and we’rereallynice and cozy here, smashed together against the window. Not exactly giving us breathing space, or a good indicator to Dominic that we’re just friends, since my left knee is jammed in between his long legs. There is no other way for us to jigsaw together under the table.

After introductions, I purposefully steer the conversation awayfromAll Saints and intentionally ignore Clara’s pointed glances at Dominic.She must get sick of my tactic though, because at one point she bats her eyelashes innocently and asks, “So, Dominic, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Oh, uh,” He stammers. His eyes cut ever so slightly to me, and he rubs the back of his neck. “Not officially, no. School is busy. Lots of studying.”

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