Page 24 of Kept

“There’s nothing to tell.” I flashed him a tight smile. “I just get warm easily. We do a lot of walking here.”

Sean’s eyes bored into me. They were a strangely nondescript color, somewhere between light brown and dusty gray, the tones all muddled together. “Doesn’t explain why your lips are always puffy or your hair messed up.”

I was pretty sure my heart was threatening to explode right through my shirt to flop on the cart. I swallowed reflexively, not allowing my fingers to tighten down on the cart handle like they wanted to.

“I didn’t want to mention it because it’s a little embarrassing, but I have really bad allergies.” I didn’t have allergies to anything but ragweed. “I ate something the other week that set off a reaction. That’s why my lips were puffy. As for my hair, I have a habit of combing my fingers through it when I’m reading. That’s all that’s going on with me, Sean. It’s nothing to worry about.”

My blatant lie must’ve been passable, because Sean’s cheekbones flushed pink. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry, I thought…”

He trailed off, because there wasn’t really anything he could say. If he’d thought I was kissing other guys, it was none of his damn business, and he knew it. We stared at each other in silence, and I finally took pity on him.

“It’s no big deal, it’s just not something I mention much. Look, I really need to get these books shelved, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?” It hurt my face to smile at him again. I just wanted to disappear.

I’d started pushing the cart again when a hand fell on my arm and stopped me. A tinge of disquiet joined my irritation when Sean loomed over me. He was only a few inches taller, but he was bulky, and there was something in the way he pressed forward that reminded me of his proprietary, pushy questions.

“Just go out with me on one coffee date, Jane,” he spilled. His hand tightened on my arm. “Just give it one chance. We’re both SCS students here, and people like us need to stick together. Besides, if I had to be absolutely honest, I think you’re the prettiest girl on this campus.”

The pink spots on his cheekbones had become flags of burning red.

“Coffee’s on me,” he added, stepping so close I felt his clothes brush my hip. “Would one date really hurt?”

I just stared up at him, eyes wide. Cornering a girl in a dark library after hours was definitely not the way I wanted to be asked out, by him or anyone else. The way he leaned into me like he could make me sayyesby sheer force of will turned my stomach.

I released the cart, grabbed his hand, and took it off my arm, taking a step back from him as I did. My heart was thundering for a different reason now, a tinkle of alarm bells sounding in my skull.

“I’m going to make this clear, Sean. I have no interest at all in a date, now or at any other time. I’m focused on school, my mom, and getting through this. If I gave off the wrong impression, that’s on me, but you’re a friend to me and it’s going to stay that way.”

Mousy Jane cheered me on from inside. The last time I’d turned down a date I’d peppered a thousand ‘I’m sorries’ in my rejection, but I hadn’t said sorry once here. And that felt damn good, because Sean had no business at all getting in my personal space like that.

I thought I saw hot rage flash behind his eyes before he collected himself, the spots on his cheekbones redder than ever. He struggled with words for a moment, and I had the feeling he was restraining himself from pushing the issue. I just folded my arms across my chest, refusing to be cowed on this.

“That’s fine, Jane, that’s cool.” He gave me a forced grin that looked more like a death rictus, backing away a few steps. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And… I know what you said, but if you ever change your mind, I’m here.”

I resisted the urge to snap at him. There was never going to be a change of mind now that I’d put my foot down.

I watched Sean sweep everything into his bag, nearly knocking the coffees over in the process. He strode behind the shelves, his gait jerkier than usual, and dumped the two coffees in the trash, spraying droplets over the side of the circulation desk before he rummaged around to unload his bag in the drop slot.

I lost sight of him and held back a sigh until I heard the slight creak of the Tiffany doors opening and closing behind him. The coffee was one more mess I had to clean up, but at least he was gone.

The urge to go lock the library doors ahead of time was almost irresistible, just to be absolutely sure he wouldn’t come back in, but I forced myself to shelve the rest of the cart at top-speed.

It took me until nearly eight, and when I returned the empty cart to the circulation desk, I rummaged in the bag I’d left on the desk for a bottle of water and my RevlonStrawberry Pinklipstick. A frown grew on my face as I searched every pocket in my bag, but there was no sign of the lipstick. I distinctly remembered tossing it in my bag that morning, just because it paid to be prepared, especially where the Demons were concerned.

The door squeaked again and I jerked, looking up like a deer in headlights. It wasn’t until I saw Rhett’s familiar form that I relaxed and realized that not once during my awkward rejection of Sean did one of the rules of the Three Demons pop into my head: that I could touch no man besides themselves.

It was almost like it wasn’t a rule at all. There was no one else I could fathom touching now.

Rhett held a rolled-up magazine, and he rested it on the circulation desk, leaning forward on his hands. “Hello, Pet.”

Since he’d stared me down with cold eyes earlier and somehow managed to hurt my feelings, and I was still geared up from turning down Sean, I had a question I couldn’t hold back on. “What do you get out of this, Rhett? Besides the obvious. What’s really in it for you to blackmail someone who willingly fucked you?”

If he’d smiled, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I couldn’t bring myself to slap him, but it would’ve felt like a slap in my own face, my anger just an amusement for him.

He didn’t smile, though. There was gravity in those cool blue eyes. “You are what’s in it for me.”

“You already had me before the blackmailing,” I hissed.

“Did I? It’s been years since we’ve seen each other, Jane. What would’ve stopped you from going straight to the board and telling them one of the faculty came onto you?”

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