Page 29 of Ruck Me

“You think? You’re lucky I can laugh about it now, but that ginger one scared the shit out ofme.”

“That’ll teach you to lock the bathroom door.” The fucker smirked like some crazy chick sneaking into the bathroom when I was showering was the most natural thing in the world.

“I did!” I hollered. “She picked the fucking lock with one of those hair pin thingies!”

Donal chuckled and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Okay, you’re right. She was scary.”

“They’re all scary, man.”

My phone buzzed in the console and my eyes darted toit.

“You need to getthat?”

“Nah,” I answered, hoping he didn’t see my leg twitching. I really fucking wanted to pick up my phone, but I forced myself to keep my hands on the wheel. “But I should probably get going. I have a study group waiting onme.”

“Yeah all right,” he answered, pushing off my car. “See you tonight.” After a few seconds he turned back to me. “I’ll save the blonde for you if you want. I know you like them best.” He winked and took off jogging toward his own vehicle.

I really need to get my own place, I thought as I drove out of the parking lot, my eyes jumping back to my phone every couple of seconds as it continued to chime.

“Fuck it.” I flipped on my blinker and made a turn down a narrow lane. Please let it be Aoife, please let it be Aoife, my subconscious chanted as I reached for my phone, my heart hammering as I thumbed the screen.

“Oh thank fuck,”I breathed out when I saw her name next to a handful of new, unread messages.

Aoife: I’ve been thinking about how we left things last week and I’d really like to talk aboutit.

Aoife: My schedule is pretty flexible. You already know when I’ll be in class, but I can meet up pretty much anytime.

Aoife: Shit, I just realized you’re probably at practice and not seeing these. I’ll stop blowing up your phone now, but if you could let me know about hooking up, that’d be grand.

Aoife: Sorry, not hooking up. Meetingup.

Aoife: You know what Imean.

Aoife: Shit, I’m making a hash ofthis.

Aoife: Just call me, wouldyou?

Aoife: Okay, bye.

A small, satisfied smirk split my face. It probably didn’t say anything good about me, but the way each texts became more agitated as the non-conversation went on was strangely satisfying. I’d felt like shit these past few days, thinking I wasn’t going to be able to kiss her ever again. Hell, I’d been scared I’d ruined our friendship too. I didn’t love the idea of never being able to lay my hands on her slim body again, but not having her in my life because I’d pushed her too far, too fast? That made mesick.

Not that her texts indicated things were fine between us, I reminded myself, my mood sobering. Her wanting to talk about what had happened could just as easily translate to sitting me down and telling me it was never going to happen again. Or worse, that she’d decided to give Kevin a call afterall.

I could live with Aoife and I not being together, but her being with him instead? I thought back to my first reaction when I’d heard her original plan and I felt the same way, only magnified. Over my dead body. That asshole was a stone cold rapist and I’d tie Aoife up and hold her hostage before I’d let her get within ten feet of that fucker without her clotheson.

Which makes you sound like a rapist too, fucker.

Okay, so I’d do just about anything to keep her away from Kevin … short of turning in to the type of guy who held people hostage.

With my heart beating a tattoo in my ears, my thumbs hovered over the keyboard. I hadn’t lied to Donal—I did have a study group to go to, but it wasn’t a formal one. Lately there’d been more socializing than studying and while it was my one chance a week to act like a regular guy, I couldn’t imagine sitting around my classmates knowing that Aoife was waiting to hear back from me. I might have been disappointed about how things had played out between us, but I wasn’t an asshole who played games. Hanging out with my friends while I let Aoife stew felt a lot like fucking around with her emotions and that just wasn’tme.

Closing out of my messages, I pulled Aoife’s contact info up on my screen. I hesitated, my finger hovering over the call button. Man up asshole, I muttered and pressed down. Her phone rang four times and just when I was about to hang up, she answered, her voice breathless and unguarded.

“Hey you,” she said, the sound of cars zooming past and the din of hundreds of people walking by. “Thanks for calling meback.”

“Yeah, sure,” I answered, suddenly self-conscious. I hadn’t thought about what I was going to say if she picked up the phone. Then again, she was the one who wanted to talk, so maybe I didn’t have to say much. Taking the coward’s way out, I waited for her to pick up the thread of the conversation.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m on my way from class and it’s mad out here today for some reason.”

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