Page 17 of Butterfly

She wasn’t wrong.

“Let me worry about that, and you worry about keeping your head down and that mouth shut, you hear me?”

“You used to like me with my mouth wide open,” she said.

I shook my head. “We’re over, Tiffanie.”

And then, done with that conversation, done with her, I ended the Facetime call. I had more important things to do.

I had a butterfly to catch, after all.

ONE MONTH LATER

7

LESLIE

So far, I’d only been at Tabb University for an hour, and I’d already gotten lost three times. This was slightly embarrassing—I was a city girl and never got lost in New York, no matter where I was, yet the small ivy-covered campus felt like a labyrinth.

Fortunately, everyone had been really nice and helpful as they directed me back to my dorm room for the third time. I dragged the last of my stuff upstairs from the furthest away parking lot since I hadn’t been able to get a closer spot. I had a single, which I was excited about. Even though I did want to make friends with the rest of the people in my co-ed dorm, a roommate meant someone who would get annoyed when I woke up early in the morning to stretch and practice…and who might keep me up late at night with their partying.

I was carrying a laundry basket filled with clean clothes when I bumped into a huge, breathing wall and the laundry basket and all my clothes went flying. I also almost went flying, too, exceptan arm reached out from the wall I’d bumped into and grabbed me.

“Careful there, butterfly,” said an amused voice. “You almost lost one of your wings.”

I froze, every part of my body screaming no. I looked up—and up, and up. Had he gotten taller?

“Why are you here?” I breathed, unable to gather enough energy to give a real sound to the words. The last time I’d seen him was on the most humiliating day of my life.

“Starting college, same as you. What, am I not allowed to learn?”

“But you’re supposed to be at Harvard!”

He shrugged, his hand still on my arm, sending tingles through my body—tingles I did my best to ignore. Like I always had.

“Eh, not anymore. Now, where is all this clothing going to? Seems like you need a hand.” He glared at me as I bent over to pick up my clothes and tried to ignore him as I moderated my breathing and considered how to best handle this situation.

“Why are your shorts so short, Leslie? Don’t you know we’re in public? Anyone can see your ass,” he hissed.

“Funny, you didn’t seem to care that people could see my ass in the past,” I spat at him. “Fuck off,Mace.”

Gathering up the last of my no longer clean clothes, I dumped them back in the laundry basket.

He scooped it up before I could stop him.

“Don’t call me that, butterfly,” he said harshly. “Lead me to your dorm so we can drop this stuff off and you can put on something more appropriate.”

“Great, so now you’re slut shaming me? On top of everything else?”

He paused for a moment, considering my words. Sighing, he said, “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to slut shame you. If you didn’thave me, you could wear whatever you wanted, and anyone who said shit couldeatshit. But you do have me, and I don’t want anyonelookingat your ass. Or your legs. Not then, not now. These fuckers don’t deserve to see them.”

He started walking, leaving me standing there, shocked.

Had he just apologized to me?

“Which room, Leslie?” he called back to me, pulling me from my momentary paralysis. I rushed to catch up with him, sure that even though I was leading him to my dorm room, he was leading me straight to hell.

Things were awkwardwhen we got to my dorm room. Being in my dorm room with him reminded me of the night I’d woken up to him in my bedroom this past summer, and that hot, nervous feeling came back. His presence took up so much space, overwhelming, overpowering, and I had to fight my body to keep from swaying toward him. There was barely room to breathe.

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