Page 678 of Filthy Elites

Pulling on his jeans and thrusting his feet into his sneakers, he snuck out of her room. He didn’t need the awkward next day chat that girls loved to have. He needed to go back to his place and shower before he got himself into even more trouble.

Pausing at the door, Adrian glanced back at the blond. She was attractive but not enough for him to bother with again. Besides, he had no idea what her name was.

When he got to his house, someone was vacuuming, and the sound intensified the pounding in his head. It was going to be a long day.

Even though he didn’t have the time to make himself fully presentable, Adrian required a shower. The stench of stale alcohol and perfume reeked from him.

Since his life had fallen apart and his perfect persona was shattered, he no longer felt the need to look the part. He took perverse pleasure in sporting a wrinkled navy T-shirt and faded jeans so worn they had natural rips and not fabricated ones for style.

Adrian slipped dark sunglasses over his eyes before jumping into his Porsche and heading away from the rowing team house. He was told to be at Dr. Osborne’s office first thing in the morning. It was entirely too early.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, he ran his fingers through his wet hair, shaking off the excess water. Adrian hadn’t put any product in it before he left the house. He didn’t care how it dried. There was a sense of freedom in not being as close to perfect as possible. Adrian ran his hand along his jaw, feeling the scruff there. Deciding not to shave was a first and he liked it. It might become a habit.

Pulling into the parking lot with only five minutes left was cutting it too close, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. If he didn’t find a place to park right away, he was going to be late. He noticed a few spots in the back row, so he sped down the aisle to get to them. Adrian whipped his car between the lines, threw it in park, and exited the vehicle.

Adrian began to weave his way through the vehicles as quickly as he could. He passed a Mini Cooper with eyelashes adhered to its headlights and rolled his eyes. Definitely not a man’s car. He was about to step out into the aisle when a silver Audi A4 nearly ran him over. He jumped back between the cars but could still feel the wind from the near miss blow over him.

Adrian glared at the driver as she yanked the wheel to avoid hitting the row of cars next to him. He was shocked to see the girl who had ruined his life behind the wheel.Was Kelsey that bad of a driver? Was it a game to her? Had she tried to hit me on purpose?

He watched as she headed toward the back of the lot and out of sight. He wished he had time to follow after her and find out what the hell she had been thinking, but he needed to get to his meeting with the vice president.

* * *

“Oh my gosh!What are you doing? You almost hit that guy,” Janie screeched from the passenger side of the car. “And sideswiped a bunch of cars!”

Kelsey slammed on the break and the car jolted to a stop. “Oh no!” She placed a hand to her chest. “My heart’s beating like crazy.”

Janie twisted in her seat to look out the back window. “Kels! Did you do that on purpose? I know you love me but trying to kill Adrian Colton is not a good idea.”

Kelsey looked out the rearview mirror and connected eyes with Adrian. She quickly glanced away. “No! I would never try to hit someone on purpose. I, uh…wasn’t paying attention. I was looking for a parking spot.”

Janie faced the driver’s side. “It looked like you were aiming for him.”

“Great. Now, he’s going to hate me even more.” Kelsey’s heart continued to thunder in her ears. She had never been that close to hitting someone before and she never wanted to be again. “I didn’t mean it. I swear.”

“We need to stay away from him. He looked really mad.” Janie watched Adrian hurry away from their almost accident.

Kelsey had been watching a car behind her pull out of their parking spot and was considering throwing her car in reverse to get it when the person had pulled back into it. Parking spots in the lot closest to the academic buildings were in high demand. Even though there were a lot of students who lived on campus and in the surrounding town, there were even more commuters.

She had personally witnessed a few screaming matches and near fistfights over a parking spot. She took her foot off the break and continued on. “We’re going to have to park in the back of the lot and hustle to class.”

Janie turned back around. “No time for coffee before our first class. We’ll have to grab some before the next one.”

“I have a feeling there won’t be enough coffee for today.” Kelsey hoped she was wrong, but the day started off badly and was just getting worse.

She had forgotten to set the alarm on her phone, causing her to wake up late and having to rush through a shower. That meant she didn’t get to wash her hair, so it was once again in a messy bun. Thank goodness someone had the good sense to create a hairstyle for the perpetually late. The coffee Janie had made them was still sitting on their counter in to-go cups, probably ice cold. Kelsey needed the caffeine and was mourning its loss.

Kelsey had also left her organic chemistry book on her bed by accident. She remembered it halfway to campus. Hopefully, the professor wouldn’t have them use their books in class or she would be in trouble. There wasn’t any time to turn back and get the book.

They parked in one of the only open spots around and jumped from the car. Kelsey opened the back door of the car and pulled out her messenger bag. “Let’s go.”

FOUR

Mean Girls Suck

Adrian joggedtoward the administrative building, making it inside with only a minute to spare. He had wasted too much time watching Kelsey stare at him through the mirror of her car instead of heading inside to his appointment. He wondered if she tried to hit him on purpose. From the shock on her face, he didn’t think so, but he wasn’t sure. She could have given in to an urge that she squelched at the last minute.

He rubbed his eyes. He needed a gallon of coffee to chase away the hangover he had earned the night before.

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