Page 27 of You Were Never Not Mine

“Absolutely not” is my automatic response. I’m not stupid. To go off campus with August is asking for trouble. He hates me.

And the feeling is mutual.

He laughs, the sound mocking. “Figures. A scared little girl like you wouldn’t know what to do anyway.”

I take a deep breath, ready to blast him with an insult, but he walks away, whistling like he’s cheerful and everyone knows—everyoneknows he’s not a cheerful person. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if someone discovered he had devil horns sprouting out of the top of his head.

I keep walking until I’m at the gates of the football stadium, smiling when my new friends greet me with enthusiasm. Maybe it won’t be so bad here once I have good friends I can count on. They’ll make up for how I’ve been treated by stupid August.

The problem is, for the rest of the night, I kept thinking about him and how he asked me if I wanted to come with him. I still stand by my decision, but there’s the tiniest part of me that wishes I would’ve said yes.

Just to know what might’ve happened.

Chapter Fourteen

SINCLAIR

Tim and Rafael pick us up outside of our dorm hall. And when I say pick up, I mean they walked over from the frat house and met us on campus so we could all go to the stadium together. It’s a crisp night, with a chill in the air brought on by a gentle breeze, and I grabbed a sweatshirt just in case. Tim takes one look at me carrying it around and shakes his head.

“You won’t need that.”

“Why not?” I frown, glancing over at Rafael and Elise to find him nuzzling his face into her neck, and she can’t stop giggling. I’m guessing those two are going to maul each other all night.

Great.

“It’s a surprise.” Tim’s voice is smug, his expression not giving anything away, and I decide not to press. I’m not a big fan of surprises, but I don’t think the one he’s planning is going to be bad.

At least, I hope it’s not.

Mr. Golden God finally stops trying to grope Elise and we all chat as we make our way to the stadium. The closer we get,the more crowded the area becomes and the line to get into the stadium is long. Tim doesn’t lead us to the line though. Instead, he goes over to the ticket box office, stopping in front of the window that says Will Call.

“We have tickets waiting for us,” Tim says with utter confidence.

“You bought tickets in the student section, right?” Elise asks.

“Nope. Somewhere better,” Tim answers, just before he starts talking to the woman sitting behind the glass.

“I love the student section.” Elise mock pouts. “Everyone buys you beer and you can get really drunk with no judgment.”

“We have great seats, babe.” Rafael winds his arm around Elise’s waist and starts groping her again, which she allows freely. “Trust me.”

Never trust a man who saystrust meis my immediate thought, but I keep it to myself.

“Okay.” Tim approaches us, holding up four actual tickets. “Let’s go.”

We follow him into the stadium, going up the stairs that lead to the top. Elise is complaining the entire time, bitching about nosebleed seats and how she’d rather sit with people our age than with a bunch of old fogey alumni who’ll get mad at her for yelling too loudly.

“We’re not sitting in the nosebleeds.” Her Golden God sounds irritated. “We’re in the suite, okay?”

“Damn it, Rafe. I didn’t want you to spoil the surprise.” Tim almost stomps his foot, he’s so mad. “The frat has a box suite and we got tickets to it.” He says this directly to me, ignoring Elise.

“Wait, a box suite?” Elise grabs hold of Tim and hugs him. “That’s amazing!”

“I got the tickets too, babe,” Rafael whines.

I’m starting to think I really don’t like that guy.

“Oh, and you did a good job, baby.” Elise wraps her arms around him and holds him close. “I can’t wait to see this suite!”

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