Page 17 of The Casualty of Us
“Marley,” he calls out as we reach the fourth landing. “You only give nicknames to people you like, right?”
“Don’t drag me into this.” She smirks, pulling open the door for us to pass through. “I’m just remembering the multitude of times her brother mentioned that she’s his baby sister at breakfast.”
“Ridiculous.” I shake my head, waiting for her before starting down the hallway again. “He was born literally four minutes before me. It’s ridiculous.”
“Try telling him that.” Marley turns to scan the rooms we’re passing by, only looking back when we finally make it to the right one to give Hayes a nod. “Here we are. Later, Hayes.”
She heads into the classroom with that, and I’m about to follow after her when a hand wraps around my arm, spinning me around and leaving me staring up into a pair of hazel eyes that are narrowed playfully down at me.
I lift my brows at him. “Can I help you?”
“You forgot something.” He drops my arm before reaching for the tie hanging loosely around my neck. “And I have a question.”
His fingers brush across my skin, and my breath stalls as he starts to straighten the tie. Some part of my brain catching up to the fact that he’s literally tying it for me and that it should be weird. All of it.
First breakfast and now this. Little things.
But that functioning part of my brain is also forcefully kicked to the side as he stares down at me with little brushes of contact happening between us.
Biology winning out over logic momentarily.
“W-what?” I finally manage.
“Did you really give your mom a presentation on how you plan to sell off her company?”
“Yeah,” I breathe out softly, immediately sucking in more air to ask. “Why?”
He raises a brow “How’d she take it?”
“Wished me luck in my endeavors.” I shrug, feeling some ridiculous need to defend myself. “Generational wealth rarely lasts and I have no interest in cosmetics.” Trying to move on and opting to distract him instead. “What’s your major?”
“Undecided.”
“Figures.”
That puff of laughter comes again, and he fidgets with the knot for another few seconds before his fingers slow to a stop. Neither of us moves, though. Both staring at the other with something pushing and pulling where the hazel and blue are meeting.
Then the next thing I know, his fingers drop away from the tie, and he’s stepping back with a soft rasp. “You’re not what I expected, Ophelia Sage.”
I frown at the use of both names but can’t help myself. “What’d you expect?”
Those dimples finally make a reappearance as he walks backward, giving me a wink. “Less, I expected less.”
My mouth pops open, and his grin cuts deep for a split second before he turns around to make his way down the hallway. Leaving me standing there sorting through the entire encounter until a clatter from the classroom sends me hurryinginto it. Sliding into the seat Marley saved for me, still not sure what the entire thing or his statement meant.
Marley leans in close to my desk before whispering, “You know who he is, right?”
“Hayes?” I question with a frown, quickly shaking my head. “No idea.”
“His dad is Drake Flynn.” She smirks. “As in lead singer for the band Doubtful Souls, rock legend, and supposed sex god Drake Flynn.”
I have to stop the way my mouth tries to fall open again before pursing my lips with a quiet, “Mmm.”
Well, that makes sense.
“Yeah.” She laughs at my expense, whispering even more quietly as our professor makes her way into the classroom. “Good luck with that one, girl.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
