Page 18 of The Casualty of Us
She shakes her head at me, but I’m saved from further conversation as another voice starts in. “Bonjour, les étudiants, comme ça va?”
Between classes,Marley’s attempts to drag me to the athletic center, hoping to entice me into joining her in sports, and our decision to continue the one-night tradition of having dinner in our room…it’s not until the next morning that I see Hayes again. Sleep-deprived and running behind to no one’s surprise, including mine, when I plop into what’s apparently my designated seat at the table, barely glancing at my tablet to order before a mug is pushed in front of me.
“Tea. Black. Two sugars and a splash of coconut milk.” I blink up at him in surprise, catching the twitch of his dimples. “I can do your tie when your brother isn’t around.”
“Goddammit.” Silverware clatters next to me. “Baby sister, dude!”
I stare at him for what must be a ridiculously long time because Marley finally nudges me with an elbow, breaking the trance and making me reach blindly for the mug.
His eyes light up with victory when I take a sip, and he quickly pushes his tray forward until it’s resting between us too. “Eat.”
And really, that’s how it all began, with perfect tea orders and ties that we would both cling to and break through more pain in the years that followed than we could ever imagine then.
Chapter Five
OPHELIA - AUGUST 2012
The first weekof classes passes easily enough after that, with the boys joining us for the ones we share and Ollie popping over for dinner a couple of times as well. He spends the time in my dorm either griping at me about how tired I look or staring in complete confusion at Marley. It took me a minute to catch on to it, because he’s not usually at such a loss, but after his fifth attempt at conversation with her, during which she barely paid attention to him…I finally got it. Then I proceeded to tease him mercilessly as soon as she left the room about how there’s at least one woman on the planet Earth who’s immune to his charms. Only fair in my opinion since the object of his attention has been doing the same to me about a certain rock star’s son.
All in all, a good week for the most part, though.
Even the part on Friday where our debate teacher told us to pair off and pick a topic to argue using the outline she provided us. Hayes wasted no time in snagging the seat beside mine and spending the next hour arguing his point of why I should come to the lake with everyone else the next day. I told him at the end that it was debatable whether he won or not, pun intended, but since he’d fed me all week, I’d consider it.
Which is why I’m now laid out on the dock in my one-piece cutout suit and a pair of jean shorts, tuning in absently to Marley’s chatter with Evie and Kennedy while watching the guys play around in the water with one of the school’s canoes. Poor Holden lies out in the middle like a sacrificial animal, holding on as Ollie and Hayes rock either end in an attempt to tip it. Ollie gets a little overenthusiastic with his next rock, sending himself headfirst into the water and making my lips lift with amusement. Hayes’s open laughter draws my gaze next, and all that warm skin has me trying and failing not to run my eyes down to the cutout of his abs. I barely jerk them away by the time my twin pops back up laughing, pulling himself back into the boat without feeling the need to check on my location and making my chest loosen with a bit of relief.
Maybe this place will be a good thing for us.
“Your brother’s hot, O.”
“Gross.” I snort, turning my head to the girls and meeting Kennedy’s appreciative eyes. “And don’t let him hear you say that or else I’ll have to spend the next year deflating his ego.”
“Pretty sure he’s already heard it a time or two.”
I roll my eyes at her appreciative grin. “He still doesn’t need any more encouragement.”
“Even I can admit he’s particularly pleasing,” Evie sighs.
“That’s enough trauma for me for one afternoon.” I wrinkle my nose, lifting up just enough to take a sip of the hard seltzer that Marley found somewhere. “Can we please change the subject now?”
I’m not usually a drinker but I’m also in college now, so I figure I might as well take a second to enjoy it.
“Fine by me.” Marley smirks down at me with an innocent bat of her lashes. “Want to discuss a particular rock star’s son that’s smitten with you instead?”
I scowl up at her. “No.”
“Come on, Ophelia.” She pokes my arm. “Give us all the dirty details.”
“Trust me,” I scoff. “There are no dirty details to give.”
I’m still just trying to keep my own shit together most of the time.
“Right, nothing,” Kennedy chimes in doubtfully. “That’s what has every girl in our dorm talking about you two’s little tie routine like it’s the second coming of Damon Salvatore.”
“It’snothing.” I narrow my eyes, making sure to look them all over while tacking on, “He’s a shameless flirt who likes to get a reaction out of me. That’s all.”
Marley giggles at me. “Whatever you say, Bookish.”
“Idosay.” I push up onto my elbows, lifting my chin with a haughty sniff. “So glad you understand how things work.”
