Page 20 of Freshmeet
He started the night by inviting his gaming buddies to the bar with us and then proceeded to get shit-faced. Then, he chatted up another girl, a girl who had no interest in his ass, while his friends bought countless rounds of shots. The final nail in thecoffin was when he tried to feel me up in the alley outside the Welkum.
“Come on. I thought townies were an easy fuck.”
“Gah,” I screamed, shaking my arms out. My purse slipped from my hand, spilling all over the pavement. “Perfect.”
I dropped to my knees, wincing as they hit a jagged crack. My fingertips scraped the warm asphalt as I struggled to pick up my ID and credit card. Annoyed, I fell back on my ass and stared up at the cloudy sky.
Can’t fucking win.
As if my sad, drunk thoughts summoned it, the sky opened up into a downpour.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Just kill me now!” I yelled to the vacant lot.
The rain pounded down on me, bouncing off the asphalt and into my face as I finally scraped my shit off the ground. I struggled to stand, my long skirt drenched and heavy. “No use hurrying,” I mumbled and walked back toward the street.
A car turned, the headlights so bright I had to hold a hand in front of my eyes. It slowly rolled toward me, and my fight or flight kicked in. Gathering up my skirt, I prepared to book it. I knew these streets like the back of my hand. If I needed to, I could easily slip away.
The car stopped at the corner. When I turned to make a run for it, a familiar voice called out, “Deidra?”
I couldn’t make out the driver’s face through the rain and high beams.
“Huh, yeah?” I responded timidly.
“You need a ride?”
“Uh—” I glanced down the side street, calculating how much time this little detour would add to my trip home.
The car door slammed, and a man carrying an umbrella jogged toward me. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
Did we have a class together?
He smiled and said, “We had physics together with Dr. Lumpkis.”
That was probably it. There were over fifty students in that section.
“I can give you my umbrella if you don’t want—” He tilted his head toward the running car. His understanding smile as he held the umbrella out to me eased my concerns.
“Oh, hey. Yeah, a ride would be great.”
We rushed to the car, and he opened the passenger door and helped me in. He ran around the front, and I caught a glimpse of his handsome face in the headlights.
He got in the car, running his fingers through his wet hair with a smile. “That rain really came out of nowhere.”
“Yeah.” I frowned down at the clean interior. “Sorry about your seats.”
“No worries. A little rain’s not going to hurt them.” He smiled and turned the air down. “Is the temperature okay?”
“Yeah, thanks.” I couldn’t look away from his profile, wondering why he had stopped to help me.
Don’t be like that. There are good people out there.
My vision was blurry from all the shots, so it took me a minute to realize he was driving us in the wrong direction.
Duh, I didn’t tell him where to go.
“Oh. Sorry. I’m actually back toward the hospital.”
“Shit. Yeah, I probably should’ve asked where I was going.” He laughed, warm and comforting. Lifting his hand, he checked the display behind the steering wheel and sighed. “I need to get some gas. Do you mind?”
