Page 3 of Flirting with Disaster (Ian Crawford 2)

A variety of emotions swirling within me, I pivoted on my heel and headed home.

Chapter Seven

As the weeks went by, things started to feel more normal with Ian. So normal that I was pretty sure I’d fallen into the “friends” category. But at least he wasn’t pretending I didn’t exist anymore. In fact, instead of staying away from me, he was saving me a seat every Monday and Wednesday morning for our History of Music class.

We sat near the back of the class and ate breakfast, simultaneously trying to wake ourselves up and get something out of the lecture. He liked to save time and energy by bringing a laptop to class, making fun of my “archaic” handwriting ways. I was one of those retro people that weren’t trying to be cool, they were just stuck in a rut.

Ian tilted his head back and stretched his arms above his head, groaning with pleasure and apparently not caring whose view he blocked. “What’s up with the banana again? Do you eat them every morning?”

I’d recently learned that he didn’t eat them regularly like I’d fantasized. “Only on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

“You should up your intake. The oldest man in the world supposedly eats a banana a day.”

“That sounds like a big commitment. Maybe you should follow your own advice.”

“I just like telling other people what to do.” He grinned wickedly.

“Am I interrupting something?” A deep voice boomed, cutting my response short.

I froze. The professor was glaring up at us from the front of the class, his face half illuminated with a slide.

“No, sir. We were just discussing bananas,” Ian replied breezily. “Please continue.”

He didn’t just say that. I slid down in my seat, placing an elbow on the desk and shading my face with my hand.

“Bananas.” The professor grunted. “And what exactly do bananas have to do with my lecture?”

Ian shrugged, nonplussed. “They’re phallic. I’m sure there’s a connection somewhere.”

A ripple of laughter sounded throughout the lecture hall and even the professor smiled slightly. “Good try. I respect your honesty but from now on, keep your flirting outside my classroom, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

I was still hunched in my seat, peeking through my fingers. I felt myself nod quickly and then the professor was talking again and everyone’s attention returned to the slides.

Ian gently pried my hand away from my face. “You should focus on the lecture, Miss Watson.”

“You’re such an ass,” I muttered.

“I know,” he mouthed back.

I rolled my eyes, but as much I hated to admit it, the gall that made him say “phallic bananas” to the professor was the same gall that made me drawn to him.

I also had to admit it was nice to get to know Ian more without all the pesky hormones getting in the way. Ian was a cool person in his own right—his crazy good looks only made people extra interested in him. I could kind of see why he wanted to make his own way, prove that he had a personality beyond his model face and a brain that would last longer than his looks. And even though he was more than comfortable in front of a crowd, I learned he didn’t actually enjoy doing it.

“I started modeling at the age of fourteen,” he confessed one day as we walked back to residence after our morning class. “My mom saw an opportunity and jumped on it. She’s always been image conscious. I love her, don’t get me wrong, but our priorities are different. At a young age I was being sent on modeling shoots in New York and spending time with people—models—twice my age.”

“Wow. That must have been weird.” The things he must have seen... The drugs. The women.

“Looking back, I guess it was. I got used to being in the spotlight and grew up fast. It wasn’t until I was out of my teens that I realized I’d never really been a teenager. So, I stopped modeling and enrolled in University at the age of twenty.”

“I heard you were considering being an actor at one point,” I said, even though I knew he had no interest in being an actor.

“That was Mom’s next plan once she heard I was dropping modeling. She said, ‘You want to go back to school? Wonderful, I know an amazing acting coach.’ It was always about ‘making use of what God gave me’ like I’d been bestowed some rare gift and was an idiot for giving it up.”

“Right.” I glanced over to see him staring straight ahead, his jaw tight. “I know what you mean—kind of. My parents think it’s a waste for me to study arts because I’m ‘too intelligent’ and should be focusing on something ‘suitable’. Like medicine.”

“Maybe we should pull a Freaky Friday and switch bodies.” He winked.

I laughed. “Right.”

“I, for one, would enjoy myself.”

I blushed like crazy but managed to talk my way through it. “It would be pretty sweet to try peeing standing up. I’ve got to admit, I’ve always been jealous of that.”

“Personally I wouldn’t get out of bed all day.”

We spent the rest of the walk laughing and joking, but when he arrived at the block, he suddenly grew serious and put a hand on my arm. “So I think we should talk. About that night. Do you want to go on a walk or something later?”

“Hey guys!”

A bright, cheery voice cut me off before I could respond. Lena was standing beside us, her smile melting into a look of confusion when she noticed Ian’s hand on my arm. He pulled it away like he’d been burned.

“Everything okay, Lex?” she asked, misinterpreting the scene as him comforting me about something.

“Yeah totally.” I shifted my bag on my shoulder. “I was just telling Ian how I’ve been feeling really stressed. I’m from a small town, you know, and not used to these large classes. Just asking him for advice.”

Lena turned to him expectantly as if waiting for her RC to deliver the same speech to her, another first year.

Ian raised an arm above his head and used his other arm to pull it into a stretch. The action made his shirt ride up, and both Lena and my eyes fell to the line taut skin above his jeans. Apparently he was going commando this morning.

“Let’s see...” He dropped both arms and shrugged. “When I’m stressed I like to exercise. Nothing gets rid of stress like endorphins.” He shot me a grin full of meaning. “Don’t you agree, Lex?”

“Running definitely helps,” I agreed, knowing full Lena wasn’t buying it. Her face had gone from expectant to suspicious. “Maybe we can go on a run together later.”

She scoffed. “I can’t run. Joints have pretty much destroyed my lung capacity. But let’s hang out later, okay? See you, Ian.” She gave me a look before waving to both of us and continuing into the building.

I exhaled and peeke

d up at Ian, expecting to see him smiling like me. Instead, he was scratching his chin, his eyes still on Lena’s retreating back.

“You should hang out with her tonight,” he said without meeting my eyes. “I’ll see you later.”

Before I could respond, he took the stairs that led under the block.

***

“I feel like we should have a ‘legit’ party,” Lena said. “Like a ‘Lex is now a legitimate adult come drink illegally’ party.”

We were sitting in my room drinking red wine and discussing what we should do on Friday evening for my birthday. I was all for not drawing attention to the fact I was one of the youngest students in residence, while the girls were all for themed parties.

“I like it,” Melissa agreed.

“We could totally do a Lolita theme,” Lena said, smiling deviously. “Like make you dress up in a schoolgirl uniform. That would be hot!”

Melissa caught my eye and we both stifled our laughs.

“The whole innocent theme would totally fit,” Carly agreed from Melissa’s bed. When I shot her a warning look, she quickly added, “Because you look so young and now you’re old enough to have sex with.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Melissa muttered. “I had sex at sixteen.”

“I know, I just mean college guys are adults and now she is too,” Carly said, backtracking and failing. “You know what I mean.”

“Whatever.” Melissa turned her attention to Lena again. “So this legit party—should we do it in the lounge and buy a bunch of inflatable penises and stuff like that? Like a stagette but guys are allowed too?”

I groaned. This was starting to sound like a nightmare. The last thing I wanted to do was carry around an inflatable penis in front of bridesmaids, let alone a bunch of guys. I was already going through my mental list of excuses when Carly piped up and saved me.

“How about we ask Lex what she wants to do. You know, for...diversity.”

All three of them turned their attention to me, and I took a sip of wine to buy time. If I said I wanted to lay low, they’d go ahead and throw an over-the-top party that would embarrass the hell out of me and drag me to it. So I couldn’t do that. I would have to come up with something...legit.

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