Page 141 of Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful 1)
He smiled. “I love you. I can’t let other guys dance with you.”
“Oh yeah? How much did you love me when you were buying that box of condoms?”
Travis winced and I stood up, making my way to the table. Shepley and America were in a tight embrace and making a scene while they kissed passionately.
“I think we’re going to the Sig Tau date Valentine’s date party again,” Finch said with a frown.
I sighed. “Shit.”
Chapter Nineteen
HELLERTON
America hadn’t been back to Morgan since her reunion with Shepley. She was consistently absent at lunch, and her phone calls were few and far between. I didn’t begrudge them the time to make up for the time they’d spent apart. Truthfully, I was happy that America was too busy to call me from Shepley and Travis’s apartment. It was awkward hearing Travis in the background, and I felt a little jealous that she was spending time with him and I wasn’t.
Finch and I were seeing more of each other, and I was selfishly thankful that he was just as alone as I was. We went to class, ate together, and studied together, and even Kara grew accustomed to having him around.
My fingers were beginning to numb from the frigid air as I stood outside Morgan while he smoked.
“Would you consider quitting before I get hypothermia from standing here for moral support?” I asked.
Finch laughed. “I love you, Abby. I really do, but no. Not quitting.”
“Abby?”
I turned to see Parker walking down the sidewalk with his hands shoved into his pockets. His full lips were dry under his red nose, and I laughed when he put an imaginary cigarette to his mouth and blew out a puff of misty air.
“You could save a lot of money this way, Finch,” he smiled.
“Why is everyone trashing on my smoking habit today?” he asked, annoyed.
“What’s up, Parker?” I asked.
He fished two tickets from his pocket. “That new Vietnam movie is out. You said you wanted to see it the other day, so I thought I would grab us some tickets for tonight.”
“No pressure,” Finch said.
“I can go with Brad if you have plans,” he said with a shrug.
“So it’s not a date?” I asked.
“Nope, just friends.”
“And we’ve seen how that works out for you,” Finch teased.
“Shut up!” I giggled. “That sounds fun, Parker, thanks.”
His eyes brightened. “Would you like to get some pizza or something before? I’m not a big fan of theater food, myself.”
“Pizza’s great,” I nodded.
“The movie’s at nine, so I’ll pick you up at six thirty or so?”
I nodded again and Parker waved goodbye.
“Oh, Jesus,” Finch said. “You’re a glutton, Abby. You know that’s not going to fly with Travis when he gets wind of it.”
“You heard him. It’s not a date. And I can’t make plans based on what is okay with Travis. He didn’t clear it with me before he brought Megan home.”
