Page 22 of A Love Letter to Whiskey
“Remember my uncle I told you about? The one who had connections at a university in California?” I nodded, and he grinned, opening his arms to gesture to the campus around us. “You’re looking at the same university my dad and uncle graduated from, both with their degrees in Accounting. At first, my application was waitlisted, but my uncle knows a few of the guys on the Admissions Board, and he worked some magic.”
“And now here you are,” I said, peeking up at him.
His grin widened. “Here I am.”
I shook my head, dropping my eyes to the housing packet again while my stomach did backflips. Jamie Shaw went to the same college as me. I didn’t know whether to feel lucky or cursed, and the ache in my chest wasn’t helping me decide. I’d avoided him since that night on the beach, letting him go, letting the idea of him go. He was Jenna’s, and then he was gone — end of story.
Except now, it wasn’t.
“So, you made it to California after all.”
I looked up then, catching Jamie’s amused eyes with my own. “I guess I did.”
Though so much had changed about Jamie, one thing that hadn’t was the way he stared at me — that expectant way, like he knew something I’d yet to figure out. I shifted under his gaze, suddenly hot, and was just about to ask how he liked it at Alder when I was picked up from behind for the second time.
Mid-air, I knew exactly who it was who had me pressed against them as they spun me around, and it almost killed me that for the past ten minutes since I’d run into Jamie, I hadn’t thought about that person once.
Because you see, I didn’t expect to see Jamie at Alder, but I was expecting to run into someone that day.
My boyfriend.
“Oh my God, I almost forgot how beautiful you are,” Ethan said when he dropped me back to the ground. He immediately dipped me back, pressing his lips hard to mine as a blush crept up on my cheeks. He stood me back up, hands framing my face, before Jamie cleared his throat.
Ethan perked up at that, tucking me into his side and smiling wide at Jamie. “And I see you met my roommate!”
I blanched at that, my eyes wide while Jamie’s were shielded beneath bent brows.
“Jamie is your roommate?” I squeaked.
“Yeah,” he answered, pointing his finger between the two of us. “Y’all know each other?”
Jamie’s eyes hadn’t left mine, but they’d changed, grown cooler in tone somehow. “We went to high school together,” he clipped.
I swallowed, studying Jamie’s face, wondering why he suddenly looked ready to kill something. “Yeah. He dated my best friend back in the day.”
“Huh!” Ethan mused, grin still in place. “What a small world!”
Jamie’s nose flared, his eyes bouncing between Ethan and me before they stuck hard on where our hands had laced together. “I was just heading back to the dorm to shower. I’ll see you later, Ethan.”
“Later, bro.”
Jamie glanced at me one last time before jogging off, leaving me stunned to silence beside his roommate.
My boyfriend.
Jesus.
“Let’s get you moved in, babe,” he said, kissing my hair as he steered us away from the union.
I had driven a tiny U-Haul truck here, convincing my mom that I wanted to do the trip by myself. It took almost a week with how often I stopped, but it was a nice road trip to do alone. It gave me time to think about the next chapter in my life, and I was excited to start writing it.
I pointed the U-Haul out to Ethan when we reached the parking lot near my dorms. He got to work, talking to me the entire time about everything he couldn’t wait to show me as I tried to stay focused and present. The truth was, I could only think about one thing. One person. The boy I wasn’t supposed to ever see again.
I would never admit it, but even then, I was already itching for another taste.
• • •
Jamie did a pretty good job of ignoring me after that.
I’d see him around campus sometimes, usually with his arm around a curvy blonde, which I’d learned quickly was his “type.” But whenever we’d find ourselves in the same place, whether it be his and Ethan’s dorm or a neutral space on campus, he somehow found an excuse to leave as soon as I showed up. We’d spent a total of maybe three minutes together since that first day on campus, and I was convinced he hated me.
But I didn’t know why.
The most obvious answer would be that he didn’t like that I was dating his roommate. But again, I found myself asking why? He’d dated my best friend in high school and I’d been nothing but supportive. Did he not like Ethan? Was he upset that I was a link to his past life in Florida, suddenly showing up to cramp his style? Was he upset I didn’t tell him before I got here? We hadn’t talked since that last day on the beach after his graduation, and I’d just met Ethan over the summer. I didn’t know Jamie even went to Alder, let alone that he was Ethan’s roommate, and it wasn’t even like Ethan had much time to tell him, seeing as how he was in Florida for the summer while Jamie had stayed at Alder.
