Page 4 of Strip Bare

She snorted in agreement and we went back to working quietly together, but my brain still swirled alarmingly. I’d hoped that studying would be the perfect distraction from thinking about Kit and what he’d caught me doing—but if anything, the quiet and my brain’s ability to multitask proved to pull Kit’s face to the forefront of my mind. The spark and surprise on his face when he’d opened the door, the huskiness to his voice that I’d replayed a lot as I picked up where I’d left off before he’d interrupted.

I needed to get it together. Kit and I were never going to happen, and if I didn’t focus on what was actually important now I’d end up flunking out of my degree and everything I’d worked for. I wouldn’t let that happen.

Shoving any thoughts of Kit to the side, I packed up my notes and smiled when Bryn looked at me in question.

I needed to move, to work out some of my frustration, and with any luck Xander might be in the basketball courts right about now. I didn’t particularly care about sports, I’d joined the football team to make friends and because it was good exercise, not with any grand notions about going pro. If I was being honest, I actually preferred our regular basketball matches to our football games, mostly because the stakes were lower and there wasn’t anyone gaping at us from the sidelines.

The courts weren’t too far from campus and I was relieved to see Xander there, shooting baskets. One thing I liked about Xander was that he was easygoing. He wouldn’t ask me what was wrong—because something had to be for me to deviate from my routine—we would just play.

Predictably, we did just that. It wasn’t until we agreed that the sunshine was becoming a bit much to play in, especially for my paler complexion, that he asked if I wanted to talk about anything. The concern in his dark eyes was clear, but the relaxed set of his shoulders told me he wouldn’t mind if I declined and I appreciated it.

Xander was kind of like a puppy. Or maybe a rottweiler. He was tall and broad and his sharp cheekbones and jawline made him seem intimidating, but he was all bark and no bite. A softie at heart.

“I’m just going to head home and shower,” I said and he nodded easily.

“Yeah, might want to make it a cold one, you’re looking kinda pink.”

I grimaced. “Great.”

His lip twitched and I flipped him off as we walked out of the courts while he tied his long hair back into a bun. “Have you seen Kit?”

My heart felt like it stuttered at his name. “Not since this morning.”

“Ah yeah, I heard about that. I saw coach in his office earlier and he was still raging.”

I almost felt sorry for Aaron. Almost. Coach’s wrath was legendary and I wouldn’t want to be caught on the other end of it.

“Anyway, I think he was looking for you.”

“Coach?”

“Kit,” Xander said with a roll of his eyes and I didn’t even comment, my mouth filling with saliva as queasiness washed over me. It was ridiculous to have that reaction, this was Kit. My best friend. He probably just wanted help studying or needed me to read one of his essays. There was no way he wanted to talk about last night. Was there?

* * *

The Box was a regular haunt for our little group and, despite its popularity, I felt strangely comfortable there. Too many places looked the same nowadays and they all tended to use the overly bright lighting and ‘natural’ fake aesthetic that gave me a headache.

The Box wasn’t like that though. During the day, the lights were a faint, barely-there pink. As the day wore on, the color deepened until the lights were a deep red by the time the bar closed. Another thing I appreciated was that The Box didn’t try and appear as anything but what it was—a little quirky, a little cheesy, commercial but fun. We had a regular booth along the left wall, but there were plenty of small tables too that sat in front of the small stage that Jamie often performed on. If I was being honest, open mic night was probably my least favorite time to come to the bar so, whenever possible, I ignored the Wednesday-night invites.

They’d recently installed a new, cheesy sign framed above the seats of the booth diagonally opposite ours and my eyes kept straying back to it when I got bored of the conversation. It read: One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. Something about it amused me more than it really warranted, and more than once Kit had looked over and smiled when he saw me mouthing the words of the picture as I re-read it. He’d given no indication that he’d been searching for me earlier that day and I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed about that. Maybe he just wanted to completely forget what had happened, put it behind us. Probably wise.

Jamie and Liv, her roommate, had been the last to arrive and that was pretty typical—Liv was as punctual as me, but Jamie couldn’t get somewhere on time if she had a watch stapled to her forehead. I supposed that was a quirk Ryan found endearing. Or maybe it was Jamie’s whole thing—she gave off very clear don’t fuck with me vibes that was in complete contrast to Liv, who tended to be on the shyer side, and could easily have doubled as a ballerina with her slight build and long, bronzed legs. If I wasn’t so clearly playing for the other team, maybe I could appreciate whatever it was that had Ryan so obsessed and Xander moony-eyed. It was particularly unfortunate for Xander though, as Liv was more interested in Jamie than any guy in the booth.

Kit’s smile was smug as he tucked his phone back into his pocket after showing Jamie the photo of Aaron passed out, coke smeared all over him. The delight on her face was almost comical considering how disgusting the photo was, you would have thought she’d been looking at puppies or something. Nick, Jamie’s coursemate, and Ryan’s scheming had paid off and they’d managed to speak to the Dean and get her suspension revoked. While I was happy for her, I was finding it a little hard to concentrate on the positives.

Nick was a nice guy. Smart, friendly… ridiculously attractive with his dark skin and cutting cheekbones, and I knew he’d slept with Kit at least once. I tried to be nice or, at least, not openly hostile, but when Kit looked at me with a raised eyebrow I knew I hadn’t succeeded.

I released a breath slowly and let my shoulders relax as Nick leaned in to Kit and said something quietly, making him laugh and my body tense up again. I was relieved when Jamie and Ryan stood and said their goodbyes before leaving, because if they were going it meant that we could go too. Only, Kit didn’t look like he was in a rush to move.

My eye caught Kat’s green pair and I looked away quickly. She was friends with Jamie and worked at the box and the first time we’d met she’d made it very clear she was interested in me. Awkward. I didn’t exactly have a sign around my neck that screamed GAY but still, I’d felt kind of embarrassed for her when she’d come out of the restroom at the box that night with her shirt unbuttoned a lot further than it had been when she’d gone in.

Kat was… precocious, though, and as Liv slid out of the booth with a casual wave of one golden hand and Nick and Kit continued to chatter on, I knew that meant she would soon be turning to me for conversation.

I looked quickly to Kit, cutting Nick off mid-word as I stood. “Don’t you have a shift soon?”

Kit checked the time on his phone and sighed. “Yeah. I guess we should go.”

“Oh, I’m heading that way anyway,” Nick said cheerfully and I tried not to scowl at his stupidly handsome face.

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