Page 43

“Okay, then, I better head back to my friends,” Kevin said, still frowning. He was either uncomfortable about his earlier comments or in total disagreement with us. Or both.
“See you later,” I said.
“Nice meeting you!” Delaney said loudly to his retreating back. She then turned to me. “You know he likes you, right?”
Ah, Laney was more shrewd than I gave her credit for.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that out. He’s nice enough and I have a couple of classes with him, but I wasn’t sure how to gently discourage him.”
“Sometimes guys don’t respond to gentle, Emmy,” she said wisely, seeming much more sober now.
Before I could reply, the bathroom door opened and we went in, somewhat horrified by its condition. There was a nearly empty roll of toilet paper sitting on the back of the toilet and the floor was covered with debris of every variety—cups, toilet paper, liquid that I prayed was beer.
“Ugh, this place is gross. When do you think the last time they cleaned it was?” Laney said in disgust.
“No idea. Touch as little as you can,” I suggested. We both peed, doing the hovering-above-the-toilet move that was so awkward, but in this case highly necessary.
As Laney used the toilet, I stared in the dirty mirror. My cheeks were flushed and my eyes bright and glassy. My lipstick was long gone after so many drinks. I reapplied my lip gloss, hoping it would once again disappear, but this time due to Ivan rather than a series of Miller Lites.
“Okay, let’s get out of here, ugh,” Delaney said one more time as she flushed the toilet with her foot.
“You know, you could have just used your hand covered in a piece of toilet paper.”
She looked at me in revelation. “Oh, yeah. There’s something about doing everything the hard way when you’ve been drinking,” she said giggling at her own foolishness.
I laughed. “Thank god we weren’t so drunk that we actually touched anything.”
“Totally,” Laney said as we exited the bathroom. “Let’s try to find a nicer bathroom next time.”
“Deal,” I said as I headed back over to where I knew Ivan was impatiently waiting.
Laney stopped and grabbed my arm. “Oh my god, that’s a girl I know from high school! I’m going to say hi. I’ll grab us another round of drinks before I come back. Pam!” Delaney yelled to a girl about twenty feet away.
Before I could reply, she was gone.
I shrugged and tried to push myself through the crowds of people to where I knew Ivan and Will were standing. I was a quarter of the way there when an arm snaked around my waist from behind.
At first, I thought it might be Ivan, but, in a burst of panic, realized the body pressed against me definitely wasn’t his. I twisted my head and to see who it was, thoughts of Orlov firing through my brain. Would he be bold enough to kidnap me from a frat party?
The stranger pushed me up against a wall and my eyes flew over his features checking for recognition. After comparing him to the mental picture I had of Orlov, I heaved a sigh of relief and quickly discarded that possibility.
He was far bigger and burlier than Orlov’s shorter stature. I doubted Orlov figured out a way to become six feet tall in the last couple of years.
Now that I didn’t have to worry about Orlov, I continued looking over the guy who’d stopped me. He was wearing a Chicago bears t-shirt covered in multi-colored stains, probably from Jell-O shots. His short, brown hair was sticking up in places and looked me up and down with bloodshot blue eyes.
He was also standing way too close to me, keeping me flush against the wall.
I gave him a small shove, but he didn’t move at all. “What the hell?”
“What? I wanted to get to know you.” His slurred words sounded slightly surprised, as if grabbing someone and pushing them against a wall was a common way to introduce yourself. The guy, clearly drunk, propped his hands on the wall on either side of me, trapping me.
“Not interested. I have a boyfriend,” I said, attempting to duck under his arm, but he grabbed me and held me still.
He smirked. “I don’t see a boyfriend.”
I gave him an awkward, anxious smile. “Well, I have one. Trust me.”
“What kind of guy would leave a hot girl like you alone at a party? Are you sure he’s even that into you?”