Page 8 of Ride or Die

He clears his throat. “So, uh, what are you doing tonight?”

I turn to look at him and raise an eyebrow. “If you must know, final edits, then bed. I work early,” I state blandly.

“Sounds like fun,” he says sarcastically. “You should, uh, stop by my place. A bunch of us are gonna just hang out in the garage, have a drink or two, smoke if that’s your thing, you know, shoot the shit,” he says coolly. I look up at him, confused, and his eyes meet mine. They’re softened, not his usual hard, angry glare.

I furrow my brow and look away from him. I can’t help but laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Why not? You could use a night out. You worked hard today.”

“Remember the last time I went out? Yeah, that didn’t work out so well. I’d rather not repeat that.”

“That’s because you were with Simone. I will watch out for you. I wouldn’t abandon you like that. Plus, tonight is nothing like the other night. Come on, it’ll be fun. You can meet new people,” he keeps pushing.

I shake my head as anxiety starts to fill my stomach at the thought of being in a crowd of Colton’s people again, their judging eyes crawling over my skin.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t know. You’re a nice girl. Figured you could use some fun versus always being so serious about school ‘n’ shit. Havefun while you’re young, and I can help you with that,” he says genuinely.

“The thing is, Colton, I’m not a pity charity case. I don’t need your help. I am so out of my element with your kind of people. Do I like being called a ‘good girl’? No, I don’t. But that’s what I am, and I’m not going to subject myself to guaranteed ridicule from the type of people you hang out with. I don’t fit in and I have no intention of doing so. I’ve survived this long without friends,” I admit.

He stands there staring at me, taking a minute to digest my vent before nodding and putting his hands in his pockets.

“Okay. I get it. But if you change your mind, just text me, okay?” He looks a bit disappointed. Probably because he isn’t bringing the loser good girl for whatever prank they had planned.

“Where do you work, by the way?” he asks.

“The campus coffee shop. Why?”

“I don’t know. Seeing if they had a job for me, but coffee barista is not my thing,” he jokes and gives me a gorgeous smile, one I’ve rarely seen.

“You want me to drive you home?” he asks, pointing over his shoulder.

“No, it’s okay. I’m used to the train. Have a good night, Colton,” I say shyly and hurry off towards the bus station, leaving him standing there watching me walk away.

What was that about?

Sure, I like the feeling when Colton is around me. But who doesn’t? He’s gorgeous, he oozes dominance and sex appeal, and apparently he is friendly too. But I can’t go there. It’s too dangerous, and I risk becoming the butt of some joke.

I have a sinking feeling that even becoming friends with him could become problematic, so it's better not to let my head go there.

CHAPTER

FIVE

OBSESSION

COLTON

I sit on the bar stool, leaning my back against the workbench in the garage. I watch the group of people around me, socializing and laughing without a fucking care in the world. Fucking freeloaders.

I take a sip of beer when my best friend Axel leans up beside me.

“What’s up your ass tonight?” he asks. Axel’s greasy shoulder-length hair is up in a man bun. The short, skinny fucker seems to have no problems with the ladies. A couple of them are eyeing him up from the corner as we speak, indicating he’s likely to have another threesome tonight.

“Nothing, man. Just tired. These late nights are killing me,” I say, rubbing my hands over my face.

“I get that. You’re managing a lot at the minute. Especially with exams coming and Williams calling us out almost every night this week,” he says understandingly. I think the late nights have been killing him too.