Page 163 of Wicked Little Darling

The Ashbrook athletics center,which was where the fencing team practiced, wasn’t a center so much as a modern building stuck on the fringes of campus. It looked completely out of place.

I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and kept my eyes on the double doors. It was kind of cold, but Dakota’s hoodie was really warm.

And it smelled like him.

I couldn’t stop smelling it, was absolutely addicted to huffing the sleeves like a fiend, and I ignored how weird I probably looked sitting on this bench with the sleeves pressed to my face.

It was helping keep me calm, for the most part. But fuck I was kind of nervous.

What if Everett saw me? What would he even do? Ignore me outright or try and talk to me?

God, I hoped not. It would be hard as fuck to keep my promise to Dakota to not fight anyone if he got within ten feet of me.

The door to the center blew open, and out walked a group of guys. I scanned them all, and hell yes it was some of the members of the fencing team.

No Everett. Good.

Yes Jared. Even better.

I watched as they talked and laughed and made weird gestures. Jared broke off from the group, and after he was far enough away from the group, I got up and followed him. He was alone, which was perfect. He walked fast, though, so I had to pick up my pace to try and catch up with him.

He rounded the corner of a building, and when I made it around the same corner, I stopped short.

He was talking to some guy now. Fuck. He wasn’t very far ahead of me, and damn it, what was I supposed to do now? Keep walking? Pretend I was going somewhere else? Stand around and look at my phone until the guy left and he was alone again?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw a new message. My heart started racing with excitement as I opened it.

Horny Bastard :

Do you like tomatoes?

A laugh bubbled out of me at the random question, and I quickly typed one back.

Me:

Hate them.

His response was immediate.

Horny Bastard :

Okay so I’m gonna start making a list of the things you *don’t* hate because the other one is getting too long.

What about chili peppers? Jalapeños? Sweet peppers? Peppers of any kind?

Please for the love of god don’t hate peppers

I’m begging you

I’m on my knees for you right now

Want a pic?

You definitely want one

A picture came through two seconds later, and it was a selfie of Dakota in our room, on his knees, on my bed. He was sticking his tongue out and I wanted to bite it.

Me: