Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(5)

“It’s not really my scene,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

“What is your scene?”

Twirling her hair with her fingers, she wasn’t sure what to say. Lately, she hadn’t done much of anything except deal with the fallout from her dad’s behavior and study. In fact, there hadn’t been much time for herself lately. That wasn’t something she wanted to share. “I don’t know. Most of the time I’m either studying or hanging out with friends.”

“Do these friends include a boyfriend?”

“Huh?” she replied, shocked that he’d ask about a boyfriend. Was he serious or was he teasing her? She couldn’t tell. She wasn’t unattractive, but she couldn’t fathom that he thought she was in his league. Unlike most of the girls at the party, she never tried that hard. Generally, she claimed to embrace the natural look, but that was basically a lie. Her mom never taught her about makeup or fashion because her dad said it was unnecessary and it wasn’t her mom’s thing anyway. She had a nice smile and clear skin, wide green eyes, dark auburn hair, but she was petite, not really model material and this guy definitely qualified as drool worthy. Maybe he considered her an easy target as a freshman.

Amused, he smiled faintly. “Boyfriend. You know what one is, right?”

She shivered and an unnatural laugh escaped her mouth in a pitiable attempt at covering her reaction to his question. “Yes, but I’m confused why you’re asking. Did you want to audition for the part?” His warm eyes met hers, and she was almost positive she melted under his stare.

“I don’t know. I guess I need to know whether the position is available and then I’ll decide whether I’m interested in auditioning.”

“Maybe.” She smiled coyly, hoping he couldn’t hear her heart pounding against her chest.

He nodded and then grabbed her left hand. “What’s this?” he asked, pointing to the red piece of string tied around her wrist.

She blushed. “My mom’s really into alternative healing and spiritual stuff. She’s convinced that tying a red string around your wrist has some power.”

“Like?” he questioned, arching his eyebrow.

“According to her, it can shield you from the bad energy people either consciously or unconsciously direct at you.” Regan lowered her face feeling uncomfortable with the topic. “She also thinks it can attract your soul mate. She tied it around my wrist earlier today and I forgot about it.”

“All that in a little piece of string,” he commented as he twisted it repeatedly around her wrist.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s a little Kabbalah mixed with the Chinese Legend of the Red String of Fate. She’s fascinated by religion, myths, and legends,” she said distractedly, her breath coming faster with every brush of his fingers.

“May I?” he said, untying the knot and slipping it off her wrist.

“Regan! There you are. We thought you left,” Ava yelled from across the kitchen as she and Erica skipped toward Regan, their arms linked, an alcohol-induced glow surrounding them.

Saved by her drunken friends. Glad to know their overindulgence was good for something. She wanted to kiss them both for interrupting before the conversation dipped too far into unchartered territory.

Regan’s gaze darted to Lucas one last time and she smiled. “It was nice talking to you. See you around.”

Grabbing her phone from the front pocket of her jeans, he leaned toward her while he typed something into her phone. Towering over her five feet three inches by at least a foot, she hadn’t noticed how tall he was until he suddenly invaded her space. Vaguely, she heard his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Giving Regan another one of his devastating smiles, he dropped her phone into her outstretched hand. Then, he wrapped his warm hand around hers, giving it a quick squeeze before releasing it.

“We’ll talk soon, Regan. Be careful tonight,” he whispered as he leaned into her, his warm minty breath tickling the side of her face. He turned and walked away fading into the mass of people crowding around the kitchen island.

Regan blinked, trying to recover from her Lucas induced coma, and then turned to look at Ava and Erica. Their eyes were wide almost as if they were in shock.

“About time,” Regan said, putting her hands on her hips. “I thought I was going to be here by myself all night.”

“It looked like you were doing just fine by yourself,” Ava commented, a bright smile on her face.

“Yeah,” Erica added. “So spill. How do you know Lucas Evanston?”

“I don’t.” She pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Oh, okay. Riiight,” Erica said with wide eyes, her tone patronizing. “So that wasn’t Lucas Evanston you were just talking to, and it wasn’t Lucas Evanston who just put his number in your phone.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I just met him. He started talking to me while he filled up his drink. Do you know him?”

“Everyone knows Lucas,” Ava replied, rolling her eyes.

Regan shook her head. “All right, and why is that?”

“He’s the president of the fraternity and he’s on the baseball team. Just look at him. He’s like the King of the Panty Droppers.”

“Um… Okay. And your point is?”