A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime(15)

He pushes away from the couch and pockets his phone as he slowly approaches me. “You have a minute?”

I glance over my shoulder at the two RAs sitting behind the desk, neither of them paying any attention to us. It doesn’t matter. I want him to know I know they’re there, and they would come to my rescue if this guy so much as says one rude thing to me. “Sure.”

I follow him across the room until we’re both settling in overstuffed chairs that face each other, a low, round table in between us. There aren’t many other people in the room, so we have some privacy, though I’m sure it’ll go around campus by the morning that Crew and Wren were seen together, talking.

Crew and Wren. I never realized before how close our names are. That they share three letters. Hmm.

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask when he still hasn’t said anything. He must use his silence to unnerve people, and it works.

Quite well.

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he studies me. “Just had an interesting chat with Skov.”

My eyes fall briefly shut with humiliation, and I plop the sucker back into my mouth. Could this day get any worse?

“I’m pissed at you, Birdy. She asked me if I’ve ever done anything inappropriate that would upset you so much. What the hell are you telling her?”

“Look, you don’t want to work with me—”

“You’re damn right I don’t, not if you’re going to tell teachers that I’m sexually harassing you or what the fuck ever you said to her.” His words are like bullets, piercing my skin.

“I never said that—”

“You implied it. That’s what I got from Skov, and I had to defend myself, without making you look like a flat-out liar.” He hesitates, his cold stare making me helplessly shiver. “Which you are.”

“I didn’t say you did anything inappropriate. I just told her you said vulgar and crude things.”

“Curse words. That’s it. I never said anything about wanting to fuck you.”

I’m taken aback at his fierce tone, and the words he just said. The dark way he skims his gaze over me. As if he actually might want to do—exactly that to me.

My mind takes me to a place I don’t want to be, like I can’t help myself. But really…what would it be like, to have this boy’s total attention? To have him look at me as if he actually cares, and not with so much hatred?

My gaze drops to his arms, the way his biceps strain against the white cotton fabric. What would it feel like, to have him hold me? Whisper sweet words in my ear—though he’s probably incapable of that.

I stare at his mouth, his lips. How perfectly shaped they are, with a slightly fuller lower lip. How would he kiss—soft and sweet? Or hard and fierce? I think of the books I’ve read, the movies I’ve watched, and imagine that first moment, the slow slide of his tongue against mine—

No. No, no, no. That is the very last thing I want.

“You said it just now,” I point out shakily.

He glares. “I didn’t mean it. Trust me, you’re the last girl I want to fuck.”

And now I’m insulted, which is so stupid. “Good, because you’re never going to be able to.”

“I know. We all know.” He leans back in the chair, the tension easing from him somewhat. Why, I’m not sure. “You can’t go around saying shit like that. Teachers take those kinds of accusations seriously, no matter how thinly veiled they are. They have to follow up on everything.”

I wasn’t even thinking about the repercussions of my words when I pled my case to Skov earlier. I was just looking for a way out of the project. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.”

“Jesus, you really are always so damn nice, aren’t you?” He seems surprised by my quick apology, though he just ruined it by being rude to me. What else is new? “You didn’t get me into trouble. I just had to deal with Skov and her endless questions. Just—watch what you say. We’re stuck with each other. Deal with it.”

“Is that all you came here to tell me?”

Crew nods.

“You could’ve just sent it in an email.” We have access to the student email directory, as well as the staff.

“I wanted to tell it to your face, so you could see just how pissed off I am.” He glares, though it’s not as intense as when we first started talking. “Your actions have consequences, Birdy. You need to be careful.”

I hold onto the lollipop stick, sucking hard on the candy, contemplating breaking it apart with my teeth when Crew says, “One more thing.”

“What?” I pull the sucker out of my mouth.

“You really shouldn’t eat those things in front of me.” He nods toward the sucker in my hand.

“Why not?” I frown.

“Watching you play with that thing in your mouth, all I can think about is you sucking my dick,” he says, his tone casual. As if he just didn’t say what he said.

And with that, he gets out of the chair and strides away, not letting me say anything in response. Leaving me sitting there, my mind going over all the things I could’ve said to him.

He’s unnecessarily rude toward me.

Says extremely vulgar things, just to get a reaction.